News Round Up

Understory – A magical outdoor theater show for kids in the Australian rainforest

In Australia this April, Lismore Rainforest Botanic Gardens will host an interactive, theatrical experience designed to inspire and connect children to the natural world. Part theater, part quest and part wacky science field trip, children will embark on a Magic School Bus-esque adventure complete with talking fungi, booming rocks and nests of song, while being prompted to collect clues, solve puzzles, navigate obstacle courses and work collaboratively with each other and the forest to save the environment from disarray. Australian Rural & Regional News.

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Grieving our changing planet

In a beautiful, urgent blend of memoir, ecology and history, Pulitzer Prize-nominated novelist Lydia Millet “urges respect for the staggering interconnectedness of existence.” Balancing grief and wonder, Millet helps us face and process the ecological ruin that we’ve wrought on our planet, our species and those with whom we share our home. She investigates the question, “Where does our childhood love of nature go?”, among other pressing queries. Scientific American.

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How Cities Connecting Children to Nature led to the launch of Nature Everywhere

Over the past decade, the Cities Connecting Children to Nature (CCCN) initiative — a joint national partnership between the Children & Nature Network and the National League of CIties — has helped nearly 50 cities across the U.S. to prioritize youth nature connection. A new report conducted by two independent research firms helped quantify the impact of CCCN’s nine years of support in helping cities connect children to nature. Now, the new Nature Everywhere Communities initiative builds upon CCCN’s successes, with the Children & Nature Network, National League of Cities and Kaboom! partnering to advance equitable access to nature everywhere children live, learn and play. CitiesSpeak.

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Green roofs aren’t just for the environment anymore — they also support healthier students

“As long as you have a green roof over your head, everything will be okay.” So goes Lucy Stott’s adaptation of her grandfather’s mantra. Born of a long line of New Yorkers, Stott was fortunate to have access to a green space via her elementary school’s outdoor classroom – a green roof. In the concrete jungle, green rooftops can provide shade, capture airborne pollutants and reduce rooftop temperatures. Enough green rooftops can even lower citywide ambient temperatures by up to 5°F. In this article, Stott, now in her freshman year of college, shares some of the research behind the benefits of green roofs, as well as her own personal experience. Living Architecture Monitor.

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School’s out: Climate change is already badly affecting children’s education

Students around the globe are feeling the effects of climate change, with hotter weather and other climate-related disasters on the uptick. Hotter temperatures have negative effects on students’ test scores. Climate disasters like storms and droughts cause children to leave school and join the workforce early to support their families, while hurricanes and wildfires cause children in higher-income countries to miss school days. Even children exposed to climate disasters in utero can face impacts, with higher rates of ADHD reported among kids whose mothers were pregnant during Hurricane Sandy. On top of all this, researchers predict that climate change will exacerbate existing inequalities in education worldwide. Conversation.

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In Toronto, a community garden is teaching kids about nature while tackling food insecurity

A kindergarten-only school in Toronto, Canada, has teamed up with a local farming group to introduce little ones and their parents to nature through a community garden. At guided sessions, participants learn about growing carrots and the local ecosystem. The program brings nature’s benefits to residents and restores habitat in a dense urban neighborhood, while providing free organic produce to community members during a time when food can be increasingly hard to afford. CBC.

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Stat Sheet
Girls, green schoolyards and gender equity in outdoor play
16%
In the U.S., parents are 16% less likely to take preschool-aged girls outdoors to play compared to boys (1)
Almost 9 in 10
A survey observing users of outdoor park facilities across the United Kingdom found that 88% of teenagers using the facilities were boys (2)
12.2%
After greening a schoolyard in Los Angeles, California, physical activity for girls increased by 12.2% (3)
281
A survey of 281 children in Australia found that girls’ favorite school play activities include walking, using imagination, climbing, resting/relaxing and playing with more natural features (4)
11%
Children playing in a schoolyard with a woodland area were 11% more physically active than those in schoolyards with differing features, with girls showing a specific interest in the woodland space (5)

 

Sources
  1. Tandon, Zhou & Christakis, 2012
  2. Make Space for Girls, 2023
  3. Raney, Hendry & Yee, 2019
  4. Hyndman & Chancellor, 2015
  5. Pagels, et al., 2014

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