Questions about our learning programs?
Learning Landscapes
Connecting Kids to the Land
Learning Landscapes connects kids in our community with nature by conserving and restoring, where needed, land within a short walk of schools and by supporting teachers to use these living laboratories as part of their regular instruction. The program also includes a scholarship fund to promote environmental careers.
Why Outdoor Learning?
Outdoor learning has been shown to increase kids’ physical, mental and social health, as well as their overall academic performance. Importantly, it also increases their understanding of local natural and human communities, fostering a sense of place and an ethic of care. In this way, the Conservancy is excited to be a part of raising the next generation of active citizens who understand the importance of taking care of our shared landscape.
Creating Outdoor Classrooms
We are collaborating with teachers to implement their vision and create spaces that enhance outdoor experiences for kids. We currently have two outdoor learning sites, The Homestead and Fox-Shank Living Laboratory. Both sites have Learning Landscape lending libraries for teachers to use where their classes can borrow backpacks outfitted with nature exploring tools, muck boots, and rain ponchos.
Teacher Support
Learning Landscapes offers teachers professional development through a free outdoor learning retreat. The retreat is open to K – 12 educators in our service region. Participants can choose to become part of an outdoor learning cohort and receive ongoing support.
The Homestead’s Bell Woods and Pat & Clint Mauk’s Prairie, are located adjacent to Eastwood Schools. Bell Woods provides 80 acres of remnant Great Black Swamp woods to explore. Mauk’s Prairie has 22 acres of restored native prairie with a storybook trail along its 1-mile walking path. The Homestead also has an ADA accessible outdoor learning pavilion with picnic tables.
Fox-Shank Living Laboratory
Fox-Shank Living Laboratory, adjacent to Otsego Schools, is an H2Ohio project that the Conservancy acquired and restored. Planned with input from teachers and students, Fox-Shank offers walking trails, a boulder amphitheater, a demonstration field for supervised agricultural experiences, safe student access to Tontogany Creek for water quality monitoring, a sustainable food forest, and restored wetlands.
…accessibility to natural spaces by conserving and enhancing land adjacent to schools and support teachers to independently use these places…
…and frequency of outdoor instruction among K-12 teachers will increase…
…allow for the creation of student learning experiences that positively impact attitudes and behavior in relation to their education, sense of place, environmental self-efficacy and environmental stewardship.