Schoolyard Habitat Definition and History
What is a schoolyard habitat project and why should we consider creating one?
Schools throughout the nation are recognizing the value of encouraging students to learn outside. Experts know that young children are driven to explore, discover and play while refining developmental skills. Integrating curriculum and habitat projects into an "outdoor classroom" is a unique and valuable approach to getting children engaged and excited about learning. Schoolyard habitats offer many teaching and learning opportunities in multiple subjects, and research shows that using the environment as a focal point of teaching actually improves student performance. Furthermore, during the formative years of life, students develop perceptions and values about their environment. If designed and managed properly, schoolyards can provide students with a powerful example of land stewardship. In addition to their many benefits for students, teachers and the community, schoolyard habitat projects also provide habitat for local and migratory wildlife and address local, regional and even global environmental issues. There are many types of habitat projects ranging from something as simple as installing a rain barrel or designating a "No-Mow Zone" to designing and planting wildlife habitats like wetlands, forests or meadows. Learn how to get started creating a habitat project and allow your students to take the initiative to improve and utilize the environment around them.
History of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Schoolyard Habitat Program and The Schoolyard Habitat Partnership
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service began a Schoolyard Habitat Program in 1992 with the objectives to provide technical advice, teacher training and printed resources to help students, teachers and parents carry out wildlife habitat projects on school grounds. Another main objective was to serve a coordination role such as assisting counties in developing their own local schoolyard habitat initiatives. The program was formed to meet a significant public demand for help: Teachers and parents were eager to engage students in habitat projects on schoolyards yet little, if any, technical or financial assistance was available. The interest in schoolyard habitat projects evolved for two main reasons: a substantial increase in backyard habitat gardening pioneered by groups such as the National Wildlife Federation and state natural resource agencies, and a growing interest in establishing buffers and improving storm water facilities as part of the Chesapeake Bay restoration effort.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Schoolyard Habitat program encouraged the creation of ecologically and educationally sound projects. Students are challenged to use interdisciplinary skills to research, plan, carry out and manage natural habitat projects including wetland creation, meadow development and reforestation. In the early years of the program, several forward thinking schools completed natural habitat projects that broke the paradigm that school grounds must be barren open landscapes. The traditional use of school grounds for physical education or recess was slowly changing as more teachers realized the potential of incorporating habitat projects into their curriculum. The anecdotal information from teachers suggests that habitat projects, if planned correctly, are very beneficial for students as they apply their knowledge to actively develop projects that will help wildlife and the Chesapeake Bay.
Today the program continues as The Schoolyard Habitat Partnership, a partnership between The Maryland Association for Environmental & Outdoor Education (MAEOE), the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association's Bay Watershed Education & Training Program (NOAA-BWET). Significant accomplishments have been reached: completing many projects, developing resources for students, training hundreds of teachers, assisting with the development of local initiatives, helping schools become Maryland Green Schools, and working with the Maryland State Department of Education to incorporate habitat protection and development into new school construction projects. Much challenging and exciting work remains to be done as dedicated individuals and organizations continue to help coordinate and lead the greater schoolyard habitat initiative in Maryland... and across the nation!
To find Environmental Education organizations involved with schoolyard habitat as well as Green Schools & Centers throughout Maryland, please visit our interactive map.
"Without continuous hands-on experience, it is impossible for children to acquire a deep intuitive understanding of the natural world that is the foundation of sustainable development. ....A critical aspect of the present-day crisis in education is that children are becoming separated from daily experience of the natural world."
-- Robin C. Moore and Herb H. Wong
Natural Learning, Creating Environments for Rediscovering Nature's Way of Teaching
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