Green Time vs. Screen Time

WHY ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION MATTERS

During her first summer as an ACES Educator, Phebe Meyers, who’s now ACES’ Community Programs Senior Manager, was leading a group of 7– and 8–year–olds around Hallam Lake when one of them pointed out a plant and asked what it was. Phebe didn’t know, but before she could search her field guide, another student piped up with the correct answer.

Years later, a group of 10– to 14–year–old girls came back from Women of the Wild, an all–girls, weeklong backpacking trip. While they all tackled challenges like developing their wilderness skills, they had also formed a support system, with even slightly more experienced girls finding themselves in leadership roles, and inspiring and empowering each other.

Most of us know intuitively that spending time in the outdoors is better for kids than staring at screens all day. There’s plenty of science to back that up. But what’s less intuitive – and less studied – is the power of human relationships in outdoor settings.

“If kids are engaging together with the natural world around them and sharing each other’s curiosities, that’s a unique experience that hopefully will inspire them,” says Phebe. “Our educators provide the support and space for this learning to happen, but the kids interacting with each other is just as important.”

Neuroscience tells us that the human brain rapidly develops for the first several years of life, when billions of neural connections are made. Kids with early childhood education are much more likely to graduate high school and college, and enriching environments with engaging relationships result in better emotional, cognitive, and executive function.

There’s plenty of research showing that nature is an enriching environment. A 2014 UCLA study found that after just five days of face–to–face interaction at a nature camp without any screen time, preteens were more able to read human emotions, which is important in developing social skills. British researchers found that people who spend time in natural places are more likely to be conscientious about the environment, and adopt more green practices.

Bestselling author Richard Louv compiled a body of research for his book, Last Child in the Woods, which makes the case that connecting kids with nature is essential for healthy physical and emotional development. Louv coined the term “nature–deficit disorder,” which links the lack of vitamin N (nature) to myriad childhood development issues, including increasing obesity, depression, and attention disorders.

Recent research also shows how screen time can negatively impact green time. A 2018 study found that as students spend more time on screens, their connection to nature decreases. That’s partially because of the addictive nature of screens, which inhibits youth from connecting with nature, according to Canadian researchers.

And as today’s kids spend more and more time on screens – a 2019 report from Common Sense Media found that teens average around seven and a half hours of screen time per day while tweens (ages 8 to 12) consume a little under five hours – there are other negative consequences. Teens with high screen use are over twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression and anxiety, while even moderate use of screens is shown to lower children’s psychological well–being. It goes without saying that spending a lot of time on screens is also detrimental to physical health and social engagement.

ACES environmental education programs get kids outside for 28,000 hours annually. Not only does this provide a unique outdoor “classroom” for learning, but also has been linked to healthy physical and emotional development.

The Roaring Fork Valley offers abundant opportunities for kids to get outdoors and away from screens – and ACES is no exception.

Our summer and school–year educational programs are rooted in science but driven by broader principles: promoting fun in the outdoors, letting curiosity drive learning, and shaping the next generation of environmental stewards.

“By knowing what’s around you, you have more of a connection to it and want to steward it,” says ACES Education Director, Andrea Aust. “Our goal is to educate for environmental responsibility.”

During ACES summer programs, kids learn to be outside in all conditions. If it rains, educators set up tarps or find trees to shelter under. Kids are allowed – and encouraged – to get dirty; on overnight programs they have the option to sleep under the stars. The theme–based programming is flexible and encourages self–discovery, allowing a group to veer off the day’s hiking plan if they want to delve deeper into the Hallam Lake ecosystem, for example.

School–year programs, which are more standards–based, focus on experiential learning of earth and life sciences. There’s both classroom learning and outdoor time, including field trips for each grade level. ACES education programs offer brand new experiences for some kids, whose time outside may be otherwise limited to playgrounds and backyards. With those experiences comes new perspectives: Once kids learn about plants or animals, they might be more aware of them wherever they go. And they just might feel comfortable and confident to explore their own backyards – turning over rocks to see what’s under them, identifying squirrel and deer tracks, or building forts in the woods.

Above all, it’s a shared experience. Provided with the level playing field of the great outdoors, kids deal with interpersonal conflicts, share knowledge, and learn how to help each other. Connecting with each other and to nature drives home the idea that we’re all in this together.

At Rock Bottom Ranch, ACES education programs explore the role of food systems and help students better understand the connection between a healthy ecological system and healthy food.

By knowing what’s around you, you have more of a connection to it and want to steward it.

Our Ecological Literacy Work

ACES Ed inspires students to ask questions about the natural world and connects them with the environment through robust regional partnerships. Every student at our three partner schools – Aspen Elementary, Basalt Elementary and Crystal River Elementary – visits their ACES Ed classroom weekly and receives seasonal field science programs. ACES Ed also provides weekly in–classroom environmental science programs in western Garfield County, now in its second year, as part of Garfield County Outdoors, a grant–funded initiative made possible by Great Outdoors Colorado.

ACES recently completed construction on the Children’s Garden at Rock Bottom Ranch and developed new curricula to further integrate agriculture education into our in–classroom and field programs.

ACES is currently revising our curriculum to align with the Next Generation Science Standards and the 2020 Colorado Academic Standards in science, providing crucial science instruction to students and aiding schools in implementing these standards. By offering standards–aligned in–classroom instruction paired with field experiences, we believe that the unique structure of ACES Ed can serve as a model for environmental education throughout the state and nation.

For Roaring Fork Valley high school students, ACES also leads Tomorrow’s Voices each semester: a college–level course with a focus on social justice and environmental stewardship. Encouraged to listen to each other, speak their minds, and consider their broader civic roles, Tomorrow’s Voices students develop critical thinking skills and the agency to effect positive change.

ACES’ community programs combine environmental science education with outdoor exploration, transforming the local environment into a community classroom. Community programs provide engaging opportunities for participants ranging from pre–K through adults. Participants form lasting friendships as they share immersive and informative experiences in nature, while developing a sense of place, curiosity about their surroundings, and passion for lifelong learning.

The Numbers

1,600 students received weekly environmental education in the classroom 5,200 student experiences in field science programs 40 students participated in Tomorrow’s Voices in 2019 28,000 hours that kids spent outside $15,000 dollars offered in scholarships 18 field sites 35+ Summer Educator–in–Training Volunteers 140+ species of birds identified during ACES’ birding classes

ACES students explore the pond at Hallam Lake during a summer program.