Thursday, October 30, 2008

Leopold Education Project


The Leopold Education Project (LEP) is a curriculum based on the teachings and writings of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold and is sponsored nationally by Pheasants Forever. We first noted Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac in an entry last November. We learned about the LEP during our time at the South Carolina Science Council conference.

With its easy access to a variety of natural areas, including the old-growth swamp, the Francis Beidler Forest Audubon Center is ideally suited for the LEP conservation ethics curriculum (grades 5-12). "The LEP increases students' awareness of the land, informs them of how to make responsible choices for our planet, while simultaneously teaching important soical, collaborative and critical-thinking skills." (LEP brochure)

The objective is to teach the student to see the land,
to understand what he sees,
and to enjoy what he understands.
--Aldo Leopold

The LEP curriculum is distributed only through training workshops. The Francis Beidler Forest Audubon Center would like to host one of these workshops for local teachers. Workshops require a minimum of 10 participants and will fill at 30 participants. The workshops typically take between four and six hours and will include a tour of the 1.75-mile boardwalk through the old-growth, cypress-tupelo swamp. There is a nominal registration fee that may be offset further by a workshop sponsor.


There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm.
One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery,
and the other is that heat comes from a furnace.

--Aldo Leopold

The LEP teaches the public about humanity's ties to the natural environment in the effort to conserve and protect the earth's natural resources. We would like to host a LEP workshop to help educators and their students increase their proficiency at "reading the landscape." Contact Mark Musselman if you are interested in participating in a LEP workshop and please share this information with a teacher you know.

Image by Mark Musselman

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