CONSERVATION TEACHING IN THE CITY

(By Gerald Schneider, Program Specialist, for the Girl Scouts, U.S.A.)

Our Nation and our State was once a wilderness. People were few in number. Streams were clear and the air was fresh.

Times have changed. There are hordes of people today-around 200 million in the United States alone. The Nation has become a tangle of huge cities, great industries, sprawling suburbs, linking highways, dwindling farmlands and wilderness remnants. Rivers are too dirty to drink from or swim in. Smog plagues many communities. Streets, roads and recreation areas are unsightly because of litter carelessly tossed away. THE "PERILOUS P'S"

In short, much of the country's natural beauty and richness is gone. What natural loveliness and wealth remains is threatened by the "perilous p's": Population, pollution, poor planning and poverty.

Never before has the need for conservation action to improve, restore and protect the resources of the physical environment been so urgent. Never before has the need for a conservation conscious public been so necessary. Especially critical is the need for effective conservation education in the city.

Most people live in cities (about 70 per cent of Americans do and that figure increases daily). With the one man, one-vote rule becoming the political order of the day, people in the cities will soon determine just about all land-use policies. This means that regardless of how successful our conservation efforts are with farmers and rural people, conservation efforts will be largely futile in the not-so-long run without understanding support from urbanites.

For the most part, trying to teach conservation to adults has been a failure. Our hope our destiny-lies in the hands and hearts of our youths, notably, our urban youths. Since about half our population is under 25 years of age (and grows younger), we may still be optimistic about tomorrow if we convince young people of the significance of conservation messages today.

Inability of many conservationists to effectively communicate with city children (and adults) has probably resulted more from lack of empathy than lack of reason. Most conservationists live and work in rural areas and like it. They are to a great extent consciously or subconsciously alienated by cities.

This "rural bias" is often picked up quickly by city children and, never having been exposed to such an orientation, they are turned off by it and drop out before education begins. First things first. City youths need conservation "feet” before they are ready for conservation "shoes."

Children (and adults) like the city despite problems of smog, crowding and traffic, or so they say. Conditioned by their concrete environment, they live like modern cliff dwellers and feel little need for open spaces, or so they think. Blaring radios, television, pop art and "happenings' are preferred to woodland solitude, scenic beauty and nature study in many cases, as far as they know.

Like it or not, that's the way urbanites are in general (don't be fooled by their week end treks via automobiles to outdoor amusements). While there are many execptions to any generality, the author believes that the urban point of view must be accepted by conservationists who want to succeed in their conservation education efforts in cities.

GENERAL TEACHING PRINCIPLES

How do you teach the urban child? You start where he is and lead him forward step by step when he is ready for advancement. Forget "preaching" and accept him as he is. He may believe his way is right, too, until shown.

FOCUS ON PROBLEMS

A practical approach to teaching older youths, ages 12 and up, is to focus their attention on problems of city planning, waste disposal, water supply, pollution, ghettos and parks-things that affect their immediate, everyday lives. Save the forest management, soil erosion, hydrological cycle and species identification business for later unless they ask about these things. Don't risk losing them before you begin; there are few chances available to reach them and no time should be wasted.

For younger children, ages 3 to 11, contact with live plants and animals can be most meaningful. Consider starting with the handling of bunnies and chicks since city children are often afraid of unfamiliar wild animals (and dogs). A simple

introduction to the ecology of a vacant lot, patch of ground, sidewalk crack or a city tree is good. Stress the fun, excitement and adventure of exploration outside the classroom. Leave the more structured science learnings and memorization for later years-especially with the very young.

And don't feel guilty when the kids are having fun outdoors and aren't being formally instructed. They are probably learning a great deal on their own and, best of all, discovering that the outdoors has value.

Contact with the out-of-doors outside the city is important for all age groups. Urban children need outdoor experiences in the country to contrast to their city lives and values. Love of out of doors (or any other thing) probably results from actual favorable experiences and can't be taught from a textbook or by osmosis. City kids should have many opportunities to camp, hike, cycle, picnic, swim and go boating in the out-of-doors. Teach safety, first aid and outdoor manners when necessary because it's necessary. But don't ruin the fun of "first experiences" by burdensome emphasis too soon on outdoor skill development. Learning to tie knots is not often important the first time out. Vigorous adherence to adultmade time schedules is also unwise. As little as possible should be done to restrict unbridled enjoyment of the out of doors.

Reinforcement of love of the out of doors and the development of conservation values comes from involvement in conservation action projects. Even as simple a beautification project as planting flower seeds and tending them in a flower box hung from a window may leave a child with a favorable lasting impression that no conservation lecture (such as is this article) can duplicate. While such projects may seem superficial and lack continuity, projects like these are the stuff on which children build their character.

Too many times, adults concerned with the problems of the world and the big issues of the day forget that little things mean a lot to a child.

THE KEY TO SUCCESS

Incidentally, the key to success in conservation projects involving youths is to let the youths do as much as possible of the planning, operation and follow-up for the projects. It is a common mistake to give young people unimaginative adult-planned work projects and use them as a cheap source of labor for dull manual work that adults won't do on their own or hire help to do. Adults working with children should ask pointed questions, answer questions asked of them, give technical assistance, "open doors" to resources and join in like everyone else on work assignments. But the kids should be the bosses-they should make the major decisions and assume the major responsibilities on projects.

When working with children new to conservation, consideration should be given to avoiding use of the term "conservation" altogether. It is a confusing term that conjures up different images to different people, leads to arguments about its definition and can be omitted when teaching youths. Direct discussion of environmental problems such as pollution and poor planning without an overall label for the concerns included is possible. After some contact with study or action on environmental problems, youths can be exposed to the complexities of the term "conservation."

ECOLOGICAL SPECULATION

The rationale for much of what we call conservation can be made apparent to older children by ecological speculation. A favorite activity of the author is to join youths in speculating about life on earth as in a more or less closed system in which we may live or die on our decisions to alter the environment. The problem might be posed in the following way:

"Suppose you woke up one morning and found yourself in an unbreakable glass room, completely sealed off from the rest of the world. There is a fair amount of air in your glass prison and sunlight streams through the transparent walls at one end. A huge tank of water on the floor contains plant-eating fish of both sexes and edible green algae. Otherwise, the room is empty. Could you survive?" Yes, in theory, if you manage resources wisely (conservation implications) and don't contract any diseases. The discussion might follow along these lines:

"Air can be cleansed of the carbon dioxide produced in breathing, by the green algae, which can also renew the oxygen. Excess fish and algae become meals, supplying protein, vitamin, mineral and other nutritional needs. But how much algae and fish can be safely eaten at any one time without endangering reproduc

tive ability of the organisms involved and fatally depleting the food supply or reducing oxygen renewal potential? Proper management and harvest of algae and fish based on some research (conservation implications) is important.

"Body and other wastes can be used as fertilizer to grow algae and, thereby, fish. Such use also solves waste disposal problems. Too much fertilizer at any one time may not be absorbed by the water and could cause pollution and death of fish and algae, (therefore, conservation implications). Waste disposal requires management based on research just as fish and algae management does (conservation implications).

"Water, heated by the sun, evaporates from the tank and condenses on the inside glass walls. The precipitated water is used for drinking and bathing. Life can go on."

Reads like a science-fiction story a little, but it isn't. Like the glass room, the Earth is a closed system. Earth's inhabitants, rocks, oceans and air are held together by gravity and more or less isolated from the rest of the universe. Except for some cosmic dust and meteors, almost no matter enters. And conversely, no matter escapes, except for a few space vehicles and some molecules of atmospheric gas.

Sunlight provides the energy to recycle everything and the water (hydrological) cycle and food production on Earth operate on the same principles found in the glass room. As in the glass room, how environmental resources of Earth are managed is important.

There's only a certain amount of useable oxygen in the air (about 20 percent of the atmosphere). Can we safely continue to load it with tons of pollutants? Can plants cleanse the air of manmade chemicals and wastes they never encountered before in their evolution? How much plant cover do we need to renew our oxygen supply? Is there a danger that too much plant cover is being removed in the development of cities and highways?

And what about clean water? How much waste and debris can rivers, lakes and oceans assimilate and still support life?

Our dependence on the environment forces us to consider what we can do to maintain critical environmental resources or risk the consequences of relying on chance or future solutions. Faced with such a choice, after speculating on the possibilities, the author has found that urban youths are usually rational enough to choose donig something now rather than waiting for a future solution which, even if it comes may come late.

Stress on ecological speculation here is on bare survival because everyone should be able to understand or sympathize with the need for conservation to guarantee survival. After an initial introduction, and when they are receptive to it, urban youths might want to speculate on the esthetic, psychological and spiritual environmental resources. They may want to probe the mixture of philosophies attributed to or associated by at least some people with conservation: "Reverence for life" concepts, natural beauty, wilderness "tonic" and such.

But try to discuss outdoor sentiments and esthetics before they've been exposed to survival concepts or had meaningful outdoor experiences and you may lose their interest. They may even laugh at you.

(Note: The term "conservation" was mentioned in parenthesis only in the ecological speculation discussion in this section and it was put there just for the reader's reference.)

PLANTS AND ANIMALS

As H. Wayne Trimm's illustrations in this centerspread show, many kinds of plants and animals are found in cities-even in as big a place as New York City. These forms of life are valuable teaching resources that can be used to advantage. What kinds of plants and animals are found around a school, a neighborhood or on a single street? How do plants and animals survive in the concrete jungles of cities? Can we learn anything of importance from these organisms that we can relate to our own survival? Do plants and animals contribute to the interest and charm of a community?

Discovering the answers to questions like these may generate greater awareness of the concept of environment. It may open up a whole new world for a child to explore between his school and the television set.

Going a step further, children can take local plant and animal censu es. A simple survey for the very young might be a count of the number of London plane trees near a school or the number of sparrows and pigeons in a five-block area. Older youth can use fairly sophisticated sampling techniques to estimate the population

of particular species in the total community. Such activities expend awareness of the environment and form the foundation on which many conservation attitudes can be developed.

Reinforcement of certain conservation values results from projects to improve the living conditions for plants and animals in the city. Shrubs can be planted near homes, around schools and in parks (with permission). Shrubs are not only attractive in themselves, but they provide cover for wildlife and, when properly selected, summer and winter animal food. Trees give shade, seclusion, beauty and wind protection and become nesting sites for birds and other animals-so, plant them. Flowers, such as sunflowers, produce seeds that children and birds enjoytherefore, plant them. The affection of a young child for a shrub, tree, or flower he helped to plant is a wondrous sight.

The three basic needs of animals are food, water and shelter close enough for animals to get at. Food and shelter can be provided by the plantings mentioned above. Animal feeding stations can also be provided and kept stocked with suitable foods. Bluebird houses and other birdhouses can be built out of large tin cans, tar paper, nail kegs and wood scraps and put in place. Homemade bird baths become water sources in summer (keep them filled with warm water only in winter or let them stay dry; birds can obtain water from snow and ice). To a child especially, action speaks louder than words.

THE BOOKS ARE GLIB

While plantings and animal habitat improvement projects aren't difficult, books are often too glib in describing such projects. The author doesn't want to join them in their guilt. No two situations are exactly alike and, while you can use the above as a general guide for improvement projects, it's best to have professional advice on projects from experts on the scene-park department officials, landscape architects, conservation agency employees, science teachers, professional gardeners and others.

COMMUNITY PLANNING BY YOUTHS

Cities are rich sources of ideas for community planning. Environmental resources are stretched to the limit by the impact of thousands of people concentrated in urban living areas. Problems of noise, air pollution, water supply, slums, crowding, traffic, sanitation, space and appearance plague cities. Solutions are difficult. However community planning on a youth-sized level can foster conservation values.

How about having kids make a conservation survey of their neighborhoods? Research should precede action to insure effectiveness. Are there garbage-strewn vacant lots that can be used and are needed as vest-pocket parks, tot-lots, and such? Is there a need for shade trees by schools, in parking lots and along streets? What can young people do, if anything, to make improvements?

Children can make a photographic survey that they can share with others and aid them in analysing neighborhood needs. Using even the cheapest cameras, youths can go around their neighborhoods and take pictures of the things they think make the neighborhoods attractive and the things that they think are ugly. An exhibit of contrasts can be created from the collection of pictures taken. The exhibit can be discussed and followed up by environmental improvement projects when possible and appropriate. What a valuable conservation teaching resource the collection of pictures make!

Surveys and community planning analysis are "in" subjects that should appeal to urban youths.

Air pollution surveys need not be complicated. Children can study air pollution by use of their senses. Does the air have a funny odor in some parts of neighborhoods (a smell index of pollution might be developed?) Does dirt rub off bricks and stones of buildings at a touch ( a touch index)? How often do windows at home need cleaning, or where can smoke be seen (visual indices). Simple, but these measurements are fine for the young.

A DIRTY AIR INDEX

Children can smear sheets of acetate or bond paper with petroleum jelly and place the sheets in open areas such as on window sills. How dirty do the sheets get over a period of time (use magnifying glasses and microscopes to help look at them)? Compare the dirty sheets to clean sheets and a dirty air index may be created.

One-gallon, wide-mouthed jars filled with a pint of water and left open and exposed become traps for air pollutants. How dirty does the water get in a day, week or month? Boil off the water and the remaining solid materials can be examined. And another air pollution index can be made.

What can you find in the filter of an air conditioner? Do children or should children worry about breathing in the things they find trapped in filters? What are the local air pollution control regulations in the community, if any? Is enforcement of any laws good (make sure that this is researched before comment is made)? What can children do about air pollution? Discuss these questions with the youths of cities.

Where does the community's drinking water come from? Can the children take a hike to any of the water sources? Is there enough water for everyone and for every use? Has vegetation been affected by lack of water or too much water? Do local waterways smell, show visible amounts of garbage, seem choked with algae and debris, look muddy or unattractive to swim in?

Does the community treat its sewage? Is a visit to a sewage treatment plant possible? Is there primary, secondary and tertiary treatment of sewage, if any? Can young people help improve things?

Noise! It may be killing us by degrees and affecting our hearing. How noisy is the neighborhood? Kids can find out for themselves. Their ears may not tell them because they've conditioned themselves to hearing only certain sounds important to them and screening out others. Are there reasons why selective hearing may be important to the psychological health of city dwellers?

Tape recorders won't discriminate among audible sounds. Noises heard in different parts of a neighborhood can be recorded on a tape recorder. Children can listen to the finished tapes. If they are surprised at the actual amount of noise there really is, why not discuss it? Can a noise index for the neighborhood be developed? (Note: Some noises on recording tapes are natural and allowance for static should be made.)

CURRENT EVENTS AND HISTORY

Today's newspapers are filled with articles having conservation implications. Examples include hunger at home and abroad in overpopulated countries, flood damage to homes built in flood plains, highways cutting across the last open spaces in a community, rising danger of respiratory diseases caused by air pollution, lack of recreation facilities in the inner-city and hot summers, houses sinking into filled swamplands, medical effects of crowding, the search for status and identity in a crowded world, controversies over the establishment of a redwoods park and more. All these current events should appeal to youths and are naturals for civics, social studies, sociology, geography, science and other courses.

Debates on the real issues behind conservation controversies-the kind that rarely get into conservation publications-can appeal to urban youths not otherwise sensitive to conservation concerns. With the frontier gone, rural land being swallowed up by urbanization, the value of rugged individualism undergoing scrutiny, an apparently rising welfare state, an increase in crime, violence and demonstrations in the streets and on college campuses, our entire socio-economie political life is being tested and questioned. We are forced to re-evaluate basic issues affecting conservation:

With people so many and resources so endangered, should persons still have the right to be careless with property or do what they like with the land they own? Should people be allowed to build homes in flood plains and other unfavorable sites (ecologically unfavorable)? Should people be allowed to settle in places like Arizona where water problems are great and expect the rest of us to subsidize their water needs?

Should public money be given to private businesses to stimulate installation of air and water pollution control equipment in factories? Should restrictions be placed on visits to public parks and recreation areas? Should regional planning replace local autonomy on zoning regulations?

Also, consider the following: Does the concept of the greatest good for the greatest number, often associated with conservation, overlook minority interests? Does The Conservation Pledge so often used ("I give my pledge as an American to save and faithfully to defend from waste the natural resources of my countryits soil and minerals, its forests, waters and wildlife") need to be updated to take into account the total environment with such specifics as slum housing prevention, beautiful cities and others?