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Research & Studies

Buffalo News – June 27, 2008

Decline in School Recess Continues

By Mark Sommer
Despite research showing that unstructured play is important to healthy childhood development, the amount of time that schools allow for recess continues to decline. One reason for the decline is the increased emphasis on standardized testing. Other factors include limited budgets for safe playground equipment, concerns about lawsuits from playground injuries, and fears of bullying. [+]

National

New York Times – May 12, 2008

Why Are Schools Designed Like Prisons?

Why Are Schools Designed Like Prisons?

By Allison Arieff
In an opinion piece for the New York Times website, writer and editor Allison Arieff laments the way that school design tends to inhibit outdoor activity as children get older. “What if we looked beyond the notion of schools as institutions,” she writes, “and thought about them more as laboratories for creativity, exploration, and innovation?” [+]

Commentary

Toronto Star – January 19, 2008

Island School Impresses Noted Wildlife Artist

By Robert Bateman
Renowned wildlife artist Robert Bateman writes in the Toronto Star of his visit to the Island School in the Bahamas, where American high-school students spend a semester without junk food, Internet access, or cell phones. Each day starts with a swim and a run, and students camp, kayak, and take part in marine research. [+]

Local | Campaign/Initiative

Boston Globe – December 31, 2007

Boston Globe Focuses on Children and Nature Movement

By Peter Dizikes
A recent front-page article in the Boston Globe provides an overview of the children and nature movement at the local and national levels. Entitled “Nature Nurtures Learning,” the article examines the efforts of one Boston elementary school to integrate nature studies into its curriculum, and quotes a noted pediatrician, the biologist E.O. Wilson, author Richard Louv, and others on the benefits of such a curriculum. [+]

Local | Access

KQED Radio – November 20, 2007

KQED Radio Features a Local Cure for Nature-Deficit Disorder

KQED Radio Features a Local Cure for Nature-Deficit Disorder

By Gabriella Quiros
A new program in San Francisco is introducing the city’s low-income youth to the pleasures of camping outdoors—without leaving the city itself. Developed by a collection of nonprofits, Camping at the Presidio aims to overcome the barriers that traditionally keep urban youth from visiting national parks: costs and a lack of exposure to camping. Eligible groups sleep overnight in a grove of eucalyptus trees, right within the city limits.

Quest is a TV, radio, Web, and education series by KQED that explores science, the environment, and nature in Northern California.

National | Legislation/Policy

The San Francisco Examiner – July 17, 2007

U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes proposes bill to integrate environmental education into NCLB

U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes proposes bill to integrate environmental education into NCLB

By Carolyn Peirce
Building Bridges to the Outdoors will be holding its second year of weeklong Environmental Leadership trainings this week in conjunction with the Sierra Student Coalition (SSC). The leadership training program introduces, inspires and educates youth, especially under-represented minorities, about the significant and contemporary environmental issues facing their local communities. [+]

Commentary | Review

The World Future Society ranks nature-deficit disorder #5

Children today are spending less time in direct contact with nature than did previous generations. The impacts are showing up not only in their lack of physical fitness, but also in the growing prevalence of hyperactivity and attention deficit.

State | Built Environment

(Greensboro) News & Record – August 23, 2008

North Carolina Zoo to Build Outdoor Classroom

North Carolina Zoo to Build Outdoor Classroom

By Jeri Rowe
The North Carolina Zoo will soon begin raising $2.8 million to help create a four-acre classroom for kids, complete with caves, gardens, and a stream. And in another example of North Carolinian efforts to reconnect kids with nature, every family with a child attending Greensboro Montessori School is being given a copy of Last Child in the Woods. [+]

International

Ross-shire Journal – June 05, 2008

Free Play Gets a Boost in Scotland

Advocates for unstructured play are celebrating the opening of a new play area in the Scottish Highlands. Funded in part by the local government, the play area, which is part of a primary school, was designed to encourage children to use their imaginations. In addition to a set of extra-large dominoes, an obstacle course that children can build themselves, and a special area for water play, there is a quiet area where children can sit on oversized outdoor cushions surrounded by flower and vegetable tubs. [+]

State

Sacramento Bee – May 28, 2008

Virtual Field Trips Take Hold in California

Virtual Field Trips Take Hold in California

By Laurel Rosenhall
In California schools, the traditional field trip to a state park or other destination so that children can learn firsthand about the natural world is being replaced by the virtual field trip, which uses videoconferencing to beam nature lessons into the classroom. These virtual experiences, supporters say, are better than the alternative: no field trips at all. [+]

National | Campaign/Initiative

Washington Post – April 17, 2008

Washington Post: Inside the Capitol, the Great Outdoors

By Moira E. McLaughlin
When a group of fifth-graders showed up to tour the Capitol recently with an alligator, two leopard cubs, and assorted other animals in tow, even the Washington Post took notice. The students were at the Capitol to show support for the No Child Left Inside Act, which would fund environmental education programs if passed. [+]

Allies

(Cedar Rapids) Gazette – April 12, 2008

One Farmer’s Efforts to Connect Kids with Nature

By Orlan Love
Dick Jensen, an Iowa farmer with a love for nature, has made it his mission to teach young people about the joys and the value of spending time outdoors. In 1990 he started welcoming youth groups to his farm; in 2000 he began building a two-mile nature trail on his property; and in 2006 he founded Take a Kid Outdoors, a nonprofit educational organization that has since benefited hundreds of youngsters already. [+]

State

Salt Lake Tribune – March 19, 2008

High Demand for Nature Education in Four Corners

High Demand for Nature Education in Four Corners

By Tom Wharton
Interest in outdoor education in the Four Corners region is on the upswing, with field schools and nature programs in places like Zion and Albuquerque reporting a high demand for their offerings. The director of the Canyonlands Field Institute in Moab credits “a national groundswell of getting youth outdoors” for the increased interest. [+]

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Top Stories

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