Your browser is very old. It's so old that this site will not
work properly as it should.
How to Teach About Sustainability and Nature
Schools across New Zealand focus on building skills like communication, critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving. The purpose of teaching these skills is to equip students with skills that they can apply to the real world.
What’s even better, though, is giving your students something actionable that they can apply those skills to now, like teaching sustainability in the classroom and honouring New Zealand’s heritage and natural beauty. By incorporating nature, the environment and sustainable practices into your classroom, you can shape students into adventurers, nature-lovers and global citizens.
Let’s talk about a few reasons why making nature a focus in your classroom can benefit students and New Zealand’s environment too. User Friendly Resources also highlights some of our teaching materials that can help you incorporate more nature into your lesson plans.
How to Spark a Sense of Adventure
To spark a sense of adventure in your students’ minds requires you to set forth challenges and experiments that allow them to explore a myriad of possibilities. When it comes to learning about nature, there’s nothing quite as exciting as experimenting with the world around us.
Rather than teaching students about how different natural processes occur, try introducing activities into your curriculum that let your students experience them first-hand.
For students aged 12-16, our “Weather Science – Explorations and Activities” book has tons of experiments and activities to help students observe weather processes to further their understanding.
The “Caring For Minibeasts” series is a great primary school learning resource that helps students set up living environments for a variety of small creatures to care for and study in the classroom.
How to Instil a Love for Mother Earth
In addition to conducting experiments and providing students with science learning resources, teaching sustainability in the classroom will help them develop a more conscious mindset about the planet. Teachers can achieve this by instituting several sustainable practices, like:
- encouraging students to reduce, reuse and recycle.
- dedicating specific days or class periods to cleaning up areas outside of the school.
- giving students resources and challenging them to continue sustainable practices at home.
User Friendly Resources has many Earth & Space Science learning resources to this note. Our books and lesson plans encourage students to interact with their environment to gain a greater awareness of their impact on it.
Explore Earth & Space Science Resources
Teaching About Māori Heritage
We can’t talk about the world without bringing it back to New Zealand and the value of teaching students about Māori heritage. When students understand the history of their surroundings, they will be more likely to appreciate them and work to sustain them.
User Friendly Resources’s “Kiwi Teaching Planner” is a great starting place, as it has multi-level Te Reo Māori teaching resources. We also have Māori history resources like the “Pōwhiri in Action” and “Treaty of Waitangi” books.
The Environmental Application
The most significant value of education is the virtuous applications for your students’ newfound knowledge. Instilling a love for nature and the environment in your classroom helps the greater good!
User Friendly Resources have proudly equipped kiwi teachers with quality teaching resources for over 25 years. All of our resources are developed by teachers, for teachers, with a distinctly student-centric approach to learning. Explore our full range, find out more about us or get in touch online if you have any questions.
