Science and Society for the Nature

 30 March 2025

Environmental education has enormous scope to develop cognitive skills, analytical ability and scientific temperament amongst school going children. More importantly, it is the easiest way to understand the application of science in daily life. If it is delivered in a more engaging way, it has the ability to help imbibe conservation of ecology as a value in a very young age. To realize these propositions a collaborative project was implemented by Uttarakhand Science Education and Research Centre (USERC) an autonomous scientific organization of government of Uttarakhand and Gramya Sikshan Paryavaran Sanstha (GRAMYA) with four schools in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. These schools include PEACE Public School, Gopeshwar, Subodh Prem Vidya Mandir, Gopeshwar, Janta High School, Dumak and Janta High School, Bemru.

Four workshops for children of two rural and two urban schools were designed in this project, each of three days to provide experiential learning to children. The content, procedure and methods of these workshops were so designed that the delivery of the workshop goes beyond classroom lectures and exercises. All efforts were made to bring workshop participants closer to natural resources such as soil, forests and water. They were given a chance to feel these natural resources and observe them using scientific methods and equipment.

In these workshops we brought our participants closer to three natural resources – water, soil and forests. Every day of the workshop was dedicated to one resource. We took them closer to these resources, discussed their availability and use and also used scientific equipment such as soil and water testing kits to check the quality of these resources. In the case of forest, we took them for forest visits, used equipment such as binoculars, magnifying glasses and software like google lens to discover fauna and flora in the forests.

In our discussion and workshop structure we also kept place for traditional ecological knowledge and culture. The relationship of human society to its environment is driven by their cultural practices, traditional knowledge and skills. These practices are conserved and transferred from one generation to another through stories, songs, folklore, proverbs, cultural values, beliefs, rituals, community law, language, agricultural practices etc.

How was it received?

In the beginning we were not very sure about the kind of response in the field from participating schools and their students. One of the reasons for this apprehension was the location background of our target students. In our planning we kept two schools from rural and another two from urban settings to cover children from both rural and urban areas. Yet, it was obvious that rural children had great exposure to all of three resources- soil, water and forests. Moreover, while two schools are located in towns, their students also have strong parental ties in villages around the town. And those ties give them a fair amount of exposure to quality, quantity and changing nature of all these three resources.

Through four workshops we had planned to reach out to 80 students, 20 participants in each workshop. But, when we took this proposal to our collaborating schools, we received a warm, open arm invitation from every participating school. Proactively, these schools persuaded us to increase the size of the workshop to accommodate more students. Through these four workshops we ended up reaching out to 155 students of four schools.

The enthusiasm and interests of students was beyond our expectation and presumptions. Since, all of these children are close to soil, water and forests; their level of interest to decipher them through these workshops was exceptionally high. We realize that all of these students have read about these resources in their textbooks, but this was the first opportunity for them to observe them closely using science. Our pre and post workshop assessment also reveals that students are very attentive in workshops.

Using Science to Decipher Everyday Rural Life

Of the total 155 students who participated in our workshops 102 were from urban schools and 53 from rural schools. While students from all schools have close interaction with soil, water and forest, the intensity of closeness varies. Rural students engage with these resources on an everyday basis. In fact they also experience difficulties relating to shortage of water, lack of nutrients in soil and degradation of forest. In most cases they help their parents to deal with these problems as they are linked to their subsistence. 

In these workshops, we observed that rural students do not have enough modern scientific knowledge on soil, water and forest, but they have extensive knowledge and experience of engaging with different practical challenges of these resources. They see these resources as economic resources, which require care. They also have clarity on degradation of forests, erosion of soil and drying of water resources. But, these children had very limited knowledge on their science. For example, we observe limited awareness among rural students on issues of factors responsible for resource pollution and climate change.

Despite their very close connection with soil, water and forest they found testing of soil, water and observation of flora and fauna as new dimensions to their existing understanding. We as workshop facilitators observed their excitement to see contamination in water they use on an everyday basis. Assessing soil nutrients such as soil organic carbon, nitrate and pH level in the soil sample taken from their own field was new to them. We found that it was very easy for rural children to relate with findings of soil and water tests as they know these resources very well.

Using Nature to Relate Application of Science

102 students of two urban schools who participated in our workshops also have significant exposure to soil, water and forests. However, they are exposed to these resources, only when they visit their villages during vacations. We found that their level of knowledge on the science of soil, water and forest is considerably rich compared to rural students. They were also very familiar with many concepts of climate change and resource resilience.

These workshops provided them an opportunity to feel natural resources and apply their textbook knowledge. These students used the opportunity to validate and testify their textbook knowledge regarding resource pollution, soil nutrient and forest ecosystem. After facilitating a few soil and water tests, these students themselves conducted a number of other tests to see contamination in sampled water and level of nutrient in sampled soil.

Students of both of these urban schools were taken into villages for these workshops. This deliberate attempt was to open the learning environment. Children were given a chance to visit the village and its water sources and agricultural fields. They also interacted with villagers to broaden their understanding of natural capital.

Pre and Post Workshop Assessment

To assess the impact of workshop delivery we conducted pre and post workshop assessment of our participants, using the following questionnaire. This MCQ based questionnaire was given to participants on day one before starting the workshop and after concluding of workshop on day three for pre and post assessment respectively. The result of assessment for pre and post workshops is shown in the following table. 

The cumulative score of pre and post workshop assessment given in above table indicate that workshops were effective in linking nature and science with issues of climate change and ecological challenges.

Conclusion:

These workshops highlight the power of experiential learning in environmental education. By moving beyond textbooks, students explored soil, water, and forests firsthand using scientific tools. This hands-on approach deepened their understanding while sparking curiosity about their surroundings. Integrating traditional ecological knowledge further enriched the experience, linking science to cultural practices and community wisdom.

Engaging both rural and urban students proved valuable. Rural students brought practical knowledge from daily interactions with natural resources, while urban students contributed strong theoretical insights. The workshops bridged this gap, allowing students to learn from each other and apply scientific methods to real-world environmental issues.

The success of these workshops reaffirm that environmental education can be dynamic, inclusive, and impactful. When science is taught through direct engagement with nature, students develop not only a better grasp of concepts but also a sense of responsibility toward conservation. By combining modern scientific inquiry with traditional wisdom, such programs inspire young minds to become proactive environmental stewards. With growing concerns about sustainability, scaling up similar initiatives can nurture a generation equipped to protect and restore natural ecosystems, ensuring a more environmentally conscious future.