-by Melody Xalxo and Mihir Pathak An Educator's Diary #5 हमारे आसपास बिखरी तमाम खूबसूरत चीज़ों को अनुभव करने, महसूस करने और उनका रस ले पाने के लिए यह ज़रूरी है कि हर बच्चे को सुनियोजित कलाबोध शिक्षा का अवसर मिले । जहाँ मुख्यधारा की शिक्षा बाज़ार द्वारा संचालित हितों को प्राथमिकता देती है और वैश्विक कम्पनियों के लिए कामगार तैयार करने में जुटी रहती है । वहां यह अक्सर बच्चे के व्यक्तित्व के कई और आयामों को नज़रअन्दाज़ कर देती है। इनमें शामिल हैं अपने आसपास की प्राकृतिक दुनिया को देखना-सराहना, उसके साथ परस्पर सम्बन्ध बनाना और उसका सम्मान करना। अपने आसपास की वास्तविक प्राकृतिक दुनिया के साथ जुड़ाव बच्चों के मनोसामाजिक, शारीरिक और संज्ञानात्मक विकास और स्वास्थ्य के लिए ज़रूरी है – उनके खुद के लिए, इस धरती के लिए और पूरे समाज के लिए। इको क्लब की तरफ से प्रकृति भ्रमण इस शोधपत्र के लिए हमने ‘इको क्लब’ को आधार बनाया है । इको क्लब एक ऐसा क्लब है जिसमें प्रकृति भ्रमण, इससे जुड़ी गतिविधियाँ, छानबीन, और चर्चाएँ की जाती है । इसके लिए इको क्लब के 10 सदस्य सप्ताह में एक बार सत्र के लिए मिलते हैं । यह इको क्लब तैयार करना, सत्र लेने का उद्देश्य था बच्चों में कलात्मक और सौन्दर्य की सराहना की प्रक्रिया के ज़रिए प्राकृतिक दुनिया के प्रति रुचि, उत्साह और कौतुहल विकसित करना। इससे बच्चों को अपने आसपास के परिवेश और प्राकृतिक पर्यावरण के साथ जान-पहचान बढ़ाने, संरक्षण की समझ बनाने, प्रकृति के साथ हमारे पारस्परिक निर्भरता को जानने और प्रकृति के इस ताने-बाने के प्रति सचेत रहने के भी मौके मिले। इसमें गतिविधियाँ जैसे, प्रकृति भ्रमण, स्केच करना, मानचित्र बनाना, मिट्टी में पाए जाने वाले कीड़ों और उनके घरों को ढूंडना, और एक इको संग्राहलय बनाना शामिल है । हमने कोशिश की कि सीखने-सिखाने की इस प्रक्रिया को बहुआयामी और बहुऐंद्रिक गतिविधियों के ज़रिए रोचक और भागीदारीपूर्ण बना सकें। इनमें देखने और जानने के विविध तरीकों के लिए जगह बनाई गई थी। इस लघु-शोध में हमारा उद्देश्य था आनंददायक और प्रासंगिक प्रकृति-आधारित शिक्षण कार्यक्रम बनाना । इसमें ठेंगावानी गांव शिक्षा केंद्र, पिपरिया (ब्लॉक), मध्य प्रदेश के प्राथमिक और माध्यमिक कक्षा के बच्चे शामिल रहे । ठेंगावानी गाँव ग्रामीण इकाले में स्तिथ है, यहाँ के ज्यादातर लोग मजदूरी कर अपना जीवन व्यापन करते हैं । कुछ लोग छोटे किसान हैं व कुछ लोग गाँव से 8km की दूरी स्तिथ पिपरिया शहर में देहाड़ी मजदूर करने जाते हैं । गाँव से ज्यादातर बच्चे गाँव के शासकीय प्राथमिक शाला में पढ़ने जाते हैं और कुछ शहर के प्राइवेट स्कूलों में जाते हैं । इन सत्र में दस नियमित भागीदार और सामुदाय के कुछ सदस्याओं ने भाग लिया और इन्हें ज्यादा इंटरैक्टिव बनाने में हमारी मदद की कि हम बेहतर तरीके से प्रकृति कला को समझ सकें और उनकी प्रसंशा कर सकें । इन सत्रों में भागीदारों द्वारा कुछ सामग्री जैसे, रंग, ब्रश, दूरबीन, लेन्सेस, इको संग्रहलय डब्बे और किताबों का इस्तेमाल किया गया । गतिविधियों को सरल तरीके से आयोजित किया गया था, जिसमें भागीदारों और संचालक के बीच परस्पर संवाद हो सके । गतिविधि करने के लिए हमने आसपास के खेत, स्कूल के प्रांगन, नदी और मैदान का इस्तेमाल किया। ध्वनि पर ध्यान केंद्रित करना हमारे आसपास, प्रकृति की बहुत सारी ध्वनियाँ हैं, जिसे हम रोजमर्रा की ज़िन्दगी में सुन कर भी अनसुना कर देते हैं । ध्वनि पर ध्यान केंद्रित करना जैसे सत्र लेने का मुख्य उद्देश्य यह था कि हम आसपास के प्राकृतिक ध्वनियों से अवगत हो सकें, उन्हें पहचान सकें, और अलग अलग ध्वनियों में अंतर जान सकें । प्रभाव यह होगा कि हम जान पाए कि हमारे आसपास क्या घटनाएं घट रही है और हम उससे किस तरह जुड़े हुए हैं । इसके लिए हमने भागीदारों को निर्देश दिया कि वे एक जगह पर बैठ अपनी आँखें बंद कर आवाजों को ध्यानपूर्वक सुनने की कोशिश करें । पहले दिन के सत्र को भागीदार गंभीर रूप में नहीं ले पाए, वे आंखें खोल कर एक दूसरे को देख मुस्कुरा रहे थे, ध्यान नहीं लगा पा रहे थे । जब पूछा गया कि कौन सी आवाजों को सुना गया, उनके जवाब थे माइक, ट्रक, चिड़िया, गाय और कुत्तों के भौंकने की आवाज़, बिजली के तार की आवाज़ आदि सुनने को मिली । उन्होंने उन्हीं आवाजों का ज़िक्र किया जिससे वे परिचित हैं । कुछ दिन बाद दूसरे सत्र में हमने बच्चों को शांत बैठकर ध्यान केन्द्रित करने का निर्देश दिया, पर इस बार हमने जगह में कुछ परिवर्तन किया । इस बार बच्चे विचलित नहीं हुए और ध्यानपूर्वक आवाजों को सुनने लगे । इस बार फिर उनसे पूछने पर बताया गया कि उन्हें अलग-अलग चिड़िया जैसे, तीतर, गौरैया, मुर्गी आदि की आवाज़ सुनाई दी । हवा में लहराते फसलों की आवाज़ सुनाई दी और कीड़े जैसे झींगुर, मक्खी, मच्छर आदि के आवाजों को सुन पाए, अपने बगल में बैठे साथी की साँसों की आवाज़ सुन पाए । ध्वनि पर ध्यान केंद्रित करना या ध्यानपूर्वक सुनने तक का सफ़र हमने कुछ ऐसा तय किया; पहले भागीदारों को घर वाले माहौल से थोड़े दूर खेतों में लिया, दो गज दूरी में बैठाया, धीमे से सांस लेने और छोड़ने के लिए कहा, धीरे से आँखें बंद करके फिर सुनने पर ध्यान लगाने के लिए कहा । इन चरणों को अपनाने पर काफी मदद मिली । गतिविधि पूरा होने पर बच्चों के सवाल उभर कर आ रहे थे जैसे, दूर की आवाज़ हम तक कैसे पहुँच जाती है ? हवा जब पेड़ों को टकराती है, उनकी अलग आवाज़ सुनाई देतीं होंगी ? समुद्र की आवाज़ कैसी होती होगी ? नेचर जर्नलिंग नेचर जर्नलिंग का मतलब है, नेचर/प्रकृति का भ्रमण करना, प्राकृतिक वस्तु जैसे पेड़-पौधे, कीड़े-मकोड़े आदि का अवलोकन करना, इनके सम्बन्ध में लिखना, इनके चित्र बनाना और इन पर चिंतन करना । भागीदारों ने इको क्लब से सम्बंधित वस्तुओं का चित्र बनाने के लिए स्क्रैपबुक बनाया । जिससे वे अपने सत्र में बनाये हुए चित्र दर्ज कर सकें । इसके लिए हमने बच्चों को निर्देश दिया कि वे किसी एक फूल का चित्र बनाएं, बिना उस फूल को देखे । बच्चों ने बौगेंविल्ला, लैंटाना, नीम के फूल, प्याज के फूल, चमेली आदि के चित्र बनाये । नीचे दिए गए हैं: इसके बाद वही फूल सामने रखकर फिर से चित्र बनाये गए । इन दोनों चित्रों में काफी सारे अंतर देखने को मिले । जैसे पहले बनाये गए लैंटाना के चित्र में छोटे फूल शामिल नहीं किये गए थे । दूसरे चित्र में यह देखने को मिला कि लैंटाना के एक गुच्छे में बहुत से छोटे छोटे फूल होते हैं । और इनके रंग भी बहुत प्रकार के होते हैं । जैसे, गुलाबी, बैंगनी, लैवेंडर, सफ़ेद आदि । बौगेंविल्ला के पहले चित्र में नसें नहीं बनाई गयी थी, दूसरी चित्र में नसें हैं । प्याज फूल के दूसरे चित्र में यह नज़र आया कि छोटे छोटे फूल जो कि दाने जैसे हैं, वो भी शामिल हैं । भागीदारों ने दो तीन रंगों को मिलाकर नए रंग बनाये और ये उनके लिए नया अनुभव था । गतिविधि पूरा होने के बाद वह यह बता पा रहे थे कि हर फूल एक दूसरे से अलग है । उनकी खुशबू, उनकी बनावट और सतह भी अलग है । पहले सत्र के मुताबिक, दूसरे सत्र में भागीदार बारीक अवलोकन करते नज़र आये । भागीदारों के अपने अवलोकनों पर कुछ सवाल उभर कर आये । जैसे, यह सवाल कि पौधे के फूलों के अलग अलग रंग क्यों और कैसे होते हैं ? फूलों के रंग कैसे बदल जाते हैं ? फूलों में खुशबू और रस कहाँ से आ जाते हैं ? इस दुनिया में फूलों की कितनी प्रजातियाँ होंगी ? इको संग्राहलय प्रत्येक भागीदारों को एक डब्बा दिया गया जिसमें उन्होंने इको-संग्रहालय बनाने के लिए अपना नाम लिखा। इस म्यूजियम को बनाने का मकसद यह था कि भागीदार को हमारे आस-पास मौजूद सभी प्राकृतिक चीजों में से कुछ अलग और अनोखा मिले, जो उन्हें पसंद आए या उन्हें किसी चीज की याद दिलाए उसे इकठ्ठा करें; उन्हें सुरक्षित रखें । डब्बे में अपने नाम के साथ साथ डब्बे के नाम भी रखे गए । ये उनके निजि डब्बे हैं जिन्हें वे हमेशा अपने पास अपने करीब रखेंगे । सत्र के लिए हम उन्हें खेत में ले गए और उन्हें बहुत सी अनोखी चीज़ें मिलीं जैसे- पक्षियों (मोर और तीतर) के पंख, विभिन्न प्रकार के पत्थर, बीज के बक्से, कांटेदार बीज, तिरंगे पत्ते और ज़िगज़ैग पैटर्न वाले फल। जब बच्चे अपनी चीज़ें दिखा रहे थे तो वे प्रत्येक चीज़ की विशेषताएँ और अपने जीवन से जुड़ी कुछ चीज़ें बता पा रहे थे। जैसे, तिरंगे पत्तों में एक जीवन काल नज़र आ रहा था, हरे रंग युवा को दर्शाता है, पीला रंग व्यस्क और भूरा रंग बुढ़ापे को दर्शाता है । बीज के बक्से जैसे गर्भवती महिला लग रही थी । इको सम्बन्ध वेब यह देखने के लिए कि हमारे आस-पास के वातावरण में जीवित प्राणी एक-दूसरे से कैसे संबंधित हैं, भागीदारों ने स्क्रैपबुक में पास के कुछ पेड़ों की छाल के चित्र बनाये । स्केचिंग करने पर पता चला कि छालों में छोटे-छोटे जीव बसे हुए हैं। बच्चों ने इनमें से कुछ प्राणियों की खोज की, जैसे तीन-चार प्रकार की चींटियाँ, मकड़ियाँ, दीमक, तितलियाँ, मक्खियाँ, मधुमक्खियाँ, गौरैया, गिलहरियाँ, अन्य कीड़े आदि। बच्चों से चर्चा के दौरान यह बात सामने आई कि एक पेड़ पर कई जीव-जंतु निर्भर हैं। जीव-जन्तुओं का भोजन, उनका घर, उनका परिवार सब वृक्ष पर ही रहते हैं और यदि एक वृक्ष कट जाता है तो कितने ही जीव-जन्तु बेघर हो जाते हैं। जीव-जंतु और पेड़-पौधे एक-दूसरे पर निर्भर होते हैं । हम मनुष्यों के पास, गर्मी, धूप, ठण्ड, बारिश से बचने के लिए बहुत से साधन हैं, ये छोटे जीव- जंतु अपने आप को कैसे सुरक्षित रखते होंगे? नीचे भागीदार द्वारा बनाये गये चित्र हैं: इको मानचित्र भागीदारों को अपने आसपास के सभी पेड़-पौधों को जानने-समझने के लिए मानचित्र बनवाया गया । मानचित्र बनाने का मकसद यह था कि हम हमारे आसपास के पेड़-पौधों को हर दिन देखते हैं, लेकिन उनके नाम, उनकी विशेषताएं, उनकी महत्त्व जानने की कोशिश नहीं करते हैं । इसके लिए हमने भागीदारों को दो समूहों में बांटा, दोनों समूहों ने बड़े ही उत्साह से कार्य किया । उनके लिए ऐसा सत्र बहुत रोचक था, दोनों समूह मुख्य रास्ते से खेतों की ओर चले । मानचित्र बनाने पर भागीदारों ने अनेकों पेड़ों-पौधों के बारे में लिखा । परिणाम यह हुआ कि ज्यादातर पाए जाने वाले पेड़ टीम, बबूल और बेर के थे और वहाँ लैंटाना की झाड़ियाँ फैली हुई थी । इस दौरान भागीदारों ने पेड़ों के नाम और उनकी विशेषताएं साझा कीं। इसी बीच कुछ पौधे ऐसे थे जिनके नाम हम नहीं जानते थे और गांव के कुछ वरिष्ठ सदस्यों ने हमारी मदद की। उन्होंने यह भी बताया कि पहले जब दवाएँ उपलब्ध नहीं होती थीं तो इनमें से कुछ पत्तियों को कुचलकर घावों पर लगाया जाता था। यह हम सभी भागीदारों के लिए फ़ायदेमंद रहा कि कुछ पारम्परिक बातें हमें जानने को मिली । यही नहीं, वरिष्ट सदस्यों ने भी इन सत्रों में भाग लेकर अपनी ख़ुशी ज़ाहिर की। उनका कहना था कि वे आज तक किसी भी ऐसे सत्र में खासकर बच्चों के साथ शामिल नहीं रहे हैं। उन्हें यह देखकर ख़ुशी हो रही थी कि आज भी बच्चे भाषा और गणित के अलावा, प्रकृति को जानने समझने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं। इन दो महीनों के छोटे प्रोजेक्ट के दौरान बच्चों को प्रकृति को देखने-समझने और उससे जुड़े सवाल पूछने का मौका मिला। वे ऐसे सत्रों और गतिविधियों से अभिभूत थे और पूरे मनोयोग से भाग ले रहे थे। मुझे उन्हें प्रकृति के बारे में सोचते, क्यों और कैसे जैसे प्रश्न पूछते (जिनके उत्तर मेरे पास नहीं थे) देखकर ख़ुशी हुई। अपने भीतर के प्रश्नों को उठाने और प्रस्ताव करने के साथ-साथ उन पर चर्चा करने से उन्हें नई जानकारी मिली और उनकी जिज्ञासाओं के उत्तर भी मिले। प्रकृति के साथ निकटता से जुड़कर, प्रकृति के भविष्य के बारे में सोचने में सक्षम हुए। जैसे. क्या होगा अगर पेड़ और कीड़े नहीं होंगे? यदि सारी नदी का पानी सूख जाए तो क्या होगा? इससे न केवल उन्हें सोचने में मदद मिली बल्कि चीजों को देखने, चित्र बनाने, सवाल पूछने, जवाब देने, गतिविधि के लिए तत्परता और अपने काम के प्रति प्रतिबद्ध रहने के मामले में उनके कौशल में भी वृद्धि हुई। हाँ, शुरू के सत्रों में सत्र लेने के दौरान मुझे दिक्कतें आई थी जब भागीदार मेरी बातों पर ध्यान नहीं देते थे । वे आपस में बातें करना शुरू कर देते थे । लेकिन जब धीरे धीरे हम सत्र करते गए, भागीदारों में वो बदलाव नज़र आई । वे रुचि ले रहे थे, और इसीलिए वे मेरी बातों को ध्यान दे रहे थे । समूहों में काम करने पर उनमें जिम्मेदारियों को संभालते नज़र आये । प्रकृति को साथी बनाते नज़र आये । इको क्लब की तरफ से प्राकृतिक पर्यावरण के साथ जान-पहचान बढ़ाते हुए दो महीनों में की गई गतिविधियों के दौरान, हमने भागीदारों के अपने परिवेश से जुड़ने के तरीके में कुछ बदलाव देखे हैं – जहां वे अपने सपास की प्राकृतिक सुंदरता के प्रति अधिक चौकस और अधिक जागरूक हो गए हैं। ये भागीदारों एवं अन्य युवा छात्रों में सौंदर्य संबंधी जागरूकता कसित करने के लिए मूलभूत कदम हैं। इस प्रकार, ये वे छोटे कदम हैं जिनसे हमने परिवेश को जानने, अवलोकन करने और आश्चर्य करने के ज बोए हैं। उदाहरण के लिए, प्राकृतिक ध्वनियों और वेब संबंधों, पौधों और जानवरों के महत्व को जानना और उन पर ध्यान केंद्रित करना। पत्तियों, लों और अन्य प्राकृतिक चीज़ों का गहन अवलोकन करना। इन गतिविधियों का एक कार्य प्रतिभागियों को उत्साहित करते हुए बहुत खुशी और त्साह लेकर आया। यही ख़ुशी और उत्साह को बरकरार रखने के लिए हमने सोचा है कि ऐसी ही गतिविधियाँ हम स्कूल के शिक्षक से बात रकर स्कूल के समय में भी करा सकते हैं। आशय यह है कि इको एक्टिविटीज को हम पर्यावरण विषय से जोड़कर भी पढ़ा सकते हैं। उदहारण के ए जैसे, कक्षा पांचवी के पाठ्यपुस्तक के कुछ पाठ, हमारा पर्यावरण; वन, जल, शहर एवं पर्यावरण जैसे पाठों से जोड़कर पढ़ाया जा सकता है। इन पाठों में आसपास के पर्यावरण के सन्दर्भ में बहुत सी जानकारियाँ दी गयी है, बस कुछ रह गया है तो अवलोकन करने के मौके, खुद से करके देखने के मौके, समूह में कार्य करना, और तार्किक क्षमताओं को बढ़ावा देना। अगर ये सभी मौके हम उस कक्षा में दे पाएंगे तो पाठों की समझ के साथ साथ बच्चों में पर्यावरण के प्रति प्रेम और जारूकता भी उत्पन्न होगी। साथ ही इन गतिविधियों के दौरान यह भी महसूस किया गया की बच्चों में चित्रकला के प्रति भी भावना जागी। जो बच्चों को चित्र बनाने में संकोच था, झिझक थी, वे भी चित्र बनाने के लिए आगे बढ़े। आसपास के कीड़े-मकोड़े,फूल- पौधे, तितलियाँ- पक्षियों के बारे में जानने की इच्छा जागी, उनकी सुन्दरता को बयाँ कर पाए। यह कार्य वर्तमान में केवल एक इ केंद्र पर किया गया, लेकिन इस कार्य को एक स्कूल में करने के साथ अन्य और भी स्कूलों में करने का प्रयास किया जा सकता है। यह लघु शोध मेलोडी खलखो, एकलव्य पिपरिया द्वारा किया गया है और मिहिर पाठक, बीमि स्कूल, बैंगलोर द्वारा निर्देशित और मार्गदर्शन किया गया है। मेलोडी खलखो: वर्तमान में एकलव्य संस्था के ‘होलिस्टिक इनिशिएटिव टुवर्ड्स एजुकेशनल चेंज’(HITEC) प्रोग्राम में कार्यरत हूँ । 2020 में अज़ीम प्रेमजी विश्वविद्यालय से MA एजुकेशन पूरा किया है । विभिन्न बाल साहित्य को पढ़ने-समझने, पेंटिंग और कृतिक आधारित कार्य में ख़ास रुचि है। लिखने में और शिक्षा के क्षेत्र में बच्चों के साथ ज़मीनी स्तर पर काम करने में दिल्चस्बी है। न इको क्लब की कुछ तस्वीरें Email: melody.xalxo18_mae@apu.edu.in Contact: 7602235785 Note: अज़ीम प्रेमजी प्रकाशन द्वारा निबंधों के संग्रह में पहली बार प्रकाशित।

As a part of our Nature Moves initiative of designing and trialing movement-based nature learning resources, we trialed some activities with educators and children. Here's a few glimpses of our experience. by Nayantara Siruguri and Roshni Ravi Move like Satya! Bringing together stories, movement, and nature Our first formal trial of movement-based resources was in June 2022 with a group of sustainability and nature educators supported by Wipro Earthian. We had a group of 12-15 experienced educators participating in the session. For us, the objective of this session was to get educators to i) experience movement-based activities for themselves and ii) to think of ways to use the performing arts and movement-based activities to introduce concepts and phenomena in nature learning. We began with a warm-up exercise where each participant showed through actions their favourite way to learn and teach about the natural world. We had varied responses from photography to nature journaling, storytelling and nature walks. We then moved on to a read aloud of the book Satya, Watch Out! written by Yamini Vijayan, illustrated by Vishnu M Nair and published by Pratham Books*. The book enabled us to explore different kinds of animal movements and also words used to describe them in various languages. After the reading, the group was divided into pairs where one person received a movement word (for eg: leap) and another received a creature/plant (for eg: frog). Together, each pair began to explore these movements – leaping like frogs, crawling like caterpillars, hopping like grasshoppers and swaying like a coconut palm. We brought the session to a close with a nature movement walk – directing our attention to movements in nature using a few prompts like: observe something that makes a sound while moving, something moving fast/slow and two different kinds of flight. Participants observed and articulated diverse movements from a Coppersmith Barbet’s throat moving while calling to the movement of various creatures like frogs and fish in water. We list some questions that arose for us as facilitators and for the participants during this session for further reflection and discussion: What does this kind of teaching-learning aim to do? What kinds of concepts/phenomena in nature learning lend themselves well to movement-based learning? Who is our audience – are there some learners who might find these activities relatable and enjoyable? Is there scope for collaboration with other performing arts and perhaps even sports disciplines? Many participants noted that the use of a story as a starting point for a movement session has great potential to also address vocabulary building and language learning allowing us to access words to describe and know the natural world better. *You can read and/or download the story for free on the StoryWeaver platform: https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/11243-satya-watch-out Nature-inspired Dumb Charades Enacting ecological interactions We conducted another trial at the Bidiru Learning Centre, Bengaluru, with children of a mixed age group. We started off with a nature walk with our Nature Movements Bingo, helping children notice and observe different kinds of movements in nature. We observed scurrying ants, falling flowers, passing clouds, and buzzing carpenter bees. Apart from discussing these observations and ticking the boxes in the bingo, the children also drew small doodles of the movements they observed. We then went back indoors for a game of dumb charades - with a nature-based twist. For this game, the children were paired and given pairs of chits one by one. These chits contained the names of two beings in nature that interact with each other in some way. For example, caterpillar and leaf, ant and fallen crumbs, rat snake and peacock. The children had to enact each of these interactions, while the others had to guess the creatures involved and the interaction occurring between them. After each enactment, we had brief discussions about the interactions represented. We concluded the session with a cool-down activity involving hand gestures. We sat together in a circle. The facilitator represented different creatures and natural processes through hand gestures, and asked the children to guess the representation and follow by imitating. We represented different things like spiders on a web, a turtle on the beach, a waterfall, a line of ants, and more. The children received this very well and were trying to create their own hand gestures and combinations. Found this interesting? Check out our Nature Moves activity booklet for more ideas and session plans to conduct movement-based nature learning sessions. We envision the Nature Moves resource bank as a living document that invites contributions and feedback from those interested in teaching-learning processes in a continuous manner. If you are a school teacher, nature educator, parent, or facilitator who has created or has ideas for activities, energisers, games or any resource that we can include and feature in this resource bank please write to us at edu@ncf-india.org . We would be delighted to feature your contribution with appropriate credit.

-by P.Jeganathan If we walk into any book stores or book fairs we often see alphabet charts representing and introducing us to various shapes, colours, animals, birds and flowers. Most of them will have a few animals depicted for certain letters but generally it will have African Elephants and Macaws and none or a few from what we will see locally. When we conduct any nature education programs and interact with young students and teachers they all often immediately recognize Penguins and Anacondas but very rarely the common and wonderful babblers that we see everyday close to our home. I always wanted to see the animals and plants from our regions in those charts, in our school books and our educational material. Nature Alphabets in Tamil There are a few animal alphabet books and charts produced in English (such as The Alphabet book for Lisu children by Aparajita Datta, Vena Kapoor, Pavithra Sankaran) and Learn About Some Common Birds of India through English Alphabet produced by Nature Classrooms and Early Bird but very rare in regional languages. When I got this idea few years ago to do a chart or a book with Tamil alphabet I started collecting names of animals and plants in Tamil but didn’t proceed further. I was excited to learnt that Nature Classrooms was putting together nature alphabet charts in the local Kashmiri language . They are also collaborating with other regional organisations and individuals to co-create more localised Alphabet charts in different languages that will represent local biodiversity, culture and nature. Discussing this idea with their team resulted in producing this chart beautifully illustrated by Karunya Baskar As the name suggests this chart will have all the commonly found flora and fauna seen in Tamil Nadu with their Tamil names. This chart is produced mainly to introduce the biodiversity of Tamil Nadu through the Tamil alphabet for the kids, teachers and nature educators. The flora and fauna presented here are carefully chosen so that (i) it covers organisms representing all the landscapes of Tamil Nadu. For instance Dugong, Sea shell, Sardine are from marine ecosystems, Indrella snail, Strobilanthus are from the forests, and the wasp, spider, skink are from the plains and our urban settings, (ii) organisms are not the so called iconic or charismatic but lesser known organisms such as the stingray, butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies, (iii) and not just from one or two groups of organisms but cover most of the taxa such as fungi, plants, invertebrates, reptiles, birds and mammals. Tamil scripts got vowels - uyir eluttukkal உயிர் எழுத்துகள் and a special letter called āyta eḻuttu ஆய்த எழுத்து (12+1), consonants - mey eluttukkal மெய் எழுத்துகள் (18) and compound letters - uyirmei eluttukkal உயிர்மெய் எழுத்துகள், which is basically a combination of vowels and consonants. These compound letters would be 216, however it is not possible to find nature related words for all these letters. Hence, we have taken the first set of 18 compound letters (Ka to Na க-ன) as it is usually done in other Tamil alphabet charts. In alphabet charts words have to be simple. In general it has to be a single word. But since we wanted to fulfil various criteria (as explained above) it was compromised in some cases and we used two letter words (for e.g. spider in Tamil will have two letters – Ettukkkal Poochi எட்டுக்கால் பூச்சி). Care was taken to choose the word commonly spoken by the general public, however when it was not possible a synonym was given within the bracket (for e.g. Palm tree is called Panai பனை but since we have to use Aintharam ஐந்தரம் which also means palm we have given ஐந்தரம் (பனை). Although commonly known names of the organisms are used we have also chosen only the linguistically correct words. For instance the Indian Pangolin is also known as an ant eater and this word is literally translated into Tamil as Erumbuth thinni எறும்புத் திண்ணி while there is a Tamil name Alangu அலங்கு. Popularizing and redeeming these lesser known words in the parlance is important and hopefully the chart will help in achieving this. A ghost crab illustration by Karunya B All the names of the organisms were taken from various sources except for the Malabar Grey Hornbill. In Tamil Hornbill is called Iruvachi இருவாச்சி. The coined Tamil name for the Malabar Grey Hornbill is Sholai Iruvachi சோலை இருவாச்சி which means hornbill of ense forests. We do not have any Tamil word starting with the letter Ṅa ங. So, coining a new word is essential and one that would fit for the organism as well. Hence, Ṅa Iruvachi ங இருவாச்சி was coined. Here Ṅa indicates an onomatopoeic word from the sound of their call. If we listen to their single note nasal call it will sound like the Tamil letter ங. ( Listen here ) Some Tamil scholars may not approve of starting a word with the letter Ṅa ங, but we hope birders and naturalists would agree with this given Tamil name for this bird, and find it appropriate as well. Although this poster is produced mainly for Kindergarten going students it can be used for students up to the 5th standard as well. This chart can be a useful and important educational resource for teachers as well since many of the animals and plants are nor familiar to the general public. There is an explainer document (in Tamil) on each organism featured in this chart. We are currently designing additional resources for educators to use along with this nature alphabet chart. A short video with all these letters and words in a flash card format with the illustration and the letter, and separate charts for vowels, consonants and vowels- consonants with more organisms are being planned. We hope that these locally-relevant resources will be useful for our students and teachers to learn and be introduced to all the wonderful organisms that share our world with us. Illustrations used in this chart are contributed to the Wikimedia Commons. This resource is open source and free to use for educational purposes: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Illustrations_by_Karunya_Baskar Download the Nature Alphabets in Tamil chart here . Nature Alphabets in Tamil Produced by: Nature Classrooms & Nature Conservation Foundation Concept: P. Jeganathan , Aditi Rao & Vena Kapoor Illustration: Karunya Baskar Reviewed:  by Ara. Selvamani, Ramki (Parithi) & K. Asha

-by Vena Kapoor An Educator's Diary #4 Is it easier or more difficult to write about a topic that you live for, love deeply and engage all your usable senses day in and day out? The nature  part comes more easily I think, the education part often gives me sleepless nights. For all of us working in the field of education the prefix before this word changes - art, sport, science, maths, basic literacy, theatre, nature. We love the work with a stubborn passion and conviction. Along with this work we try to navigate the challenges of funding, logistics, bureaucracy and the disinterest (most often because of being overburdened) of key stakeholders that invariably gets thrown at us. Yet, we make sure we keep our deep belief and enthusiasm for our work intact, fiercely protecting it to make sure that the people in this journey along with us and those who come after will not flounder or waver, and always see the value that our engagement, interventions, however small bring. Photo Credits: Priyanka Prakash/Nature Classrooms I was pacing up and down on a friend’s terrace one balmy evening, during the Covid lockdown period. It was almost dusk.  I looked down from the 5th floor terrace onto the dense with no breathing space of multitude rows of houses and buildings in a relatively quiet residential locality in Bangalore. Hundreds of old and new electricity, internet and cable TV wires and cables created an impossibly untidy criss-crossing maze above the roads and between the trees and other vegetation. I stared at the wires thinking about how horribly unpleasant they looked alongside the lovely tree filled lanes. “How difficult it must be for them to constantly have to manoeuvre this deadly maze, '' my friend said softly and a bit sadly to me. My quizzical expression lasted for a few seconds and then it struck me, he was talking about the bats that we were seeing flitting through and above the trees. I remember feeling at that moment a tad thankful to be surrounded by friends and colleagues who are also deeply empathetic to the natural world that lives alongside us - the only reminder that keeps me going everyday in a world full of loss and ecological catastrophe. These are animals, who like us have every right to live full and free lives on this planet just like we demand, but we almost never consider in our human constructed planning of space and fickle comforts. And then I looked up again. Hundreds of fruit bats were flying gloriously overhead with determined purpose, and tens of the smaller insectivorous microbats also darting and swooping around almost mischievously. I counted them as they flew overhead and in four minutes I counted more than 70 - such a fun exercise that was, and also so marvelling! Why had I not done this growing up? I was fortunate to have had lovely open terraces in many of the rented houses I grew up in. Would I have looked up at the skies and marvelled and been awed about the bats and birds that flew overhead at dusk starting out in their hunts or heading to their secret roosting sites if a human adult at home or at school had pointed or guided me to do this?  I’d like to believe so, because much later in my early 20’s that was how I was finally introduced to nature around me.  Photo Credits: Vena Kapoor / Nature Classrooms I remember always loving animals and plants and was a fierce defender and protector of them - I had managed to gain that reputation even before I was 10. But, I had no idea how to channel this innate love into wonder, curiosity or exploration. I poured over and revelled over books, magazines and documentaries that featured the natural world and its denizens featuring jaw dropping animals, plants, birds and habitats from far away lands. What I didn’t know at that time was that different birds, squirrels, garden lizards, frogs, crickets and skinks would have been having their wild adventures just outside my own windows at home or school and numerous insects, spiders would have been hiding in plain sight and leading amusing, bizarre lives just around me. This realisation continues to be a source of sadness and disappointment - I had lost so many years of not truly engaging with and discovering nature around me. Growing up in a metropolitan city I didn’t know of the option or possibility of unfettered explorations outdoors or having an “interested in nature” family member, or a social circle of nature explorers who many of my friends and colleagues seemed to have as a child or teenager. I now make up for these lost times with a vengeance, and try and use every opportunity to point willing and unwilling adults and children to the numerous birds, millipedes, ants, spiders, beetles, assassin bugs, bagworm moths, silverfish, squirrels, fungi, lichen, parasitic plants, herbs (phew!) that seem to amazingly continue living alongside us even in our most inhospitable concrete, smog-filled cityscapes and habitations.  We have numerous examples [1]  from research projects in the West highlighting how children with more nature near their homes exhibit less psychological distress, and that access to nature as a buffering or interactive effect seems to moderate the impact of stressful life events on the self-worth of children. Earlier studies from the late 80’s demonstrated that when urban children aged 9-12 were asked to make a map or drawing of all their favourite places, almost 96% of the submissions were representations of wild outdoor places [2]. Carefully designed studies are showing us that given a choice most children prefer to spend time in natural settings outdoors - and a disconnect from the same seems to negatively affect their well-being.  Photo Credits: Roshni Ravi / Nature Classrooms While these studies help us reinforce and reaffirm why we need to take nature education and experiential immersion in nature as part of our everyday lives and interactions, what does this mean for educators like us? How do we take those next steps of allowing people to see the immense value of engaging and being in love with the natural world and all its inhabitants? And how can we do this with kindness, empathy, sensitivity that captures everyone’s socio-economic reality and lived experiences along with the everyday reality of the competing onslaught of insipid rote learning and capitalist market forces?  Photo Credits: Roshni Ravi / Nature Classrooms As educationists, we know (like in every subject that we are engaged in) that hearing and learning new terms and concepts alone may not necessarily mean understanding them - and cognitive understanding does not automatically lead to strong attitudes. Feelings and emotions (the affective domain) have been shown to be crucial in understanding how children think and learn. Even a cursory scan through the textbooks that school teachers and educators rely on and use as tools to teach highlights how devoid they are of the affective domains. Another study [3] based out of Mexico and the UK demonstrated that using hands-on activities to experience and learn a new environmental or nature term is more likely to result in understanding of concepts in nature and connections in nature compared to only the use of a textbook by a teacher educator. How can we therefore push ourselves to teach and learn in more enjoyable ways, using different tools, experiences and keeping abreast with research findings from across the world and in different disciplines that may be relevant to our work? Our engagement and teaching needs to be creative, interested, inclusive, equitable, learner-centric - and that will allow for educators and learners to develop, understand, appreciate, feel a sense of wonder, amazement - the facets of attitude, skills, values and  knowledge for nature and for the environment. Photo Credits: Vena Kapoor / Nature Classrooms We have a huge advantage in that nature is all around us irrespective of where we are physically - if we look just a little closer shutting out the busy bustling noisy things around us there will always be something to discover and marvel at, at arm’s distance or closer! Climbers, shrubs, wayside “weeds” will be home to numerous insects, spiders building their homes or finding things to hunt and feed on; cracks on the curbs, walls will have small fig plants peeking out as if in defiance; ceilings and corners of rooms will have the common cellar spiders doing their routine push-up exercise routines; wasps and bees will be hovering around looking for little holes and gaps in our human-made structures to encash their paralysed food cache for their young ones, and of course there are always the sometimes soothing and hilarious, and sometimes raucous and annoying calls of birds, crickets, cicadas, frogs and toads to remind us that other beings that are very much part of our physical spaces also communicate in various ways with each other!        There are numerous examples from the natural world where our often normalised and accepted human defined patriarchal gaze and actions are completely and gloriously flipped; where accessible spaces and the use of them, the actions of turning rocks, scooping mud, nurturing and planting seeds, saplings can potentially break down barriers, conversations and acceptance - small acts of joy and rebellion that we can all marvel at and be delighted by when that wriggly earthworm gets dislodged with our collective churning and scooping of earth mud under our feet. We cannot afford to have millions of young people growing up (like I and many others did of my generation and before) disconnected, uninterested and unaware of the natural world around us - a world that is so full of delight, wonder, amazement, discovery, awe, so deeply intrinsic to our physical, spiritual and mental lives, and that has a right to live, survive and evolve on Earth with us. Photo Credits: Vena Kapoor / Nature Classrooms Through the work that we do at Nature Classrooms we want to draw the attention of all educators to the possibilities of using and engaging with nature and nature learning as a powerful, heart-warming pedagogical approach and tool in all the education work each of us engage in. We go forward with a renewed urgent energy and hope to make nature and nature learning an important part of our being, a part of each of our life journeys, an important perception of our self and our vocabularies, a part of our daily rituals, of our stories, our imagination, our identities, our love and as our obligation. We go forward with a deep hope and wish that we will pass this on to the children, young adults and adult communities we teach and work with. Do join us in this journey and may our tribe grow!        Written by Vena Kapoor - Nature Classrooms A version of this article appeared in the June 2022 issue of Samuhik Pahal - a monthly journal by Wipro Foundation:Nature Education.  https://issuu.com/wiprofoundation/docs/samuhik_pahal_vol_2_issue_9 References [1] Ulrich et al. (1991) - Ulrich, R.S., Simons, R.F., Losito, B.D., Fiorito, E., Miles, M.A., Zelson, M., 1991. Stress recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology 1 1, 201–230.   https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(05)80184-7  [2] Wells, NM and Evans, GW (2003) Nearby Nature: A Buffer of Life Stress among Rural Children Environment and Behavior; 35; 311. http://eab.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/35/3/311    [3] Barraaza, L and Cuaron, AD (2015) - How values in education affect children's environmental knowledge, Journal of Biological Education. DOI: 10.1080/00219266.2004.9655949 [4] Kuo and Sullivan (2001) - Kuo, F.E., Sullivan, W.C., 2001. Aggression and Violence in the Inner City: Effects of Environment via Mental Fatigue. Environment and Behavior 33, 543–571. https://doi.org/10.1177/00139160121973124 [5] Nutsford, D., Pearson, A.L., Kingham, S., 2013. An ecological study investigating the association between access to urban green space and mental health. Public Health 127, 1005–1011 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2013.08.016 https://www.npr.org/2018/09/10/646413667/our-better-nature-how-the-great-outdoors-can-improve-your-life 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 Hussain Ebrahim An Educator's Diary #3 My journey into unfamiliar territories started off with settling at a homestay  at the foothills of the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu and gaining gatekeeper trust in taking the initiative of a self funded research forward. Not being tribal myself I still wonder what aspect of my inclination towards nature education led me to the roots of nature worship and learning through forests as classrooms. Maybe it was years of engaging with urban children in sensitising them with environmental awareness that I conceptualized this topic subconsciously and materialized it into field action. Families praying to the stream during 'Aadi' - the arrival of monsoons Despite many challenges like a lack of funding, the ethics of sourcing aid that represents social justice and ecological sensibility, and my need for unbiased independent research - my grit led me to unfold the rich nuances on site. Building deep relations while sharing meals and cooking with the tribals, we overcame the harsh damp cold of monsoons with warm gestures and exchanges in kind. The time spent over dialogues with the community was a lived experience for me as an outsider with lighter skin tone and a difficulty in communicating in their language. A mix of Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada dictated their political dialect that extended state boundaries and confluence with my North Karnataka and Chennai roots. The healer's house in the village Anaikatti of Tamil Nadu My entry to the local healer's home was denied as they doubted my belief in shamanism or spirituality. That was the first challenge I faced, with lower back paralysis I stayed stuck in the field unable to continue research. In 40 days I took a train back to Bengaluru that was delayed to depart half a day later and arrived only a day later. After giving my NET entrance exam I reluctantly headed back to engage in a solitary enquiry on the nature of learning that happens within tribal populace. The journey within only started now, and the nuances got distilled as I left my urban ego aside to learn more from nature education than what I already knew and intellectualized living in a city. Young honey collectors catapulting a hive on a huge tree relic standing tall over centuries at their home village The village was North West of Coimbatore at the interstate border with Kerala. The children walked to school and families went by foot across the Tamil Nadu transects into the forests of the Western Ghats. They worshipped the Nagas and were majorly Irulas and Jennu Kurubas. The honey and lantana collected from forests was their only revenue beside milk, meat and eggs derived from livestock rearing and open grazing in the hilly terrains of forested landscapes. Through a research that conceptualized nature learning to be tribal centric, culturally relevant and environmentally sensitive of the cohabitus, the Nature Classrooms' framework was a perfect match to implement at the pedagogy and curricular level at a school that was essentially for the education of kids of tribal descent. Indigenous wisdom and aboriginal skillsets were infused into the philosophy and syllabus to dictate the needs of generational schooling that was in conflict with NGO interventions, state aid and ecotourism. A child involved in a folk game that women enjoyed as a part of their SHG meeting The intent was to adapt tribal youth to the intergenerational shifts in socioeconomics of the place so they are better informed when choosing to migrate for better education and sources of income. The need was to empower them to navigate cultural exclusion with the knowledge of forests as an asset to reviving sustainable use practices and cohabitating wilderness. The attained outputs of research were teaching methodologies and learner content that was in line with their leaning needs. This also involved environmental science as a bridge between social and scientific theoretical engagements that brought to practice a cultural ecology of interacting with nature and society in their daily learning. Children completing homework at a panchayat house after school hours that offers tuition classes Lastly, a psychological approach to engaging with art as therapy, including roleplay and drama, dance and music - in reviving tribal identity was applied. The building of a sense of community amidst the teaching and support staff through crafts and painting, colouring competitions for children, and an arts mela or exhibition that was themed along sustainable fabrics - were aligned with the annual learning goals. Finally teacher training was essentialized to hone tribal identity within classrooms and empower alumni to instil actionable change in career choices that tribal children often struggle to make in the eco-politics of forest management and rural development. The feeling of leaving such a space after completing research was heavy with a void lacking purpose and direction. I wished to settle for life in such a nurturing environment but had to pack my bags and wish the schooling community a goodbye. The relations with teachers and students is still cherished, and I do miss the management and support staff. Now that I have completed a PhD I can aspire to find such spaces to explore my integral philosophies regarding education and living. Caretakers of the homestay I resided at, with their young generation I also wish to someday document nonfiction work around my research in such remote spaces, as a novel or ethnographic study. The conferences I presented my research ideas and output at, were intrigued by the nature of my work and I hope future video documentaries too reach a larger audience and have a greater impact. Writing this blog brought back memories from field research years ago, and editing this piece revitalized my aspiration and directionality in life. I thank 'An Educator's Diary' series for giving me this opportunity to write about my experience as a young researcher in the making, and helping me review my agency as a young ethnographer. About the author: Hussain, PhD Scholar, The University of TransDisciplinary Health Sciences and Technology Hussain Ebrahim is an independent researcher, educator of alternate schooling, and a recent PhD scholar at the University of TransDisciplinary Health Science and Technology (TDU - Yelahanka, Bangalore, Karnataka). His recent interests in research include eco-centric learning amidst children from tribal families, documenting via oral histories and folklore - community conservation initiatives in reviving sustainable livelihoods that are dependent on the effective management of locally existing natural capital. He is also pursuing findings on the role that plant-derived medicine plays in healthcare of Adivasis amidst forested landscapes, in the hope of preserving aboriginal customary practices.

To celebrate this year's Earth Day, Wildlife Research and Conservation Foundation (WRCF) and Nature Classrooms collaborated with Early Bird to organize a fun birding session with the children of Al-Masoomen Trust in Badamwari, Srinagar. April 21st, 2024 Facilitated by Dr. Mehreen Khaleel and Tahir Gazanfar from WRCF, and volunteer Syed Abrar, the 2-hour session witnessed participation from 14-boys who engaged in birdwatching, storytelling, drawing and games! The session was kicked-off with a round of introductions and with the participants sharing their favorite birds and what makes them so special. Birdwatching Session The birdwatching session started with watching a bird, describing its features, identifying features and observation of the activities that the birds were engaged in. As it was the beginning of the day, the facilitators explained the activities that most birds perform during that time. The participants used binoculars to observe birds, their behaviour, and their habitats. They were also shown how to use bird field guides, and the participants referred to them throughout the activity with support from Dr Mehreen and Tahir. Storytelling Session Tahir narrated a short story about each bird species sighted whenever the birdwatching activity posed an opportunity. The stories helped them relate to the bird's characteristics. Habitat Drawing Participants were divided into teams of three to draw the landscape and place birds (names / draw whatever they observed) in their respective habitats. One of the participants narrated a few points about any 5 species encountered in this activity and any peculiar feature they observed. Spring Bingo Activity Nature Classrooms, in collaboration with WRCF, created the Spring Bingo for Kashmir. The participants were divided into teams and asked to complete the bingo in 5 minutes. During this time, they had to observe sights connected to spring, such as nesting or singing birds, blossoming plants, and insect activity.  Bird Migration Game Activity As guided by Abrar, participants formed two teams and competed against each other in the bird migration game. One participant from each team roleplayed as a bird (either a Mallard or a Red-crested Pochard) while being blindfolded and traveling through obstacles to start from one point and reach another, as the other team members directed the bird. In between, they had elements of a suitable habitat as well as obstacles formed by various dangers such as changes in seasonality, transformation of habitat, and hunting. The team that reached successfully to the end in the shortest time won. Winding Up Dr Mehreen Khaleel and Tahir Gazanfar from WRCF presented a bird field guide to the Al-Masoomeen Boys Trust, and also shared a bird poster, while Nature Classrooms shared the Spring Bingo sheets. We would like to thank Dr. Mehreen Khaleel and Tahir Gazanfar, WRCF; Ovee Thorat, Nature Classrooms' Kashmir Fellow; Syed Abrar, Volunteer; the children from Al-Masoomeen Boys Trust and the Early Bird team for bringing together such a beautiful nature-learning session!

Here are some surprising ways of conceptualizing nature that children shared with Aashish Gokhale in the Child-Nature-Ooru project.   A research project undertaken in collaboration with the Azim Premji University, explores the city and nature through the lens of children. The project highlights more about the lives, complex reflections, and dreams of the children we interacted with and interviewed using different qualitative data-gathering tools. By framing children's own narratives of their lived experiences, neighborhoods, communities, and their social-economic positions in the community we unravel how this affects their attitudes, connections, and relationship with nature. Here are some key highlights from the study: 1: In children’s conceptualisations, nature was seen to be ‘everywhere’ and yet ‘far away’, where nature is something that encapsulates everything, but also something that many feel they are outside of  2: Urban children’s experiences of ‘nature’ were not necessarily limited to embodied engagement with their immediate surroundings in the city — as they might move through different places, with these experiences shaping their imaginations. 3: The ‘rural’ featured prominently in the spatial imaginaries of nature — with children often referring to villages or their ooru  (place of origin) when speaking about where nature is. "But what about the children in villages? Why aren't you studying them as well?" Before his question can be answered, he goes to say, "Oh, maybe because they are already in nature." 4: Children’s nature experiences in villages, however, did not necessarily translate symmetrically to the city. For eg: a child who enjoys playing with mud in the village, says she is not allowed to do so in the city — as questions of safety and hygiene are more pronounced in the city soil. "The cows in the village are alright. They belong to people." 5: Further, the social and material barriers that limit access to public space for children were seen to persist (if not heightened) in urban nature spaces such as forested areas and lakes. 6: But while children in the city might not interact with certain forms of ‘wild’ nature, the nonhuman world was observed to be woven into children’s lives in complex and unexpected ways. "I don't know, it's nice. My Barbie like to go camping in nature, but they also do other things. Like they also go to the airport." "I planted a chewing gum in the garden. My mother said that if I swallow chewing gum, it will grow in my stomach and become big. I wanted to see if it will grow, so I planted it." 7: Spaces like wooded areas, lakes and parks which were inaccessible to some children were seen to be enlivened through other imaginings of space — with narratives of ghosts and other fantastical beings like dragons occupying them. "Um..Yes, I kind of do. I mean I literally imagine that they all live in the bamboo forest next door right next to the apartment. I mean I don't know if it is big enough to fit all of them." 8: Children’s everyday lives and mobilities were also seen to be actively influenced by the presence of urban natures such as dogs and cows, shaping how children move and where they play. P: "We don't go on that road. There's danger dog that lives there. R: "Yes, that is a mad dog. It drinks petrol." 9: While our findings question the notion of ‘nature’ as an entity that exists outside of urban childhoods, they also assert that urban children’s relationships with nature cannot be seen separately from their relationships with public space and the materialities of the city. You can read about the findings in more detail in this report: https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/tju4k Team Members: Aashish Gokhale , Kaustubh Rau , Vena Kapoor , Roshni Ravi , Ovee Thorat , Suhel Quader

Of superstitions and serendipitous encounters By Roshni Ravi We’ve been collaborating with the wonderful teachers at the Fig Tree Learning Centre in Silvepura village on the outskirts of Bengaluru for over two years now. The team of four is led by Jane Sahi, with Sarojini and Gousia working with the govt. primary schools and Rebecca working with the anganwadis. One of the schools we started working at along with the teachers from the Fig Tree Learning Centre is the Govt. Lower Primary School at Tarabanahalli. The school is housed in a small, seemingly nondescript building, off the Hesarghatta main road. A lone Singapore Cherry (Muntingia calabura) tree marks one corner of the school. The campus has two classrooms, one toilet and no playground, only a concretised open area with a flagpole in the centre. A few homes and a small cowshed are the school’s neighbours. And a lovely, Nellikai (Phyllanthus acidus) tree, source of much joy for the children, peeks from the other side of the school compound. In August 2019, we were on a visit to Tarabanahalli. Our lessons for the day were to focus on leaves and life under the ground. It was a lovely, sunny day and a group of students sat in a circle outside the classroom peering at some soil using hand lenses. We were learning about soil and all the wonderful creatures that it is home to. Sarojini was asking students what creatures they’ve noticed in the soil; there was excited chatter about earthworms, millipedes and some students even shared their experiences of farming with their families back in their villages. ‘Look, there goes a Haavu Rani!’, one of the teachers casually remarked as she walked into the school. Haavu Rani is Kannada for Skink, it translates to ‘Snake Queen’. We leapt up, eager to get a good look at the skink as it frolicked in the sun, moving fast from one end of the school to the other. A few children followed us; some were cautious and walked a few steps behind us, holding our hands even; suddenly, one of the students picked up a stone...instinctively, we reached out to stop them. Before we could say anything else, another skink entered the school compound and we all followed their antics as the two of them explored different corners of the school. We asked the students to observe their movements, count the number of legs they had and collectively marvelled at how their skin glinted and glistened in the sun. In a matter of minutes, the two skinks disappeared! Where did they go? One of the students pointed to a little hole in the wall, and said, ‘that’s the Haavu rani’s home!’ Curious, some of the children decided to take a closer look. As we settled back into the circle, a flurry of questions met us; What is a skink? Is it a snake? Will we die if it bites us? How do skinks walk on walls? We answered some of the questions and asked a few of our own; What did you feel when you saw the skink? What do you think the skink will do to us? Have you seen skinks before? ‘Skinks are dangerous!’ said one student. ‘They can bite us and the wound can get big and ugly!’, they said. ‘How do you know about this?’, we asked. ‘Someone in our village was bitten once. My parents told me to stay away or hit it.’, they said. Afraid that the other students will also harbour these fears, we said, ‘Skinks don’t bite!’ Soon, we regretted this approach and an idea formed in our heads. ‘What if we learn a little more about snakes and skinks?’, we asked the children. In the week that followed, we shared some photos, facts and stories with Sarojini and Gousia as they discussed snakes, skinks and other reptiles with the children. As the students learnt more about creatures they shared their school with, we learnt something too. It was an opportunity to remind ourselves that teaching and learning in and about nature is so much more than just names and natural history facts; it is also about tolerance, about people and their past experiences, superstitions and stories. By creating a non-judgemental, inquiry driven learning space maybe we can help start conversations, read, question each other, ignite feelings of wonder and curiosity and begin to base our beliefs and actions on facts and research. In Tarabanahalli and in our other partner schools, we’ve had many such encounters, reminding us that nature is closeby, waiting for us to notice. Watching these skinks in the sun was one of our first serendipitous encounters that translated into an interactive lesson plan for the teachers and students. We cannot emphasise enough how these can be great moments to learn and love nature in our schools, homes, streets and parks! What serendipitous encounters have you had with animals and plants around your school or home?

Published in Samuhik Pahal - Volume 2, Issue 1; September 2021.

Getting to know nature in our homes Is that little piece of paint from the wall moving? Who cleans up the crumbs from my kitchen while I’m asleep at night? Who lives in that little white tent in the corner of the wall? Have you been asking yourself questions like these? There is a lot of biodiversity that lives peacefully with us in our homes, balconies, gardens and walls. The lockdown last year gave us the opportunity to spend time with them, and we discovered a new way to engage with nature. But first - what is nature? Where can you find the natural world? Do you always need to go to faraway forests to experience the wonders of nature? By looking under a table, behind a picture frame, following a persistent sound or even peering into a bag of grains, you can find a whole new habitat to explore! Discovering, observing and documenting these “hidden housemates” can be very exciting. We created a set of three Bingo sheets and activities that anyone can download, print or even draw in their notebook to learn more about nature in and around their homes. These are available in English, Hindi and Kannada. Each sheet will introduce you to 9 Hidden Housemates, who you can go looking for in your own space using the illustrated bingo sheet as your guide. Once you find them, you may have more questions about who they are or why they behave a certain way. You can discover more about each of them through a list of specially curated resources and activities for all ages in the Bingo sheet. Get ready to take a walk, look out of your window or peer under a pot and get to know your Hidden Housemates! Link: https://www.ncf-india.org/blog/hidden-housemates-part-1 Nature Classrooms works with schools and educators to connect learning to the natural world. We develop culturally relevant and robust Nature Learning resources which correspond to primary school Environmental Studies curricula, as well as engage in capacity building for teachers and educators. Team: Vena Kapoor, Roshni Ravi and Labonie Roy

By Anvita DJ The Hidden Housemate Activities are a series of nature-themed tasks designed for children by members of the Nature Conservation Foundation to engage with their surroundings and appreciate them, while being in the comfort of their home due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. As India entered lockdown once again, I took it upon myself to complete one activity and provide a comprehensive review on it. I have documented every step so that I could take you, the reader, throughout the entire process. In total there are three activities. In each activity there are nine squares through which one must play a game of Bingo by finding and observing what is written on three squares either down or across. After this, there are creative tasks given for every square. The player can do the tasks given for the squares they have completed. There is also additional material provided for each and every square to give the player an understanding of what exactly they have seen and how it relates to the natural world at large. I decided to divide the activity into two days. On day one, I would play the Bingo Game and try to find what was described in three squares. I opted to find squares 1, 2 and 3. These were - finding a bird on a pole or wire, a motif or pattern with a nature-theme and mosquitos buzzing about in the evening. On day two I would complete the activities for these squares. Day One First up was a bird on a pole or wire, so I began to look for one. The instant I looked out of my window to spot a bird, I knew it would not work as there are no poles and wires within sight. I decided to set out with a camera around brunch time. This was not a good time to go birdwatching at all, as it was too hot and there was lots of human activity around. However, I was still able to find a Red-Whiskered Bulbul in a relatively peaceful area of my neighborhood. The next activity was to find a Nature Motif. I found several within my home. Nature Motifs and patterns are everywhere. This led me to think more carefully about nature found in designs. So much of design is based on flowers, trees, leaves and animals. My wallpaper, bedsheet and curtains yielded nature motifs. So many books, paintings and objects depicted nature as well. I have chosen a part of my bedsheet and a decorative watering-can as examples here. Can you give a quick glance to your surroundings and try to find a nature motif near you? There must be at least one. A walk around your house can get you dozens! Yet, we hardly pay attention to the source of these designs or appreciate how simplest things in nature like flowers and leaves look gorgeous on our furniture. The next and final square which I needed to spot were mosquitos buzzing about at evening-time. Thanks to the persistent showers we have been receiving as of late, mosquitos could be found almost every hour of the day. I found no issue in finding multiple mosquitoes trying to bite me in the evening. Unfortunately I was unable to click any pictures of them as I was too busy trying to zap them with my mosquito racket. However I do assure you, they were there. Now that I had finished the Bingo Part of the Hidden Housemates activity, the more engaging and hands-on tasks suggested in the activity sheet followed. Day Two On day two I decided to begin my work on the tasks suggested in the Hidden Bingo Activity Sheet. The first was to describe the bird which I had seen, make note of its behaviour and make an attempt at thinking from the birds point of view. What did the bird see around itself? Did it watch the humans as we watched it? Next, I had to draw a picture of what this bird would have seen around it. When I read this part of the activity I felt a wave of panic come over me, as art is something I’m definitely not talented at. However, I then realized that it adds to the challenge of Hidden Housemates. This series of activities encourages children to employ a variety of skills, which was something I grew to appreciate. We may not be good at everything, and our outcome may not be up to our standards, but the important fact is that we have attempted it. This sentiment is incredibly common and is always told to children, but rarely do children have the luxury to appreciate their own efforts within an academic setting. It was very refreshing to simply work towards a goal without worrying about additional criteria. Thus, I was able to produce a drawing. It may be rough and strange, but it was what I could come up with. And it was very enjoyable to do so. The next activity was to write a story about two nature motifs, draw them and then do a puppet show of them. I wrote about a bear catching a fish from a river and called it ‘Winston’s Hunt’. I found this activity to be my personal favourite, as it held massive potential for different stories. A child could easily repeat this activity over and over again, and they would not get bored. The last activity was to draw what I thought a mosquito sounded like. This activity took me by surprise in the best way possible. It posed an interesting challenge, and it took some thinking and planning before I began to draw it. I drew a lightbulb with an electrical wire attached to it it, as the buzzing of a mosquito reminded me of electricity. After finishing the drawing, I was almost done with my first play-through of the Hidden Housemates Activities. I still had to go through the ‘Further Reading’ page included. For each square I did, I visited the links provided. These are fantastic sources which really help in adding depth to each square and activity. I had a lot of fun going through each source, whether it was a video or an article. After doing this, I was now truly at the end. This brings me to the next section of this article - what did I think of this? My Thoughts on the Hidden Housemates Activities Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed completing the activity. I found every step of it to be engaging, from trying to spot different creatures to completing creative tasks on them to reading more about them. I believe that these activities will encourage children to pay more attention to their surroundings long after they have completed it. The first part - The Bingo game - helps develop children’s observational skills and ability to identify the details within their surroundings. The creative tasks then allow children to look back on what they saw and concoct wild stories, colourful drawings and have meaningful experiences with their friends and family. The extra material then ties the three elements together. These activities are very well designed. They are comprehensive and educational, and provide a wholesome experience. The accessibility of the activity really appealed to me. There is no previous preparation required. Even if you live in a city, you will be able to spot and learn about the nature around you through these activities. I think an activity such as this one will spark interest within children about nature, which they can then progress through on their own. It acts as a stepping-stone. To further catalyse this interest, I believe that more informative activities which can be completed after this one (perhaps as a series) will truly allow children to harness their talents within the world of nature. In terms of any improvements which I believe will benefit these activities - I think more variety will interest children more. While the contents of each activity is different, the structure is not. Instead of a game of Bingo, there could be another type of puzzle which children can solve. This way, each activity will feel more unique, and it can motivate children to finish all three activities to gain the ultimate Hidden Housemates Experience. To conclude, completing a Hidden Housemates activity was thoroughly enjoyable and it has been a wonderful learning experience. These activities provide a balance between learning about the biology and ecology of children’s surroundings and having fun by unleashing their creativity. In my own free time, I will definitely be completing the remaining two activities, and I look forward to seeing what the team at the Nature Conservation Foundation will design next! About the author: I’m Anvita, a high school student at Legacy School Bangalore. I’m very fond of biology and chemistry, and I plan to pursue them in the future. Apart from that, my hobbies include video gaming and music. I play the bass guitar :)