Embodiment and Eco literacy
I drew the earth inside the rib cage. In my mind I thought about the connection between a physical human body and the wilderness/ nature. I thought about our most special organ and what we all have in common. We all have a heart that is protected by our rib cage. Without our hearts we would not survive. Kind of like the earth. We need to take what we know about our environment and protect it.
Embodiment is defined as “a tangible or visible form of an idea, quality, or feeling.” Embodying the environment means having a relationship with the environment. Humans who have embodied the environment have a sense of what is wrong with our environment as well as the beautiful things it has to offer. Our nature walks and outdoor class times have helped me personally grow a deeper understanding of what embodiment with the environment means. We are learning about what this by engaging through outdoor activities. Which i believe is very important for us to remember when we are teaching. The article by Liz Newbery talks about learning through a canoe trip where there are questions and activities that engage the students in higher levels of thinking then normal. When we are surrounded by the wilderness itself it is more likely to be able to make connections, and grow appreciation towards what the wilderness has to offer.
This brought me back to the earth being protected by the rib cage that I drew. I believe that it is us that has to protect our wilderness- whatever wilderness is to you.
miklowesblog 
Mikayla,
I have to say that your visual is very creative and fits the “creative visual” part of the journal because the heart It makes perfect sense in how we should take care of the earth and that is by protecting it. If we all protected the earth as the rib cage then it would have been in a better state than today. We need to be more understand to nature by exploring more and maybe doing activities in the wilderness to give us the real life experiences of nature. As you mentioned that “when we are surrounded by the wilderness itself it is more likely to be able to make connections, and grow appreciation towards what the wilderness has to offer” should be applied to everyone to experience the wilderness practically. For example in the previous summer, I took a canoe trip in Was Cana Lake with my family and that gave me a real life experience of being more close to the water, the wind, and the smell of the breeze . I also realize how important activities are outside of the classrooms to engage students to the wilderness, and create the awareness of how we are connected to earth and that we need to embrace it ………..because earth is our home and we need it. Mikayla is there any activities outdoor that connected you to real life experience of wilderness?
Thanks for sharing the cool visual piece. It really showed how we should embrace earth to protect it.
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