Place-Based Learning

Though it can seem daunting, getting students outdoors for even 30 minutes offers many benefits, during the pandemic and beyond. This checklist can help get you started.

When we are faced with challenges, our brains are activated to learn new things—so long as a foundation of safety, belonging, and trust is there as well.

When students step out of the classroom and explore the concepts they’ve learned about, they deepen their understanding of science, themselves, and the world.

There are plenty of logistics to consider, but educators say outdoor classes keep kids and teachers safer—and provide much-needed fresh air.

An outdoor education program builds community and culture, raises expectations and standards, increases connection between students, and develops positive associations around school and the outdoors.

Going outside helps students focus, and activities for classes from social studies to math can incorporate the natural world.

A veteran teacher and author discusses how to bring fieldwork into your project-based learning curriculum.

When teachers collaborate on projects across subjects, they can drive engagement in all of their classes.

In Grand Rapids, Michigan, an award-winning school has been the catalyst for a district turnaround after a 20-year decline.

Connecting learning to students’ surroundings—the buildings, the landscape—covers content goals and builds community pride.

See how students investigate real issues in their communities—and check out an e-book on how to adopt this type of program.

Taking kids outside—whatever environment your school is in—provides a new path to engagement in learning.

Two Canadian experiential leadership programs usher students into the great outdoors to pique their academic curiosity while enhancing their physical and mental health.

A struggling district expands the concept of the school campus—using a museum, a zoo, and the city to teach its students.

"All I needed during middle school was to feel a part of something, and connecting to my community brought me that." -- Grace Whitmore, Hood River Middle School alumna