Earth Studies is a comprehensive, outdoor-based Nature Education program that explores different life zones and ecosystems at our 611-acre Pueblo Mountain Park Campus near Beulah, CO and near the banks of the Arkansas River at our River Campus in Pueblo. Started in 2002 to serve the 5^th grade students of Pueblo School District 60, the program currently consists of several full days of experiential education spread over the school year.  Lessons are built around natural science themes and cover state and district educational standards in all the major academic fields (science, geography, reading, writing, mathematics, history, health, physical education). 

Numbers

Earth Studies strives to serve every fifth grade student in Pueblo District 60 (averaging over 1,000 students per year). Extensive evaluation data collected over the last decade from thousands of students covering academics, impact on self esteem, and impact on attitudes towards Nature have been consistently positive.

Impact

There is no denying that students in our urban Pueblo school district, and throughout the country, are becoming increasingly disconnected from the natural environment. There is much research to support this observation that so many of us have made. For example: According to a GOCO presentation, out of the 50 United States, Colorado ranks

• Number 1 in seniors participating in outdoor activities
  …but
• Number 24 in children under 12 participating in outdoor activities
  and
• Number 36 for children from families with limited financial resources getting outdoors

This disconnect should be a core concern of our community, and there should be a push to provide sequential, directed educational experiences that help learners of all styles make associations with the their world, each other, and the variety of abstract ideas they encounter in the traditional classroom setting. Through NWDC’s award-winning Earth Studies Program, we strive to offer students the opportunity to synthesize information about themselves and their environment. Being able to teach kids the foundations of science and exploration in a natural environment that offers limitless examples is an amazing opportunity for these students. Beyond the academic objectives, Earth Studies also gets kids outside – hiking, exploring, using their bodies as well as their minds.

Awards and Recognition

• 2003: Earth Studies won the Best New Program Award by the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education