Malka Niknamfard

In recent years, place- based education has become a flourishing method of educating the public through hands- on learning experiences. The publication Place-Based Education by the Orion Society defines this idea as a process of exposing people to hands on, tangible learning experiences that are ubiquitously found in the environment and community. This method of educating citizens is not only a way to directly expose people to what is going on in the scientific community as well as the environment around them, but it also makes them feel as though they have a direct impact on what is going on around them and that they can be directly responsible for benefitting the world around them.

Reading this article made me think back to the time I visited the L.A zoo when I was unable to go to the Bioblitz in Central Park. Although I had visited the zoo many times before, in addition to teaching us about the different animals, the tour guide that helped my group spent a lot of time talking about conservation and preservation of the environment. The tour guide taught us about how important it is to save the trees not only for the animals that live there, but also because they provide countless benefits for all humans. He showed us the polar bear habitat and taught us about the effects f global warming on the environment, and how it directly affects organisms such as polar bear.  In addition, he showed us the different plants and bushes that harvested different foods and natural plants that are commonly used to make medications. Although I have learned about the importance of environmental conservation through school, the idea did not really resonate with me until I got a first-hand look at what it really means to preserve the environment, and I was able to see the direct results of neglecting proper treatment of environment.