Education in, about and for the Environment

3.3 To what extent do teachers offer students learning opportunities about how nature works?
(e.g., exploring our connections to each other and the world around us through examining our food, water, energy, air, and land, and our interaction with all living things; understanding energy flow, life webs and matter cycles; uncovering our dependance on the environment by asking, "In this situation, what living and non-living resources did we use? How did we use renewable and non-renewable energy?")

Hillside Outdoor Education School has been certified as a Platinum Ecoschool since 2005. In our role as a Platinum Ecoschool, not only do we embed Ecological Literacy in all of our programming on site for students, but also we provide mentorship for other schools in our area through Ecoschool Audits and close contact with teachers. Hillside also provides Professional Development opportunities for Teachers, ECES, Central and other Staff. One example of this is our Kindergarten and Early years Inquiry in the Outdoors Modules. For more information on the timing of these modules and how to register, please contact Hillside directly by calling 416-396-6963.

Hillside is part of the All TOES (Toronto Outdoor Education Schools) initiative called May is GET OUTSIDE month, which provides lessons created by our staff in the department that enourage teachers to take students outside for learning in, for and about the environment. Click this link to see archived and current Get Outside Lessons: TOES Get-Outside-Lessons

Supporting Your Rouge National Park is easy. FRW (Friends of the Rouge Watershed) have been working in the park tirelessly for close to two decades. Open this link to learn more and to support their initiatives
Every day at Hillside we stress the importance of using less water, electricity, and other resources. Many schools have expressed interest in resources to help students understand the difficulties some communities and many countries face in obtaining clean drinking water. The story of Ryan’s Well explains the tenacity of one boy, Ryan Hreljac, who perseveres to reach his goal to provide clean drinking water to children.

Read the story of Ryan’s Well or go to: http://www.ryanswell.ca/