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Knowledge is often created in spaces outside the boundaries of the four walled classrooms and besides a subject like environmental education, which deal with how to beautify our environment cannot be simply taught by sitting inside the class. Field trips should be organized to the exotic nearby locations, which are key areas of grave concern of the environmental degradation that is taking place. Subsequently, the matter should be discussed by involving students in a debate that would generate interest amongst the students to share their opinions, ideas and viewpoints regarding what they feel about a particular on-going development project that is receiving negative publicity and protests from the indigenous people of those areas. Only, when a child feels connected to an issue will there be some kind of an interest that would be kindled to know more about that topic and also find subsequent ways of overcoming the problem. According to the historian Thomas Berry, “Teaching children about the natural world should be seen as one of the most important events in their lives.” Nature has been one of the most precious gifts of God to mankind, its beauty and serenity inspires every person to become a self-proclaimed poet or poetess. Such is the magic of nature, for kids especially who are just exploring the “Big Bad World” nature has a soothing effect and makes them realise that not everything is bad, God is balancing bad with good. A child who is born and brought up in an urban environment and has only seen villages in their television set can never be able to know what kind of problems do they face. So in order to develop that sense of relatability amongst kids, they could be taken on short one day trips to nearby villages, where kids should be asked to get involved with the people and find put the problems they are facing and then as a part of their assignment they could be asked to come up with the various solutions that could put an end to all the problems that are taking place in the lives of these indigenous people. Only when we make an effort do we derive results, so it is a combined task for teachers as well as the students to make the subject which generally acts as a sedative to most kids in class by putting them off to sleep, sound and appear interesting, only then will they like to study it.
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environmental education, teaching children about natural world,
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