Sunday Feb. 15th – Serpentine

teacherpriya5
My dog, Finn, carrying the biggest stick he could find on the walk.

  • Location: Serpentine
  • Duration: 45 minutes
  • Intensity: Easy!
  • Mood (before): Calm – Mood (after): Energized/Motivated

Summary & Findings

It’s reading week… but the work is never truly over, and my goal of going for a weekly Sunday morning walk persists. Today, however, I was able to enjoy my walk with my dog (Finn) and my mom. Coming home to the mainland was much needed for this break, and having the opportunity to work from the comfort of my true home is incomparable to life in Victoria. Our walk took place along the serpentine trail, nearing South Surrey. It’s a favourite spot for Finn because he loves to watch the ducks swim along their little river, and he’s always in the mood to carry a stick (especially one that is much too large for him). The path also happens to be next to a lot of farm land, so there were great views of the blueberry bushes slowly growing back, and being tended to by the farmers.

Educational Connection

Connecting to the farmland near the path, it reminded me of a memory from my own childhood. When I was a little girl, just before I was able to be in school, my Mom used to take me to my older brother’s field trips to visit the UBC farm. He was in about Grade 4/5, and his class would visit the UBC farm to learn about ecology, plants and how to build a garden. I remember how much fun it seemed, and the disappointment I had once I was that age, and my class didn’t go. My brother’s teacher, Mr. B, was the biggest inspiration for him at that age, and is still someone who is brought up in conversation from time-to-time because of how deeply he made an impact on the lives of his students by implementing mostly outdoor-based learning that supports important knowledge around nature.

Similarly to this, in elementary school, we had a row of garden beds, and one teacher was the main caretaker for the plants and vegetables growing in the beds. She was also the adult leader for the garden club. I remember learning from her about bulb plants and ways to support honeybees in life.

I’m quite the environmentalist, and I’m constantly evolving to change my habits to support the earth better, but I recognize that my foundational knowledge grew from school. I think a great new idea that could be implemented into outdoor learning is the practice of stewardship and supporting nature through helping grow plants for honeybees, and growing plants native to the area. This could, in a way, implement indigenous knowledge on plants from the area, and ways to support the natural biodiversity in the land.