Summer is nearly here, and for many the school year is ending. Time to venture into the great outdoors! Scientists have been studying people’s relationships with the outdoors for a long time – who does what outside and why, how people value the outdoors, what impacts being outdoors can have on our physical and mental health, and much more.
In this series of “From the Library” posts, I’ll be highlighting some of our publications, with ideas about how to use them in your educational plans. Today, I’ll be taking a deeper dive into the “Wilderness 2.0” and “Pack to Back” monographs, both written for middle school students.
Natural Inquirer has reported on a lot of this research over the years. Today, let’s take a look at two monographs, “Wilderness 2.0” and “Pack to Back,” and see what this research can tell us about ourselves and our connection to nature.
Scientists wanted to understand how people experience wilderness and what it means to them. One way they found to do this was by reading and analyzing hundreds of travel blogs about trips to wilderness areas in Colorado. They used one 16-year-old’s blog as a case study to represent their findings across all these travel reports. In his travel blog, the teenager documents how they chose their location and planned their trip, their experiences along the way, and what they learned from the journey. Understanding how people feel about and experience wilderness areas helps land managers and policy makers decide how best to protect these lands.
Inspired to hit the trail yourself? Saturday, June 6 is National Trails Day, and to celebrate, all national forests are waiving their entry fee for the day!
Scientists sometimes focus their work on predicting the future using currently available data. In the case of backcountry and wilderness areas, scientists wanted to forecast how many people might recreate in those areas in the future and what activities they might pursue. Their intent was to gather useful data to help land managers balance recreation and conservation needs.
How to Use These Publications
- Have kids write their own travel blogs using the FACTivity from “Wilderness 2.0.”
- Practice graphing and statistical skills using the data sets in the FACTivity from “Pack to Back.”
- Introduce the concept of random sampling using these and other Natural Inquirer articles. Take a deeper dive into experimental design using our Designing Your Own Study collection.
- These monographs were published to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act of 1964. Learn more about the act that first established the National Wilderness Preservation System in a special spotlight article.
- Have students locate the wilderness areas closest to them and compare those areas to other public lands. Why are wilderness areas important?
- Watch the Nature Health Benefits virtual learning adventure, and complete a series of included activities to get kids thinking about our own connections to nature.
- Use the middle and high school educator guide for even more ideas.
