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Balance Screen Time With Green Time
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Balance Screen Time With Green Time
Connecting Students With Nature

First Edition


October 2023 | 144 pages | Corwin

Harness the power of nature to nurture minds and hearts

Youth spend anywhere between four and nine hours on screens every single day. Meanwhile, a growing body of research shows how detrimental excessive screen time is on physical and mental health. The antidote?  Green time.

Written by bestselling author and science educator Emily Morgan, Balance Screen Time With Green Time gives teachers and school leaders practical, evidence-based strategies that seamlessly incorporate the restorative power of nature into the school day. Transform learning experiences and improve student and educator well-being with:

  • Research-based strategies that improve attention, engagement, pro-environmental behaviors, and mental and physical health while reducing stress
  • Dozens of easy-to-implement “green breaks”—short, invigorating experiences with nature—that help students and teachers renew and refocus throughout the school day
  • Stories of innovative educators who connect students with nature and offer meaningful ways to integrate green time while enhancing learning
  • A curated collection of resources to support educators of all grade levels, content areas, and school environments—urban, suburban, and rural

With green time, we have an opportunity to create a generation of students who are not only more connected to the natural world, but are also the environmental stewards our future so desperately needs. Balancing screen time with green time is an investment in student well-being, our collective future, and a healthier planet.


 
Section I: Green Time
 
Chapter 1: Benefits of Green Time
The Research

 
Balance Screen Time with Green Time

 
Green Time for All

 
 
Section II: Green Breaks
 
Chapter 2: What is a Green Break?
Attention Restoration Theory

 
Getting Ready for Green Breaks

 
Nature Journals

 
Know You Are Making a Difference

 
 
Chapter 3: Green Breaks (and Green Connections)
1. Befriend a Tree

 
2. Get to Know the Land You’re On

 
3. Meet Your Birds

 
4. Write Your Name with Nature

 
5. The Name Game

 
6. Write a Syntu

 
7. Hula Hoop Observations

 
8. Spiderweb Walk

 
9. Nature Sketches

 
10. Nature Scavenger Hunt

 
11. Shades of Green

 
12. Cloud Watch

 
13. Shadow Play

 
14. Rock Balancing

 
15. Catching Snowflakes

 
16. Leaf Rubbing

 
17. Symmetry Search

 
18. Looking for Shapes

 
19. Plant Something and Watch it Grow

 
20. Watching the Wind

 
21. Kaleidoscopes

 
22. Poem in Your Pocket

 
23. Nature Walks

 
24. Nature Stretches

 
25. Bring the Outdoors In

 
Choose Your Own Green Breaks

 
 
Section III: Green Educators
 
Chapter 4: Green Teaching
Green Projects

 
Cultivating Green Space at Your School

 
Helping Schools Connect with Nature

 
Incorporating Nature in Urban Schools

 
 
Chapter 5: Green Time for You
Green Time at School

 
Green Time at Home

 

For instructors

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Rent or Buy eBook
ISBN: 9781071912225

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ISBN: 9781071912201
$34.95