Age Group: Activities for Key Stage 4
In this activity students in examine four short story extracts to illustrate the four dominant attitudes towards nature prevalent in the world today and get to ask what assumptions underpin each story and what the implications of acting on the story are for the planet.
The history of human beings on this planet is a series of stories. The stories we tell about ourselves and our world shape our understanding of the world and can influence our actions. The stories we tell about the natural world shape how we interact with it and influence our attitudes and values.
In this activity four distinct ways of thinking about our relationship with the planet are examined through a focus on our attitudes towards trees. Students are invited first to think about the word ‘nature’:
What is nature?
What is the value of nature?
Following this they examine four little stories that we can tell ourselves about one specific aspect of nature – our forests. They are asked to consider which story is the dominant story in our world today and which is their preferred story. They are asked to consider the pros and cons of each story and the implications of the dominant story for how we live and our relationship to the natural world.