Which of the proposed Kindergarten "systems learning" objectives meet each of the four responsibilities of ecoliteracy educators?

1. to demonstrate to learners why ecoliteracy is important to them and human communities

- Identifies appropriate locations in which to run, swim, play a game (i.e. gives reasons related to natural systems)
- Describes personal benefits of spending time outdoors/in natural spaces
- Demonstrates understanding of how natural materials can be used to create art (sandcastles, stone patterns)
- Uses appropriate vocabulary to discuss changes to their local ecosystem through the seasons/year
- Differentiates between outdoor places they feel safe and those that they feel are dangerous


2. to help learners gain plural perspectives from a range of cultural and empathetic stances

- Identifies appropriate behaviors for designated play areas, school garden, conservation zones, etc.
- Identifies reasons for off-limits areas, no-trash rules, and guidelines for using the wormbin, for example
- Differentiates between humane and inhumane relationships with animals
- Suggests potential uses of walls, mowed lawns, pavements, stony paths, abandoned lots, or railways lines to other living things
- Demonstrates importance of understanding animal body language by acting non-agressively in human-animal interactions
- Demonstrates understanding of reasons why animals in their local habitat communicate with each other


3. to provide learning opportunities about local ecosystems through appropriate curricula, and

- Identifies typical activities of local animals in their natural habitats
- Demonstrates knowledge of local ecosystems by creating detailed drawings with both living and non-living things in relation to each other
- Uses appropriate vocabulary to describe parts of local plants or members of a local biome
- Uses appropriate vocabulary to explain observed natural phenomenon (e.g. tide rising, sky growing darker)


4. to help learners understand what they need to do to keep their own and other living species’‘options open’.

- Demonstrates understanding of how people use local materials to build their homes
- Describes ways humans can minimize impact in places shared with other living creatures (e.g. stay on the path to prevent compacting of earth)
- Uses appropriate vocabulary to talk about tools or equipment that people use to recycle matter or compost
- Demonstrates awareness of “foreign objects”, i.e. human-created objects which have not been looked after (e.g. by picking up garbage along a trail which they walk once a week)
- Identifies native plants which attract local fauna to the school playground
- Identifies types of plant matter used by local animals to build their homes