Learning Outside

I agree with the premise of this article completely. I have found that in general education classrooms, teachers and students very rarely go outside to engage in the environment to learn science content. I know that when I was in elementary school we were able to go outside more and do science experiments outside, etc. and this helped me so much. I have also seen that in my special education classroom that my kids benefit from going outside and learning the content out there. They see that I truly love the outdoors and this definitely rubbed off on them like Marcum-Dietrich talked about. If I hated the outdoors and never wanted to go out there then my students most likely would not like the outdoors either. If I didn't touch bugs and show them it was alright to do that then they probably would be afraid of them.
This is why it is crucial to show students that being outside is a great way to learn about science content. The authors were right when they explained that kids just do not go outside anymore these days and it really breaks my heart. I spent so much time outside when I was younger and I know this is one reason that I love the outdoors so much. Being outside helps creativity which students (and adults) so desperately need. I believe that many teachers are scared to go outside and teach science because they are so focused on teaching math and ela. They are scared that they are going to get into trouble or their scores are not going to be high so they focus on these two subjects. When in reality, science can be taught even when these two subjects are being taught. They can all be connected. We have to practice engaging students in science or they will not want to do it when they get into the older