COUNCIL OF OUTDOOR LEARNING
What is CoOL?
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The Council of Outdoor Learning (CoOL) is an EEA initiative that focuses on the design, development, use, and sustainability of outdoor learning environments on school campuses. CoOL provides tips and techniques for those who want to create outdoor classrooms or learning stations, hosts an annual symposium to share resources and strategies for teaching outdoors, curates a collection of outdoor learning activities that are integrated with state standards, and provides professional learning workshops, resources and webinars for teachers and non-formal educators.
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Schoolyard AuditsHow can you know what you need, before you know what you've got? Schoolyard audits are one way to to take note of physical assets and identify missing elements for an outdoor learning program on campus. Here are several types of audits. Choose one or all of them to complete.
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EcoSchools USA Schoolyard Habitats Audit
This audit was designed to help students and teachers determine whether there are areas on campus that could support native wildlife. The process involves identifying essential components of a healthy habitat and then surveying the schoolyard to search for them. If there are some areas with potential but missing components, it is suggested that these gaps might generate ideas for student projects.
What's Good in My Hood
This is an asset-based neighborhood audit for urban areas. Author Akiima Price intended for students to conduct the audit and to learn about their community and how it connects with nature, in the process. Learn more about Akiima Price and the Urban Environmental Collective.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Schoolyard Habitat Project Guide
Environmental Pathway AuditsThe National Wildlife Federation offers a number of audit pathways that student teams can use to discover how sustainable their school is in terms of consumption, waste, energy use, wildlife habitat, transportation, watersheds, food, and many other categories.
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Make a Master Plan
Drawing on survey results, your map of campus assets and needs, any environmental audits that students have conducted, as well as any design constraints (such as planned locations of future buildings or modular classrooms, location of underground utilities, and safety hazards), create a master plan that focuses on your campus assets and prioritizes highly-needed improvements. Divide the plan into bite-sized chunks so that volunteers, civic groups, and the school community has an easy-to-follow blueprint for what is needed.
