Earth Sciences Building, Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada
https://learning.video.ubc.ca/media/trim.7913D08B-4843-4070-AF18-0A9B6285F2F1/0_im9h3zn6
The sound of crunchy leaves is both enticing to adults and children. When observing the changing of seasons from summer to fall, the environment around us calls out to be explored. With new seasons comes new stories to be told. In this fall season, while jumping into piles of leaves and throwing leaves in the air, one of our group members quickly realized that their ring must’ve fallen off in the midst of it all. Looking down at all of the leaves covering the ground, it seemed impossible to locate such a small item under all of the foliage. It probably would’ve been in possible for just one person to do a search but when we came together as a group to collectively search for the ring, it didn’t seem as challenging. We traced back our steps (luckily we had photos to pin point our location) and worked together to search the area. With our incredible team work, we were able to locate the tiny ring in the corner of our eyes. This experience, although full of panic, brought our group closer together and built a greater sense of connection to this place. In the BC Early Learning Framework (2016), one of the principals is that “people build connection and reconnection to land, culture, community and place” and this certainly applied to our exploration on the land. This story has definitely tied us closer to this place and the land because it left a personal connection on all of our hearts. When students and educators have the opportunity to create memorable experiences in a place just like this, it can be a wonderful moment to learn from.