Leopold Education Project 

Educator Workshop

Who: All Educators, Scouters, Conservationists, Environmentalists & other interested Individuals

What:  The Leopold Education Project (LEP) is an innovative, interdisciplinary, critical thinking, conservation and environmental education curriculum based on the classic writings of the renowned conservationist, Aldo Leopold.  The Leopold Education Project teaches the public about humanity's ties to the natural environment in the effort to conserve and protect the earth's natural resources. 

Where: Argyle Rod & Gun Club    2 miles east of Argyle or 10 miles west of Monroe on HWY 81       Check our links & Maps

When:  Friday,  June 14, 2002   9am-4pm  and possibly Saturday,  June 15, 2002   9am-4pm.  If there is interest in doing a second LEP Educator workshop on Saturday we will plan a second session for those who can’t make it Friday.   On Saturday, we plan on doing special prairie tours and projects on adjacent prairies.  A Workshop on Planning and Implementing School Prairies on Saturday is possible if people are interested.  Please let us know your date preferences and Suggest topics of Interest for other Saturday Workshops.

How Much:  The Free Seminar is Sponsored by the Sugar River Valley Chapter of Pheasants Forever. Free Lunch will include fresh caught trout & other wild game specialties.  Special thanks to the Argyle Rod and Gun Club for helping out and letting us use their beautiful facility.

Credits:  Continuing EDU credits are available for the Friday Session.   We will try and set up an additional  credit program for Saturday as well.   College Credit is given for Facilitator Workshops only not Educator  Workshops.    A Facilitator Workshop is scheduled for later in September in northern Illinois.  This is a 2 day workshop with about 18 hours of contact.

Materials:  Free materials provided by the Sugar River Valley Chapter of Pheasants Forever includes: Curriculum Guide, Task Cards, Copies of Sand County Almanac for your students & the LEP Video

  Educating for Environmental Values:  The Leopold Education Project (LEP) deals with Part I of The Almanac, which records observations and events throughout the seasons. By means of 21 essays, this section chronologically guides the reader through the months of the year and describes Leopold's activities at his Wisconsin farm where he and his family escaped the modern world of Madison. These essays help people to "read the land" through outdoor explorations and inform readers about tracking animals in the snow, predator/prey relationships, local history correlated with the growth of an oak, returning Canada geese, river floods, spring flowers, bur oak ecology, woodcock mating rituals, upland plover migration, trout fishing, watching daybreak arrive, and many other outdoor explorations and events.

The LEP was developed mainly for use by teachers, although other educational groups and private citizens can benefit from the materials. One major premise of the LEP is that Leopold's writings are both sound science and excellent literature, and that they can be used as a springboard for meaningful environmental education. Whenever possible, students should experience the essays as part of each lesson, either before, during, or after the main activities. Although the over-riding purpose of the lessons is to promote responsible decision making regarding our impact on ecosystems, the developers do not advocate particular positions on value-sensitive issues such as hunting, using wetlands, applying pesticides and herbicides, or any others. The LEP's underlying theory about these controversial topics is that given a supportive classroom climate to study a variety of positions and viewpoints, students will develop responsible environmental values on their own. Responsible values include the sustaining of natural cycles, the preserving of plant and animal species, and the exercising of caution before changing ecosystems in major ways without careful study of future consequences.

Leopold advocated a harmonious relationship between humans and the components of the earth as a way to achieve land health. When we extend moral considerations beyond humans to include soil, water, plants, and non-human animals, we develop a personal environmental ethic. With this type of ethic, we are more likely to choose a lifestyle that continually re-examines our relationship to the land, and by placing rational restraints upon ourselves, the critical earth cycles are more likely to be preserved. Through reading about Leopold's recorded discoveries and participating in meaningful activities, students will expand their awareness and appreciation of nature and their ecological understandings.

Providing Direct Experiences - Teaching outdoors

Another major premise underlying the LEP is that educators should provide students direct experiences with the natural and cultural worlds outside the school. One way to accomplish this is to make greater use of the outdoors as a learning laboratory. Whenever possible, the developers recommend first-hand contact with human and non-human nature. Modern learning theory supports an experimental approach that allows students to construct meanings from their activities and to develop concepts and skills based on their past knowledge.

In order to promote critical thinking, teachers should provide students with opportunities to explore the world directly. Even in heavily populated suburban and urban areas, a wide array of useful resources can be found outside. Leopold believed that "...the weeds in a city lot convey the same lesson as the redwoods." The LEP encourages teachers to adapt lessons to suit not only particular students and settings, but also various teaching and learning philosophies. In order to be effective, the LEP lessons must be viewed as flexible guides to important knowledge about how the world works and how we function on the planet. We encourage creativity and experimentation in using these lessons in a variety of subject matter areas.