SCHOOL AGE YEAR ROUND EXPERENTIAL LEARNING

● Based on the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAME) early childhood
guidelines for curriculum
Social & Emotional Growth
A sense of community is promoted so that children may
SE.1 - Express understanding and respect for differences among people regarding ethnicity, gender, age,
abilities, and family structures
SE.2 - Respect the rights and feelings of others
SE.3 - Engage in activities that promote a sense of contribution such as planting seeds in a vegetable
garden, recycling paper, or turning off lights when leaving a room
SE.4 - Develop a sense of connectedness through the exploration of natural materials, tactile exploration,
caring for plants or animals, and so forth
SE.5 - Develop cooperation skills in playing and exploring nature with others
SE.6 - Demonstrate a developing sense of respect for nature, the environment, and its components
SE.7 - Express an increasing appreciation and affinity for nature
SE.8 - Increasingly play cooperatively and work collaboratively with others
Curiosity & Questioning
Initiative and curiosity are encouraged, so that children may
CQ.1 - Explore a range of natural materials using their senses
CQ.2 - Choose to participate in an increasing array of environmental explorations
CQ.3 - Approach environmental explorations with increased flexibility, imagination, and inventiveness
CQ.4 - Experience surprise and delight through their environmental explorations
CQ.5 - Develop a curiosity about cause and effect, life cycle, and reasoning
Questioning by the child is encouraged and supported, so that children may
CQ.6 - Ask questions about environmental components and phenomena
CQ.7 - Probe for answers to questions through active investigation and use of reference or picture books

CQ.8 - Discuss or document through drawing or writing what is learned through environmental
investigations and explorations
Opportunities for children to practice reasoning and problem-solving are provided so they may
CQ.9 - Use natural materials to remember patterns and to classify, compare, and contrast shape, size, and
color
CQ.10 - Demonstrate increasing ability to predict possible outcomes as a result of environmental
explorations
CQ.11 - Seek more than one solution to a question, task, or problem related to nature and the environment
around them
CQ.12 - Try alternative methods to solve a problem but request help from a resource, an adult, or a child
when necessary
CQ.13 - Use observations in making predictions and formulating theories about the environment
Development of Environmental Understandings
Opportunities to observe and understand earth systems are provided so children may
EU.1 - Observe and discusses changes in the environment, including weather and seasonal changes
EU.2 - Investigate properties of rocks, soil, and water
EU.3 - Express through talk, movement, and art their observations of the sun, moon, stars, and clouds
EU.4 - Learn and understand the importance of natural resources and that the environment
EU.5 - Provides for the needs of people
EU.6 - Notice and describe local environmental changes such as erosion and water flow
Opportunities are provided to observe and understand the living environment so children may
EU.7 - Understand that animals need many of the same things from the environment that we do
EU.8 - Explore the nature of life through interactions with a variety of plants, animals, and fungi
EU.9 - Recognize the differences between living and nonliving things
EU.10 - Notice changes in living things over time
EU.11 - Understand that plants and animals have life cycles

EU.12 - Notice and ask questions about similarities and differences and categories of plants and animals,
as well as appearances, behaviors, and habitats
EU.13 - Notice and ask questions about growth and change in plants and animals, such as changes in the
garden, life cycle of classroom animals, or a caterpillar changing into a butterfly
Interactions with individuals, groups, and culture are provided so children may
EU.14 - Appreciate similarities and differences of personal characteristics among people
EU.15 - Appreciate one’s own culture and others’ cultures
EU.16 - Be aware of his or her role as a member of a group, such as the family or the class
EU.17 - Contribute to discussions about things that everyone needs (food, water, shelter, and clothing)
and show awareness that people work to provide the things others need
EU.18 - Participate in group decision-making
Skills for Understanding the Environment
Opportunities for children to observe, investigate, and analyze are provided so that they may
SUE.1 - Use their senses to observe their environment and notice changes
SUE.2 - Discuss differences and make comparisons
SUE.3 - Understand the sequence of events
SUE.4 - Link new ideas to past experiences
SUE.5 - Ask questions about an environmental situation or concern
SUE.6 - Locate resources, with adult assistance, which will help them learn more about the topic of their
environmental investigation
Opportunities are provided that help children develop abilities to collect, describe, and record
information, so children may
SUE.7 - Make decisions, with adult support, about how to collect information for their investigation
SUE.8 - Collect a variety of information using tools such as tweezers, jars, cameras, paper, and drawings
SUE.9 - Demonstrate an increased ability to collect information and record differences over time
SUE.10 - Make predictions and draw conclusions based on information collected from their
environmental investigations

SUE.11 - Communicate the results of their environmental investigation, with adult support, and share the
information with peers
Structure and opportunity are provided to help children work with flexibility, creativity and
openness, so that children may
SUE.12 - Express thoughts in a variety of ways—movement, linguistic, graphics, and so forth
SUE.13 - Show increasing confidence and comfort in using vocabulary, sharing representations, and
accepting new ideas and feedback from others about their environmental investigations
SUE.14 - Discuss different perspectives with peers and adults
SUE.15 - Acknowledge differences of opinion
SUE.16 - Make a plan of action to address the environmental situation or concern, as appropriate for their
developmental level
A Personal Sense of Responsibility and Caring
Opportunities are provided for extensive positive interactions with nature, so that children may
PS.1 - Express openness for experiences in the outdoors
PS.2 - Initiate investigations of natural phenomena
PS.3 - Display respect for nature
PS.4 - Demonstrate pride in care of and for living things
PS.5 - Investigate and understand their personal place in the natural world
PS.6 - Engage in meaningful conversations reflective of experiences with nature and the environment
PS.7 - Communicate feelings about their place and the local environment
PS.8 - Recognize when they have impact on others and the environment
PS.9 - Indicate a desire to learn about nature
PS.10 - Display an understanding of the causes of various natural phenomena
Opportunities to participate in social interaction and to learn appropriate social roles are provided
so that children may
PS.11 - Share experiences with nature through communication and celebration with others
PS.12 - Show understanding of how individuals work together to achieve group goals

PS.13 - Show beginning understanding of how human activities may change the environment
PS.14 - Talk about how people can protect or harm the environment
PS.15 - Make individual choices about participation in efforts to protect the environment, such as not
littering, picking up trash, saving paper to be recycled
PS.16 - Participate in group decision-making about classroom environmental actions, such as use of
water, turning off lights when not in use, recycling
PS.17 - Show a beginning understanding of what people need to do to work and live together in groups
PS.18 - Recognize that others have an impact on nature
Physical Health & Development
Children are provided with a variety of opportunities to develop fine motor skills such as
PH.1 - Using tools and toys to explore their natural environment (e.g., magnifying glass, hand trowel,
sifter, nets, and tweezers)
PH.2 - Artistically expressing experiences in nature (e.g., tree and leaf rubbings, weaving through tree
limbs, easel painting) to develop hand eye coordination
PH.3 - Increasing spatial awareness through appropriate activities
PH.4 - Exploring textures and manipulating materials in the natural setting
PH.5 - Building two- and three-dimensional structures in the outdoor environment
PH.6 - Engaging in sensory exploration of the environment, especially through interactions with water,
soil, and plant materials
Children are provided with a variety of opportunities to develop gross motor skills such as
PH.7 - Expressing through movement and dance the sounds of nature (e.g., wind, rain, falling leaves,
animals)
PH.8 - Using garden tools to improve strength and coordination
PH.9 - Engaging in games and outdoor play activities that enhance physical wellness, balance, and
coordination
PH.10 - Manipulating and combining a variety of natural and human-manufactured materials to enhance
play
PH.11 - The environment is used to promote children’s health and fitness, so they may understand that all
animals, including humans, need air, water, space, and food to live

PH.12 - Become aware that nutritious foods give us energy and help people to grow
PH.13 - Identify healthy and non-healthy foods and be willing to try new, healthy foods
PH.14 - Participate in vegetable gardening
PH.15 - Show increasing balance and strength in activities such as walking, running, and climbing on
uneven surfaces such as hills, trails, depressions, and tree trunks
PH.16 - Become aware that our bodies need adequate rest and sleep to re energize and grow healthy
PH.17 - Choose challenging new physical activities in the natural environment