Event | Workshop | Trip | Course | Symposium
Poking Around
An Exploration of Place, Language, and the Natural World
Experiences in nature can be magical learning opportunities, teaching us about our connection to the larger ecological world in and with which we exist. Unfortunately, the lessons learned in nature often remain there, being forgotten once we return to our daily life of cities, classrooms, highways, and cellphones. The question, then, is how to bring the lessons of nature home with us? This unique workshop addresses that question, giving students a forever changed outlook on nature experiences.
Using a highly successful framework developed for Headwaters' canoe tripping program, students will learn how their use of language can make the difference between internalizing the lessons of the nature and forgetting them once they've departed the natural setting.
Utilizing story telling, creative writing, and free-form nature play, students will "poke around" the natural world and their minds, flipping over rocks, picking up sticks, and getting a sense for both the place and their place within in it.
Unique to Headwaters and born of our unique blend of theoretical and practical experience, this program is a perennial favourite! Poking Around is a fantastic workshop to pair with topics such as climate change, poetry, natural history, or civics and community engagement.
Program Details
Curricular topics addressed
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Natural Sciences
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Language Arts/English
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Philosophy
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Physical Education
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Outdoor Education
Ideal for
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Grade 6-12, elementary, middle, and high schools
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Nature & Outdoor Centres
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University students
Headwaters Highlights
A meaningful relationship with the natural world
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Unique to Headwaters, we intentionally weave environmental philosophy, naturalist knowledge, and eco-social history into everything we do, developing a relationship with nature far more meaningful than simply "enjoying the outdoors"
Time away from cellphones
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With no cell phones or other electronic devices permitted during our programs, it is a gloriously rare opportunity to unplug and re-connect
Character Development
All of our programs intentionally develop moral character, with a special focus on the following traits:
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Joy for life and its experiences
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Care for others and our world
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Wonder about life's mysteries
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A feeling of awe for both the grand vistas and the little things
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Respect for the wellbeing of others and our world
We place an emphasis on developing resiliency as the groundwork of moral character
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Resiliency teaches us to keep going even when things are uncomfortable. Because of this, it is the core of moral character, enabling us to ask, "what is worth doing, even if I fail?"
Where this program can take place
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On a school campus
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Local green space or nearby park
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In a wilderness setting
Program length
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Half day (2 hours) or full day (4 hours)
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The length of this program can be modified based on the needs of the participants