At Nature Classrooms, we run collaborative projects using multiple ways of engagement. These include the Suttha Muttha project with schools and teachers in Silvepura Village, Bangalore to enhance stories of local ecology among school communities. We also engage with schools and organisations to develop contextual resources based on the EVS curriculum. Additionally, we have been involved in a collaborative research project that explores how nature features in the social life of urban children. Outreach and Public Engagement Our outreach and public engagement initiatives aim to take Nature Classrooms’ work and approach to the wider community of educators and nature educators, and to platform and enable for dialogue, collaboration, and sharing experiences and co-learning opportunities. By facilitating meet-ups, talks, workshops, conferences and creative collaborations, we connect with students, teachers, nature educators, nature enthusiasts, and the wider public to exchange ideas, share experiences, and imagine new ways for nature to be part of everyday life and learning. Communities of Practice An online series, in collaboration with Wipro Foundation, exploring the different topics and themes relevant to nature learning. Read More Nature Educators Meet-ups The Nature Educator Meet-ups is a growing community of nature educators and nature enthusiasts who connect, reflect, and explore creative ways to bring nature learning into everyday life. What began as an informal gathering in Bengaluru has now expanded to Mumbai, Goa, and Chennai, with 250+ members and 15+ sessions since 2024. Read More Projects Search Search

At Nature Classrooms, we run collaborative projects using multiple ways of engagement. These include the Suttha Muttha project with schools and teachers in Silvepura Village, Bangalore to enhance stories of local ecology among school communities. We also engage with schools and organisations to develop contextual resources based on the EVS curriculum. Additionally, we have been involved in a collaborative research project that explores how nature features in the social life of urban children. There Is Nothing There KANNADA HINDI THE GAME Nature Classrooms’ nature learning book ‘There’s Nothing There!’ follows Arali and her Amma’s journey from her school to their home, and everything that they see (or maybe don’t) in between - and you will get a chance to join them in these delightful journeys! This visually stunning bilingual book was inspired by the younglings and teachers of Tarabanahalli Govt. School, in peri urban Bangalore who embarked on adventures to explore nature in and around their school grounds and local neighbourhoods. ‘There’s Nothing There!’ finds its roots in the conversations and interactions during our two year collaborative Suttha Muttha project with the Fig Tree Learning Center supported by The Bangalore Sustainability Forum. The Nature Classrooms team and Fig Tree's dedicated educators (Jane, Sarojini, and Gousia), illustrator and designer Karunya Bhaskar joined hands, weaving together the little and not-so-little interactions and shared experiences of nature that they came across along with the students and teachers from government schools in Silvepura Village, Bengaluru's vibrant and rapidly changing peri-urban landscape. Based on our trials with the schools we work with, we are in the process of compiling various nature activity ideas that can compliment the story book and also be used by teachers in and around their classroom and school spaces. Look out for these on our website! If you use this book with your students and would like to share your nature activity ideas with us please get in touch - we would love to trial them out as well! Authors: Roshni Ravi, Jane Sahi Design and Illustrations: Karunya Bhaskar Supported by: The Bangalore Sustainability Forum In collaboration with: The Fig Tree Learning Center Languages: English and Kannada, English and Hindi Translation support (Kannada): Anu Mothi, Maadhyama Aneka Pvt. Ltd Design support (Hindi): Janhavi Translation support (Hindi): Nidhi Pal Additional support (Hindi): Mihir Pathak Projects Search Search

At Nature Classrooms, we run collaborative projects using multiple ways of engagement. These include the Suttha Muttha project with schools and teachers in Silvepura Village, Bangalore to enhance stories of local ecology among school communities. We also engage with schools and organisations to develop contextual resources based on the EVS curriculum. Additionally, we have been involved in a collaborative research project that explores how nature features in the social life of urban children. Capacity Building and Training Workshops Our capacity-building workshops have been designed with the intention of evoking wonder, fascination, inquiry, and a deep connection with immediate nature in teachers and educators. We carefully plan each workshop to align with the unique goals and local contexts of our participants. Our training workshops are contextually curated and range from a half-day session to an immersive four-day engagement. Through interactive discussions we explore different educational theories, practical tools, and pedagogical approaches with the teachers and educators. The goal is for the learners to adopt and adapt these within their own teaching-learning spaces and communities and to deepen their nature learning while weaving in the local-social-cultural contexts to which they belong. The workshops are also interspersed with immersive group activities and outdoor sessions to enable the participants to receive a hands-on experience of facilitating and engaging in planning and delivering sessions in nature learning. “I really liked the entire workshop. I teach literature and sometimes I used stories that were related to nature...like a man living in a forest. But I have found that students were unable to make a connection with nature through those stories. Earlier I felt unable to bring that connection. But after attending the workshop, I think I can instead use local stories and students will be able to easily relate to these stories.” -an educator's experience of a Nature Learning Workshop Who Do We Engage With: Teachers and Educators We design and curate immersive nature learning workshops for teachers and educator groups from diverse teaching-learning spaces. We take them through the process of integrating concepts, phenomena, and patterns from the natural world into their existing EVS or school subject curricula using our Nature Learning Framework and Pedagogy. We actively guide them through lesson planning activities, giving them the firsthand experience to see how easily and meaningfully they could integrate nature learning into their sessions using new and existing resources even with the constraints of time and outdoor space. Education Organisations and Fellowship Programmes We collaborate with education organizations and fellowships to integrate nature learning into their existing programmes. We guide their educators and trainers on how to effectively blend educational theory and practice with ecological and nature-based concepts by providing them with the understanding, tools and resources to ensure their teaching-learning engagements are age-appropriate, contextual and meaningful. Conservation Science Organisations and Students We design and facilitate sessions for conservation science organisations and students introducing them to diverse and appropriate theories and practices from the field of education. We deep dive and engage in co-learning discussions and dilemmas about how educational approaches and tools can be used contextually to plan and deliver their conservation/nature education interventions. If you want to be a part of our nature learning workshops for educators or want us to conduct a workshop for your institution, or just want to know more, write to us at info@natureclassrooms.in Organisations we have collaborated with since 2018: Fig Tree Learning Center Wipro Foundation Agastya International Foundation Azim Premji Foundation Center for Wildlife Studies Let’s Be The Change Bhoomi - Teach for Nature Fellowship EarlyBird Programme SeasonWatch Programme Aripana Foundation Punarchith Parikrma Humanity Foundation High Altitude Programme - Nature Conservation Foundation SCCS-Bengaluru YouCAN Fellowship Aga Khan Foundation The Serenity Trust Care Earth Trust The Habitats Trust Shiv Nadar Schools Lal Family Foundation / Nico Eco Project Projects Search Search

-by Gousia Taj. English Translation by Aditi Rao An Educator's Diary#8 “ Ma’am, we saw the signature spider! ” On 19/12/25, a workshop on animal homes was conducted for the 4th and 5th grade students of Tarabanahalli. One of the activities included a bingo game about spiders. The bingo sheet had pictures of different kinds of spiders. The children managed to find all the spiders except the 'signature spider'. They kept wishing they could find the signature spider too. So we allowed them to take their bingo sheets home and told them, “It’s okay if you didn’t find the signature spider here. Look for it near your house, on the way, or at school.” About two weeks later, as usual, when I stepped into the classroom to call the children for the lesson, they shouted loudly, “Ma’am, we saw the signature spider!” I was startled for a moment. Usually the children greet me with a “Good morning, Ma’am,” but that day, hearing them shout that they had seen the signature spider shocked me. A Signature Spider from Tarabanahalli School Campus I asked, “Where did you see it?” The children said, “It built a web in the grass in front of our school toilet. Ma’am, come, we’ll show it to you!” and they pulled my hand and took me there. When we went and looked, there were signature spiders in three places. I told them, “Yes, children, this is the same signature spider from your bingo. It was missing, right? Now you can tick it.” I saw so much happiness on the children’s faces about the spider. They were celebrating as if they had found a treasure. Seeing their excitement made me very happy too. I felt the workshop had left a deep impact on the children. Later that same day, at the end of the lesson, we were setting up a table for an insect display. In the corner, a daddy long legs spider had built a web, which was sticking to our hands. I said I would bring a broom and clean it. But a student named Malappa said, “No Ma’am, let it stay here, poor thing,” and left it as it was. Hearing and seeing this made me feel very proud. At the same time, I wondered if I should not have asked to remove the web. Children observing an ant carrying a dead insect. Overall, the children’s interest in observing spiders has increased now. Every time I go to teach, the lesson begins only after the children first share their experiences and stories about animals, birds, insects, and trees they have encountered. Spider made out of natural materials by the students Image credits - Priyanka Prakash, Aditi Rao Written by : Gousia Taj- Facilitator at the Fig Tree Learning Centre (FTLC). If you are an educator looking to engage with articles and opinion pieces on nature education and pedagogy, a student looking to explore discourses in nature education, or just curious about these things - here's a curated list of essential readings available online.

by Jayashree Ramadas and Dhanya K Our Motivation We (Dhanya and Jayashree) are two educators eager to promote rational, evidence-based scientific thinking among children. Science has helped us delve deep into the beauty and complexity of the natural world. At the same time we are surprised and shocked to see the same tools of science, used in short-sighted ways, threaten life and eventually our very existence on earth. This stark contradiction has made us stop and ask, could we possibly learn and teach our children to appreciate and save this precious gift of life on earth? Prelude Here we are, cosily wrapped in a blanket of an oxygen-rich atmosphere, going about our lives on planet earth, our one and only home in this vast cosmos. But did you notice recently, this blanket is getting dirtier, just a bit warmer, even acting stormy and unpredictable? So many species have gone extinct: birds are fewer, bees are disappearing, and, as we intrude into their spaces, some, like the Coronavirus, are literally going viral. Make no mistake, it’s our own actions that are causing these far-reaching changes. Shouldn’t we then, as an intelligent species, try to understand what we are doing? Try to equip our children to deal with these changes, perhaps even reverse them? As pollution, global warming, and climate change threaten our very existence on earth, we need more effective environmental education in our schools. What is an effective environmental education? How can we (as a community) make our existing environmental education more effective? Let us explore these questions in this four part series. Part 1: Learning through students' natural and social environment. Is ‘environmental education’ a new idea? Not at all! In one or another form, environmental education has existed in our schools from early on. It gained momentum in 1991 when the Supreme Court of India mandated school boards to ensure its teaching at all levels. Subsequently, several curricular reforms gave it serious thought. Despite all these efforts, environmental education has remained peripheral in our schools. Environmental values may be commonly preached but critical and meaningful approaches are missing in practice. It is not that textbooks are lacking in content. Concepts, ideas, and activities related to the environment are found in almost all textbooks. From EVS at the primary level to the different branches of science and social science at the secondary and higher secondary subjects, environmental science is a compulsory part of the syllabus. Between the subject textbooks at all grade levels, the relevant topics appear to be sufficiently covered. What then is the problem? The shortcomings were correctly identified by an NCERT document of the 2000s which outlines how environmental education should be infused into the syllabus of Classes 1-12. Despite the major curricular initiatives, it says, there is inadequate exposure of students to their habitat: "There is little active learning from the natural and social world around them." The report mentions routine teaching of prescribed material, activity-based projects (often sold by commercial agencies) executed in a set manner, and the dominance of rote learning. Such concerns may cut across all subjects but, in the case of environmental education, a disconnect from the environment - a lack of active learning from the world - is a self-contradiction, a paradox. Environmental education loses all meaning if it simply amounts to teaching and preaching about the environment, without learning from the environment. In school practice there is another well-known problem. Environmental education is often treated as extracurricular: desirable but not at the cost of other more perceived “important” subjects like maths and the physical sciences. Such is the perception of schools, teachers and arguably parents as well. How do we get out of these conundrums? Let’s look at the examples of some schools which have managed it, in the next part of this series. You tell us too - What is your most memorable experience of ‘learning about nature’? What are some good examples of environmental education that you have seen or experienced, in or outside of school? Share your responses with us by emailing to: edu@ncf-india.org All images in this article were captured by the Nature Classrooms team as a part of our outreach and engagement initiatives. About the Authors Jayashree Ramadas : Research and Development in Science Education; formerly at Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education and TIFR Hyderabad. Dhanya K : Researcher & Science Educator formerly Teacher at Rishi Valley School.

by Jayashree Ramadas and Dhanya K Part 2: Trending a different path Interestingly, the well-known success stories of environmental education come from outside of the formal school system: from homeschooling, out-of-school programs, and from the alternative education space. In the feature ‘Teaching as if the Earth Matters’ iWonder , a science magazine for school teachers, has featured alternative schools like Rishi Valley , Anand Niketan in Sewagram, Puvidham , and Marudam Farm School in Tamil Nadu. There are others around the country whose stories might be told. A response to contradictions Art work by Abdullah Ibrahim ‘The Hidden Wild’ One could trace back the roots of these alternative initiatives to the contradictions that their founders and teachers noticed in the prevalent education system as well as in modern, urban lifestyles. Some of those very contradictions have led to today’s environmental crises: in brief, loss of biodiversity, over-exploitation of the earth's resources, hyper-consumption, unsustainable lifestyles, and imbalanced, out-of-control development. Many of the alternative schoolers responded by physically moving out or staying away from urban, built environments. They created school spaces that would embody values of equity, sustainability, ecology and conservation through a more humane and inquiring approach. Nature learning in alternative schools Art work by Ishaal Azeez ‘A Turtle Walk With A Fly’ Alternative schools strived to expose their students to nature: to develop connections with land and water, with plants, insects, and birds; to remain sensitive to the seasons, and to learn sustainability from the local communities with whom they shared a geographical space. Children in these schools practise farming, gardening, craft and art, and through practice, they seek to develop a lasting relationship with our planet Earth. An obvious yet often missed feature of all these schools, which plays a role in meaningful environmental education, is their small class sizes. Today, in urban areas but also increasingly in rural areas, we are habituated to classes of 50, 60, or more students and we forget that meaningful education is possible only with meaningful communication -- which happens in small classrooms where teachers and students can listen and talk to each other and also allow for a more inquiry-oriented approach. Photo from Aksharnandan Student-teacher ratio is the quantifiable part of this interaction. If children's learning is to happen beyond their classroom, it needs support from the community. Such support may come from sympathetic parents or, in more urban areas, from professionals, academics, and activists concerned with environmental issues. All at once this move could bring more expertise and resources into the classroom, effectively increase the teacher-student ratio and lead to relevant professional development of teachers. An alternative school in Chennai Photo from Al Qamar Academy Al Qamar Academy , an alternative minority school in Chennai, experimented with this model. In its brief 10 years of existence, the school demonstrated how explorations in nature could lead to a love of nature and thoughtful environmental activism. A background to environmental learning was created with the Small Science curriculum for primary science. Then, in a more focused way, the primary and middle school students participated in a three-year unique place-based field ecology program (2018-21), spending time in a restored wetland, and visiting riverfronts, salt pans, beaches, and forests all in their immediate environments. They experienced the enchantment of the wild and also came face to face with the consequences of rampant urbanisation. Their engagement deepened over the years through interactions with academics and environmental activists. Finally, their learning and activism found expression in the Earth Authors Program , conducted collaboratively by the Cogitation Club and Youth Conservation Action Network (YouCAN) -- in which a group of 5th-8th graders wrote and illustrated a set of 14 books that told their own stories about nature and conservation. A subsequent reflective study of this program describes in detail how the children connected with nature – the awe and wonder they experienced; the changes they found in themselves – in relating to nature, resulting in their urge for creating a change – advocating for nature. Photo from Al Qamar Academy Like many small alternative schools in the country Al Qamar led a precarious existence and finally closed down in 2021, morphing into an online program: Cogitation Club . Happily, some of its teachers and parents succeeded opening up two new schools - Scholars Academy and Sunnyside - which continue their quest for nature-friendly, experiential and self-directed learning. Perhaps such intensive interactions of school students with experts may be achieved over a limited period of time. The question remains, how can one sustain a long-term program of environmental learning within any school? Perhaps such intensive interactions of school students with experts may be achieved over a limited period of time. The question remains, how can one sustain a long-term program of environmental learning within any school? In the next part of this series let’s delve into some contradictions that beset our discussions about the environment. What do you think? Is it easy to sustain a program of environmental learning, either in or outside of school? Do tell us about the common activities that your school engages in to connect children with their local surroundings. Share your responses with us by emailing to: edu@ncf-india.org Image credits: The images in the article were sourced from Al Qamar Academy, Chennai and Aksharnandan, Pune. About the Authors Jayashree Ramadas : Research and Development in Science Education; formerly at Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education and TIFR Hyderabad. Dhanya K : Researcher & Science Educator formerly Teacher at Rishi Valley School.