It’s Teacher’s Day on 5 September! Do you remember your very first teacher? What did you learn from them?
Teacher’s Day is the perfect occasion to celebrate nature, one of the very first teachers that taught us some of our earliest lessons with colourful flowers, amazing birds and animals that dazzled us with their variety. In this edition of Nature Nuggets, let’s explore how we can connect with and learn from nature in the classroom and every day.
Nature is a helpful teacher’s aide as it provides lots of opportunities to learn observation skills and life lessons while also observing foundational curricular concepts in action. Here are some ideas for activities that we can use to learn and teach through nature.
Green the classroom: Bring nature into your classroom by setting up a small indoor garden with suitable potted plants. Set up a gardening schedule so that students take turns tending to the plants.
Bottled nature: Build an ecosystem in a plastic bottle and observe how its components interact with each other.
Remember to care for the plants and animals in your garden or bottle ecosystem.
Secret schoolmates: Indoor environments are home to an assortment of biodiversity—from bacteria to bugs and more! Forms teams of students and conduct a survey of the indoor biodiversity in your school. Use the app Seek by iNaturalist to identify the species you find.
You may find creatures hidden behind doors, in the corners of walls and under stored items.
Marvellous mini-beasts: Go on a minibeast safari in your school grounds. Draw pictures of the creatures you find and do a show-and-tell. You can also build a bug hotel to attract insects and observe them in action up close.
Apply classroom concepts by cataloguing and classifying the species you find on surveys.
Walk with nature: Nature walks are a great way to experience and explore the natural world around us. Choose a theme, such as shapes, patterns, numbers or textures, and play a game of ‘I Spy’ during your
nature walk. Build your writing skills to document these observations in a form that can inform and entertain others. Complete the course Writing for Nature and become a powerful advocate for nature!
You can go for a nature walk in the school grounds, in a nearby park or garden, along a roadside footpath with trees, or in any urban neighbourhood.
Common Name: Attenborough’s Pintail
Scientific Name: Acisoma attenboroughi
Attenborough’s Pintail is a species of dragonfly found in Madagascar. Dragonflies and their siblings, called damselflies, are needle-like insects with intricate, transparent wings and are expert flying predators. They are usually found near freshwater habitats. Watch this fascinating video to delve into the world of dragonflies. You can also participate in the Dragonfly Festival 2022 to learn to spot dragonflies and damselflies around you!
Do you know how Attenborough’s Pintail got its name? Sir David Attenborough is a famous conservationist and a much-loved natural history presenter on television and streaming platform. The scientists who first described this Madagascan species of dragonfly in 2016 named the insect after Sir David in honour of his 90th birthday that year. What a heart-warming way to honour the person who has taught millions through shows and documentaries, inspiring generations to love and care for nature!
Which teacher would you like to honour this Teacher’s Day?
Time to check your Nature Quotient!
Quiz
Congratulations to everyone who guessed it right!
COMING SOON
DRAGONFLY FESTIVAL 2022
The fifth annual Dragonfly Festival 2022
kicked off on 21 August with a launch amid
the greenery of Delhi’s Sanjay Van. The
next several months will bring interactive
workshops, creative sessions, virtual trails,
competitions, podcasts, live quizzes and
more—all aimed at highlighting the
importance of dragonflies and damselflies
to citizens. Please join in this celebration
of India’s dragonflies and damselflies!
ECHO SUMMIT 2022
The upcoming Echo Summit will see
youth from across India present how their
innovative solutions for building a green
economy have made an impact. Catch the
action live on 30 September 2022 from
10 a.m. onwards.
Join our Environment Education group on Facebook for the latest updates! Click here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/778975835966906
