During a visit to SOES students begin to develop a relationship with the natural world which provides an opportunity to see how humans impact their environment. We hope to instil in students a connection that will lead to caring for their environment and to becoming critically thoughtful and informed citizens. 

Along with followup activities related to earth stewardship found in the Eco-Literacy section, here are some possible lessons to further develop students mapping and spatial literacy skills back at school. 

Ecological Orienteering Using a Google Earth copy of their school grounds, students hide ecological clues around their playground for their classmates to learn different environmental words and concepts.

Urban Planner Using Google Maps, students will compare the boundaries of green space, human space and water at SOES and the area around their school. At this point they will then take on the role of urban planners and make recommendations for how they might design a new community and why.

Photo Journalists After a visit to SOES where students have explored our human impact on the natural world, students have the opportunity to explore local issues in their own community. They'll explore the interface of local and global issues and the response of their local community through a photojournalism project.