As a child, my
father often led me on an adventure in our backyard. On warm, summer days we
would lay prone in the spiky grass of our lawn and inhale the sweet, humid
smell of the earth.
We would next turn
our eyes downwards into the grass to see what we could. Like a camera whose
lens takes in more and more detail as it extends towards its focal object, so
too did our eyes adjust. Gradually, the world above became less of our concern
as we looked for surprises in the world beneath us.
Our eyes first met
the brilliant yellow sunbursts of dandelion flowers, and their sisters’ ornate
globes of seeds ready for dispersal. Then the feathery and torn blades of
grass, the rich green of their stems. Below that, mounds of earthworm castings,
wormholes, and sometimes the worms themselves – quiet and slippery as they
undulated along in compressed coils, springing slowly forward. We saw ants, big
and small, carrying food to their young and trash from their nests, as well as
the occasional robin’s egg shell, lodged between the grassy stems and partly
filled with dew.
This was a world
unknown to me, but one in which I came to love because of its hidden richness
and secret activity. Down there, in the grass and truly close to nature, I
could feel the soil breathing and imagined the plants growing. I embraced the
microcosm beneath my gaze for the connections it highlighted; how there was no
part that I witnessed that was not unrelated to the whole.
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Our Planet, Our
Home: A Gaian Learning Material by Philip Snow Gang and Marsha Snow Morgan
is a work that explores the relationships found between all actors in this
cosmological dance. Drawing upon ecological principles and systems theory,
participants use arrows to make unique and authentic connections between the
pictures provided:
- a Spiral Galaxy
- the Sun
- the Earth
- images
symbolizing the Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Lithosphere and Biosphere - the
Biogeological cycle
- Soil
- the Five Kingdoms
(Bacteria, Protoctista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia)
- an image
symbolizing Humans
- and seven cards
representing aspects of Human Activity (Transportation,
Shelter, Clothing. Communication, Food,
Play, and Love).
On a rug or
tabletop with plenty of space, children and adults alike can collaborate to see
how the components relate to the each other. It is a dynamic activity, filled
with excited and spontaneous discussions as realizations are made and
connections explored.
This is not a prescriptive
work, but one that allows for wonderment and curiosity to be the drivers. There
is room for numerous repetitions, each with its own new set of discoveries.
Our Planet, Our
Home suggests a holistic approach to science education, one that emphasizes
how things are related and not concepts held exclusively in isolation. It is a
powerful work, one that asks us to open our eyes and minds to new connections
and novel possibilities.
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