Session 4 – Being Outside/Developing a Sense of Place

AKA The Pine Forrest chill sesh

Learning intention:  
To engage with the world around us
Success criteria: 
 I will spend time quietly outside and make notes
 I will participate in a structured meditation session

Engage
5 mins - Discussion around Stimulus avoidance and Reward.
Rewards aren’t always monetary or physical, what sorts of ways can we feel rewarded for our efforts.

Exploring new concepts:

5 mins – what is a sense of place - Read out the information below -

People develop a "sense of place" through experience and knowledge of a particular area. A sense of place emerges
through knowledge of the history, geography and geology of an area, its flora and fauna, the legends of a place,
and a growing sense of the land and its history after living there for a time.

 The feel of the sun on your face or the rain on your back, the rough and smooth textures of the land, the color of the
sky at morning and sunset, the fragrance of the plants blooming in season, the songs and antics of birds and the cautious
ramblings of mammals are environmental influences that help to define a place. Memories of personal and cultural
experiences over time make a place special.

Having a sense of place means you understand and know a place, it has become familiar by visiting and
connecting with it. You are anchored in it and feel comfortable.
People who work outdoors will usually feel a relationship and at home when outside.

Ask the students – where to they feel really comfortable and enjoy being
Their bedroom, a holiday house, a friends house? Why do they feel at home here, what has made it feel
like this?

Application task
30-45 mins –
Students will take a pen and paper and move to the pine forest.
Stop them at the edge, ask them to be silent and sit in a circle.
Find a shaded area where kids can sit in a circle.

Try and keep them quiet

Ask them to close their eyes and think about what they hear and smell, how does it feel to be outside.

Discuss what they noticed.

Discuss the value of places where people can sit quietly =, what would motivate someone to do this?
What would they need to know and experience here to develop a sense of place

Have them complete the following

Things I noticed when we first arrived (from above)

Things I saw
How could this place make someone feel (or how it made me feel)
What could people do here (try to think of active and passive activities – they will probably make jokes
about smoking 😐)
Sketch something natural they can see now (a tree, a stick.. ect)
Give the students an opportunity to share and see each others perspectives.

Return to class

Review
10 mins - Hand out a Basic Reflection – students can complete this and attach their notes from the pines
for their folder.

Session 2 – Who Am I, what qualities do I have?

Learning intention:  
To look at why people participate in OE
Success criteria: 
 I will begin my Who am I task
 I will participate in discussion around the importance of reflection for personal growth

Engage
15 mins - The teacher may choose to use one of the Small Group games from the resource on teams

Exploring new concepts:

5- 10 mins – Teacher should list “teamwork, leadership, resilience, empathy and personal growth” on the
whiteboard.
A discussion should follow on understanding these terms and why they might be important in this class.
Students should make notes, they should pick one of the terms and write a paragraph on a time when they
have or could have shown one of the following in their own life.

Application task
25 mins – Teacher will hand out and explain Who am I task, students will work to complete this.
This is a checklist task so should be kept neat and an example of their best work.
Teacher may stop and explain why this information is collected and why it is meaningful to go through.
Teacher should explain that this task will help the student think critically about themselves and will help
the teacher for camp planning.

7-10 mins - Students who complete this main task should also complete the BASIC Outdoor Activity
reflection document on the game from the start of the lesson using the terms they have learned so far
(exploring new concepts) – this will contribute to their checklist also.
Guide them through this to make it more meaningfull

Review
2-5 mins – Students should discuss their responses for the main task (only ones that won’t make students
feel awkward… not who their friends are, but maybe what qualities they like in their friends ect)
*teacher may need to collect these if a student still doesn’t have a display folder.

EXTRA - Activity Reflection task

Teacher may choose to play another small group game

*** notes – please find some time to ask/remind about paying for the subject
*** after today’s class you may want to start handing out lunchtime detentions for students un equipped for class
without a display folder (there are spares around for kids who struggle to get stationary)