Canterbury Environmental Education Centre

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• Learn more about biology, ecology, and environmental education.

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The Canterbury Broad Oak Nature Reserve and Environmental Education Centre is part of the Naturegrid UK. It is located on the 30-acre Broad Oak Nature Reserve in the city of Canterbury, England. Their mission is to provide “environmental awareness in the local, national and global community.” It is a “fine example of how a former industrial site (gravel pit) has been reclaimed and enhanced to provide a variety of habitats including, large areas of open water, marginal reed beds and wetlands, woodland, scrub and grassland.”

Visitors to their website can see the work of the Canterbury Broad Oak Nature Reserve and Environmental Centre through a virtual tour and educational resources. The site has two main sections, Nature Explorers and Curriculum.

Nature Explorers has habitat pages with information on the creatures that live there. Grasslands, woodlands, ponds, and rivers are investigated. Plants and insects are also examined. The Infant Explorer is for younger children and has online stories about Sebastian the Swan. Exploring Through Art shows the art work located throughout the Reserve. Using everyday objects, interesting yard sculptures can be made.

The Eco-Explorer has curriculum that has been developed to integrate sustainability into the curriculum. Pages for students introduce the ideas of respect, reduce, reuse, repair, restore, recycle and responsibility. There are eco-challenge activities for students to participate in , a glossary of environmental related terms, and more.

One of their newest sections is Weather Explorer. It discusses weather around the world. Weather extremes, measurement, data, and climate are explored.

The curriculum section has United Kingdom standards. However, this topic is universal and teachers will be able to glean much from this kid-friendly website.