NEST Teachers
have style!

They engage students
in high-quality instruction using proven methods.

What they teach varies, but how they teach share some common core traits. You'll recognize a NEST Classroom when you see it because . . .
 
NEST Students
  • Learn content and skills by addressing real-world problems. 
  • Have a say in how their projects evolve.
  • Collaborate and problem-solve together. 
  • Are excited and motivated. 
Example: Third graders at Natural Bridge Elementary listened to a Boxerwood presentation about how to increase homes for birds on campus by installing nest boxes.  Afterwards, the class voted whether to undertake the project (they did). They then worked with each other and their teacher to physically map their schoolyard for best sites. Students made a presentation to their principal requesting approval for installation. They are now monitoring six sites on campus. The project involves mapping, math, science, and written and oral communication.
 
NEST Teachers
  • Design their projects with specific outcomes (skills & content) already in mind.
  • Highly value the process (as a teaching tool) as well as the product.
  • Recognize opportunities for linking projects across disciplines.
  • Coach more, lecture less.
  • Collaborate with peers and partners.
Example: Six teachers at Maury River Middle School work across grade level to engage 430 students each year in a comprehensive assessment of water quality in nearby Woods Creek. They task their students to create powerpoint slides explaining each grade’s  piece of the investigation, leaving all design decisions up to the students. Students write and prepare the text, then vote on best products, to be assembled into a presentations shared with the community during a public meeting.
​
NEST Teachers employ methods of instruction deemed highly effective by research.
The table below summarizes the teaching practices used by Project NEST.
Type of instruction 
 
What is it?
 
A method of teaching that . . .
​

​How does this method
​help learners?
​
In addition to supporting Virginia standards of learning (SOL), this method also . . .
​Examples from
​Project NEST
Inquiry
Guides students to pose, research, and address large, overarching questions and related sub-questions.
Supports active learning. Develops critical thinking. 
All projects infuse inquiry or aspects of inquiry in their activities.
Environment Based Learning (EBL)
Uses outdoor places (including schoolyards) as learning labs. 

Grounds concepts in
meaningful places.
Employs hands-on learning.
NEST Core K-12 Programs
 
Birds for Thirds (gr. 3)
 
Trout in the Classroom
(gr. 4 – 7)
Project-Based Learning (PBL)
Challenges students to work together to create a product for a real-world audience, as linked to topic of study
Encourages high-quality outcomes by addressing
real-world needs.
 
Develops success skills:
  • creativity
  • collaboration
  • communication
  • critical thinking 
Growing Native (gr. 4)
 
Bay Clubs (gr. 7)
 
 
 
These two are also
​EBL projects
4 Strands of Science
Ensures students don’t just learn science but do science.
 
This is a nationally acclaimed framework for designing science units, modeled on the work practices of actual scientists. 
​

Engages students in
scientific process of 
  • inquiry & research
  • data design & analysis
  • reflection
  • public sharing/action 

Map Your Schoolyard
(gr. 4)
 
Rockbridge River Project (gr. 4-6)
 
Woods Creek Project
(gr. 6-8)
Meaningful Watershed
Education Experiences
​(MWEEs)
Engages students in a sustained, watershed-based inquiry that culminates in a student-led conservation project.
 
MWEEs have been mandated by the Commonwealth of Virginia for
​ all public schools.  
​
Builds environmental literacy skills to promote care of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
 
 
MWEEs incorporates elements from all of the best practices above.
NEST projects
in bold above

It works.
See what experts say.
A growing body of research documents the benefits of nature-based learning. 
The resource links below highlight current findings from many peer-reviewed studies. Multiple studies confirm that connecting children with nature:

Increases physical and emotional well-being (click link for shareable fact sheet from the National Environmental Education Foundation or NEEF)  
  • reduces stress
  • strengthens social development
  • reduces childhood obesity and related conditions
Improves educational outcomes (clink link for categorized summaries also from NEEF) 
  • increases motivation and engagement 
  • improves ability to concentrate
  • strengthens academic performance
Supports development of conservation values (clink link for multiple studies from the Children & Nature Network)

For an inspiring case study of one third-grade teacher's successful efforts to integrate nature study and language arts, with strong reading results, click file.

eick_charles_j.pdf
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