Schoolyard to wildlife habitat aids environmental education
Children point out butterflies in the pollinator gardens at Southern Ute Indian Acadamy
Imagine–the time … the toil … and yes, the sweat it would cost teachers and their students to transform a scrubby rocky schoolyard into a wildlife haven.
But that’s just what Southern Ute Indian Academy in Colorado accomplished back in 2005, qualifying as the first tribal school to earn certification as a National Wildlife Federation Wildlife Schoolyard Habitat site and giving hope to other schools that in was, in fact, do-able.
Ten more tribal schools have since successfully transformed their schoolyards into engaging educational wildlife sanctuaries, and other schools are on their way to certification.
The idea is that students need more than books, worksheets and carefully contrived experiments.
“These schools use their habitats to connect Native students to their natural environment, their community and the traditions and cultures of their tribe,” says Alexis Bonogofsky, associate coordinator of NWF’s Tribal Lands Program. “It is a very holistic program that tries to integrate outdoor gardens/habitats with other projects that can happen inside the classroom that will help the planet.”
Many of the schools have added food gardens to their outdoor habitats. Another objective is integrating climate change education into the program. “One example is having students do biodiversity species counts in their habitat and compare what they find to historical data,” says Bonogofsky. “Teaching students how important habitat is for wildlife survival and how climate affects habitats will help them understand interconnectivity of ecosystems.”
Teachers can use NWF’s Climate Classroom educational site to integrate climate change science, at age appropriate levels into the habitat and gardening curriculum. “When kids create habitat and grow gardens, they are providing habitat for native species being stressed by climate change,” Bonogofsky offers. “As the changes in climate affect the wildlife and our agricultural systems, it is important that we are providing habitat and learning to grow our own food.”
Providing habitat supports species that are migrating or changing their patterns due to climate change, and educates students about the effects that climate change is having on our natural systems, the importance of habitat for wildlife survival, and offers an understanding of the interconnectivity of ecosystems.
Southern Ute Indian Academy students create schoolyard wildlife habitat. Photo courtesy NWF.
The special emphasis is on bees, birds, butterflies and other pollinators who need microhabitats – not just in schools and but in backyards across the country, to survive is a lesson in civic responsibility. A partner program is their Backyard Wildlife Habitat program, creating gardens that attract wildlife and help restore habitat in commercial and residential areas.
To learn more about Schoolyard Habitats visit: www.nwf.org/schoolyard/getstarted.cfm.
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