20 Connecting Students with Place: Technology-Enhanced Teaching Using Local Resources
Monday, 18 March 2013
1:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Dartmouth Room
ONE SMALL SQUARE: CONNECTING URBAN STUDENTS TO PLACE USING RECLAIMED GREEN SPACES
Paper number: 20-9
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 3:40 PM – 3:55 PM
Authors
Abstract
Student connection to place and the environment of that place is an essential tool for stimulating interest and motivation in environmental education. Without a feeling of place and local ecological relevance, natural history and ecological literacy are often a non-issue for students; there is just nothing to grab interest. This is especially true for urban school districts, who have a deficit of nearby green-spaces for students to do ecological studies and learn about natural systems first hand. This paper discusses the use of small green spaces for urban students to reflect and discover a sense of place at a micro scale. The methodology allows students to explore the biological, geological, and human-mediated processes that lead to the current and past conditions of their personal study area. To express the varied attributes of their space, students use Serif PhotoPlus 6, a freeware graphic arts program that allows them to use translucent layers and personal photos from their study plot to create semi-interactive digital representations of their space.