Nature Walk Poetry Activity
Activities
45 minutesGrades9, 10, 11, 12English Language Arts
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Written by Christina Cawdery
About this lesson
This activity leads students to develop an appreciation for their natural surroundings, which can inspire climate action to protect nature. Students reflect on poetry as a means of climate action and write their own nature poems.
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Everything you need to teach it
- Nature Walk Poetry ActivityOpen
Teaching tips
- Students learning different styles of poetry, like haiku, sonnets, or free verse, can experiment with writing nature poems in each form and then compare the outcomes.
- Before writing their own poems, students can listen to the poems linked below and discuss how each conveys emotions, sensory images, and the relationship of the poetic voice to the natural world. Students can also discuss how these poems might lead listeners to care for the environment or take climate action.
- Amanda Gorman reading her poem Earthrise
- Dr. Jane Goodall reading the poem What Happened When We All Stopped
- The nature walk can be repeated at different times of the day or seasons of the year. Students can note if their emotions, experiences of nature, or descriptions change.
- The class can take a “virtual nature walk.”
- Students can select one of the recordings on the Nature Sounds website and describe the emotions and connections to nature evoked by the sounds. Later, they can look up images of the place on the internet to see if what they imagined matches reality.
- Students can use this Nature Conservancy map to find a nearby nature preserve. After selecting the preserve, students can click on the “Explore this Place” button. Many of the places listed include photos, videos, and audio.
- As an alternative to the nature walk, teacher or students can bring in objects from the natural world like flowers, branches, leaves, seeds, shells, and rocks. Students can select objects that inspire their curiosity and use their senses to describe them. Students can write their poems based on these descriptions.
From the scientist review
This activity allows students to learn about nature and write about ways to conserve it. The poems and materials available in this activity will aid students in conveying climate action and advocacy to diverse audiences. After reviewing all the materials linked to this activity, we came to the conclusion that it passed our credibility test for science.
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About the teacher writer
Christina Cawdery
Middle School Teacher
Christina Torres Cawdery is a middle-grade English educator at Punahou School in Honolulu, HI. In addition to teaching, Christina is a writer whose work has appeared in places like ASCD, Edutopia, Learning for Justice, NCTE's Council Chronicle, and Education Week. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in English at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
