A nature study for children can be a rewarding and educational pastime. It can help them better understand science; help them understand their surroundings;, learn to be observant and experience the beauty, marvels and intricacies of the natural world.It was these beliefs that inspired local school teacher, Fitz Ogle in September, 1997 to take his class into remote regions of Guyana, where they can be taught to identify and learn in a scientific manner about organisms in the ecological system.
Ogle, an agronomic engineer who studied in Brazil, teaches agricultural science at his Alma Mater, North Georgetown Secondary School.
His flagship, Evergreen Nature Study, carries the motto, `Ever Researching, Ever Serving’ and Ogle has been communicating its main objective `To know Guyana’s natural resources and how to make good use of them in a holistic manner’ to his 100-odd club members, mostly secondary school students.
An extract from the ENSC Website reads: “At least a dozen times each year, a group of high school students board a bus and journey from the hub of Georgetown, from a concrete civilization, into the silhouette of forest green, where the creeks are stained black and Acoushi ants march robustly on white, Tiwiwid sand.
For many of them, this is a new, refreshing experience.
The sombre shadow that falls from the Yarrowkabra forest on the Linden Soesdyke Highway, at least 20 acres of it owned by Evergreen Nature Study club, is broken in one place by a long ruffled trail that shines like a river.
There are graceful curves, reflected images, woody heights, and over the whole scene, far and near, the dissolving lights drift steadily,enriching every passing moment, with new marvels of colouring.”
At the ENSC, deepening children’s sense of wonder in nature is what the activities are all about.
The ENSC does this with focused, innovative, and meaningful nature study activities. Its goal is to have children feel their environment; to draw it close to them; to love it; to understand it – not for its myths and fears – but as an intrinsic part of themselves.
“If we go with the idea that, if we take care of our natural heritage now, then we will all have a natural heritage later, not just Guyanese but a global natural heritage,” Ogle says.
He added: ”Most students living in resource-rich countries like Guyana are studying and reading the same things in textbooks, when they have a choice of actually experiencing them.
Teachers in Guyana are able to have direct contact with plants and animals in their natural habitats throughout the year.
To exploit this asset, especially when introducing biology in the fourth year of secondary school, would seem to hold considerable advantages, allowing Guyanese students to appreciate the subject rather than view it as information to be memorised.” (To be continued)
By Clifford Stanley