Why NOT EE? That is the question.......

David Sobel's paper resounded heavily with me (though I didn't really care for his comparing "victims of EE" to child abuse victims- kinda tacky!). HOWEVER, he made some really good points about how EE could be so much more enticing if educators focused on what is in their own backyard. A couple of weeks ago at the kids garden I run, I had couple of kids point at a fallen down stop sign in front of the garden and tell me that we needed to get rid of it so it wouldn't hurt the spotted cheetah. Cheetah? I asked. Where are there cheetahs around here? They just stared at me blankly, and then yelled "Save the Cheetahs!". Later, I checked out one of the classrooms and saw that they had posters of endangered species all over their room, and also a corner where a paper "rain forest" was being built (though, i don't remember cheetahs being there either....). Anyway, last week I pointed at a big hole that we had in the garden. What could it be? I asked the young ones. All hands went up. " A BIG, FAT SNAKE!" they said in unison. I shook my head. Very unlikely, but cool nonetheless. What about a groundhog, I suggested. Once again, blank looks all around. What is a groundhog, they inquired. BACKYARDS, teachers. Backyards........ that is the answer.