Natural learning

An outdoor experience stimulates young minds and exercises young bodies, writes Seth Shteir

Childhood obesity rates are up. Scores on science exams are down. Parents and teachers worry that children lack empathy for others and for the planet.

While there is no panacea for these contemporary problems, introducing children to the natural world can help them be physically active, pique curiosity, foster empathy and encourage stewardship.

I'm reminded of my own experience learning to fish at age 7.

Catching fish may have been the purpose of my streamside ramblings, but as I grew older I became aware of the earth beneath my feet.

What was previously a cluster of unremarkable plants became distinguishable as rattlesnake, Long Beach, and Christmas ferns.

The blur of orange and black, seen streamside in May, was transformed into the Blackburnian warbler.

Edward O. Wilson, the eminent Harvard biologist, began making ant farms out of mason jars as a young child.

Edward Ross, a California Academy of Sciences curator of entomology, had collected thousands of insects by the time he finished high school.

Nobel Prize winner James Watson, who discovered the double helix of DNA, became interested in ornithology at an early age.

Arguments that urban environments have no opportunities for nature study are specious.

An experiment determining which foods ants like best can be conducted on a pavement.

Trees or plants can be observed during different seasons.

What makes outdoor nature studies meaningful is giving the children authentic experiences.

Before a field trip collecting bugs, children in my first-grade class posed questions like, "Can an earwig crawl in people's ears?"

"How long can a worm stay underground?" and "How can an ant carry crumbs if it is so small?"

The expedition in the San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles not only answered these questions, but also provided the impetus for others.

Educators and parents have observed a profound disconnect from the feelings of others and our planet.

Giving children experiences with nature can help develop empathy for our planet and for our fellow humans.

Experiences with wild animals can also help children develop empathy.

When one understands that a frog needs to be touched gently with moist hands, this can be transferred to an understanding that one's peers also need to be handled with care.

For instance, after our ant farm was accidentally turned upside down and the ants perished, several children related to the experience by transferring the information.

"How would you like it if somebody came to our classroom and turned it upside down?" asked one girl.

In the early 1990s, while working with inner-city youth, I noticed that children who respected nature also respected their peers.

The key to successful outdoor experiences with children is found in our own spirit of adventure.

Don't be dismayed if children appear to have more interest in floating sticks in a mountain creek or stirring the mud of a city pond than in an adult agenda.

A passion for the outdoors frequently has humble origins.