August 2016

* Grant awarded for the Outdoor Classroom for Conservation Education project

Project objectives:

To continue building on our outdoor classroom area for use with groups visiting the Heritage Centre, and to enhance and engage the groups through hands-on natural experiences. With our outdoor classroom we will be truly connecting youth with nature by utilizing hands-on outdoor education. This classroom will be used by the more than 100 classroom educational field trips and community groups that visit our facility each year. Studies have shown that the retention rate of learning by doing is 75 percent compared with just five percent for lecture-based learning (Bethel Learning Institute Study). An outdoor classroom provides many new and exciting ways to complement existing lesson plans and create a new environment for youth and adults to learn about our great Canadian outdoors. It will provide an opportunity for youth to learn hands-on about insects, flowers, trees and their ecosystems, and instill the qualities necessary for them to become the next generation of nature stewards.

Final Report