Our Green Harlem is a youth mapping project. Participants will identify the natural resources and sustainable resources of Harlem as well as the cultural spaces that we want to keep green. These sites will be compiled into an online, interactive green map of Harlem.
Too often in the environmental education curriculum in schools, students are learning about places far away like rainforests and glaciers. There has been a focus on studying rainforest deforestation and melting glaciers. While these are serious issues that need to be addressed, students may have a difficult time relating to them. Having never been to a rainforest or glacier, students may not fully comprehend why we need to conserve them.
Our Green Harlem will bring environmental education into the “backyard” of schools in Harlem. One of the best ways to encourage students to adopt sustainable habits is to help them to simply love nature. Students will study the nature in the local parks and natural resources of Harlem. They will then compile a list of local environmental resources available for youth through a green mapping project. Finally, the students will share what they have learned with the community through a student-planned, culminating community outreach showcase.
The structure of the program will be based on Newman and Oliver’s model for place-based learning:
“An article by Newmann and Oliver appearing in the Harvard Educational Review in 1967 describes their idea of place-based education as ‘a proposal for education in the community’ (pp. 95-101). They recommend that learning should be pursued in three different contexts: the school, the laboratory-studio-work, and the community seminar. In the school context, they recognize the need for systematic, preplanned, and formalized instruction[…]. In this context the teacher has clear objectives with terminal student behaviors in mind. […] In the second context, labeled “laboratory-studio-work,” the completion of tasks is the major objective. […] Student activity would be governed by the developing nature of the selected problem or task. In these types of laboratories, learning should occur as a by-product of genuine participation in the activities. In the third context, community seminar, the purpose would be to reflectively explore community issues and meanings. […] The major purpose of these seminars would be reflection and deliberation on the actions stimulated by the laboratory context. Again, learning in the seminars should not be preplanned, nor would there be specific tasks or problems to solve. “
(From: Knapp, Clifford E. “Place-Based Curricular and Pedagogical Models: My Adventures in Teaching Through Community Contexts.” Place-Based Education in the Global Age. Eds. David A. Gruenewald and Gregory A. Smith. Taylor and Francis, New York: 2008. )
Our Goals:
1. Engage youth in environmental educational learning activities.
2. Develop a green map of Harlem by locating environmental resources of Harlem and providing detailed descriptions and educational materials.
3. Identify potential areas of sustainable improvement.
4. Establish a sense of place and community through a collaborative effort across the neighborhood.
Too often in the environmental education curriculum in schools, students are learning about places far away like rainforests and glaciers. There has been a focus on studying rainforest deforestation and melting glaciers. While these are serious issues that need to be addressed, students may have a difficult time relating to them. Having never been to a rainforest or glacier, students may not fully comprehend why we need to conserve them.
Our Green Harlem will bring environmental education into the “backyard” of schools in Harlem. One of the best ways to encourage students to adopt sustainable habits is to help them to simply love nature. Students will study the nature in the local parks and natural resources of Harlem. They will then compile a list of local environmental resources available for youth through a green mapping project. Finally, the students will share what they have learned with the community through a student-planned, culminating community outreach showcase.
The structure of the program will be based on Newman and Oliver’s model for place-based learning:
“An article by Newmann and Oliver appearing in the Harvard Educational Review in 1967 describes their idea of place-based education as ‘a proposal for education in the community’ (pp. 95-101). They recommend that learning should be pursued in three different contexts: the school, the laboratory-studio-work, and the community seminar. In the school context, they recognize the need for systematic, preplanned, and formalized instruction[…]. In this context the teacher has clear objectives with terminal student behaviors in mind. […] In the second context, labeled “laboratory-studio-work,” the completion of tasks is the major objective. […] Student activity would be governed by the developing nature of the selected problem or task. In these types of laboratories, learning should occur as a by-product of genuine participation in the activities. In the third context, community seminar, the purpose would be to reflectively explore community issues and meanings. […] The major purpose of these seminars would be reflection and deliberation on the actions stimulated by the laboratory context. Again, learning in the seminars should not be preplanned, nor would there be specific tasks or problems to solve. “
(From: Knapp, Clifford E. “Place-Based Curricular and Pedagogical Models: My Adventures in Teaching Through Community Contexts.” Place-Based Education in the Global Age. Eds. David A. Gruenewald and Gregory A. Smith. Taylor and Francis, New York: 2008. )
Our Goals:
1. Engage youth in environmental educational learning activities.
2. Develop a green map of Harlem by locating environmental resources of Harlem and providing detailed descriptions and educational materials.
3. Identify potential areas of sustainable improvement.
4. Establish a sense of place and community through a collaborative effort across the neighborhood.
