Celebrating Growth: A List of Resources We Revised with Equity at the Center

 

In partnership with Justice Outside (formerly Youth Outside), and with guidance from José González, and The Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, the BEETLES Team has been working to revise our materials to better reflect equitable, inclusive, and culturally relevant teaching practices. We understand that knowledge is not static, and we’re full of gratitude to have the opportunity to deepen our understanding and know more now than we knew two or five years ago. With funding support from the National Science Foundation, and the Pisces Foundation, we have had the resources to dedicate time to this revision and reflection.

We’re a work in progress, and we wanted to take a moment to curate and celebrate the list of resources we’ve recently revised with a focus on equity, inclusion, and cultural relevance. This list is just the beginning – we plan to continue revising additional student activities and professional learning resources as a standing part of our commitment to anti-racist and anti-oppression work. We also acknowledge that we are still learning and growing, and may have made mistakes in our revisions. We still have room to grow in our learning, understanding, and approach. And, we hope that in several years, we’ll have learned enough to need to revise these materials again! 

 

Student Activities

• Beach Exploration
• Case of the Disappearing Log
• Decomposition Mission
• Discovery Swap
• Group Agreements for Science Discussions
• I Notice, I wonder, It Reminds Me of
• Mating & Cloning
• Matter & Energy Diagram
• Social Emotional Learning Routine
• Thought Swap (Formerly Walk & Talk)
• What’s in Compost?
• Worm Explorations

 

Professional Learning Sessions

• Making Observations
• Promoting Discussion (coming soon!)
• Field Journaling

 

You can read more about our revision and partnership process on our blog:

• Partnering to Develop Equitable, Inclusive, and Culturally Relevant Student Activities
• Revising Making Observations: Striving for Equity, Inclusion, and Cultural Relevance

 

Additionally, we’ve published the following resources that focus on equitable, inclusive, and culturally relevant organization practices:

• Three-part Series on Creating Equitable and Inclusive Work Environments
  • Examining Equitable and Inclusive Work Environments in Environmental Education
  • Building Towards an Inclusive Organizational Culture: Insights and Lessons Learned from YES Nature to Neighborhoods
  • Intentional Hiring and Recruitment through the Lens of Equity and Inclusion
• Racial Equity in Outdoor Science and Environmental Education: Re-Establishing the Field with Intention
• Territorial Acknowledgments
• Supporting Social Emotional Learning in Outdoor Science
• Creating Effective Outdoor Science Activities