Outdoor Environmental Education
Paddling the Nissequogue River
Paddling the Nissequogue River
Whether paddling along local rivers or hiking along estauries, Long Island provides a perfect setting for hands-on learning about the natural world.
BOCES educators have science backgrounds combined with enthusiasm for teaching and a passion for the out-of-doors.
From day-use programs in local parks to summer enrichment by the sea, students get hands-on experience with the marine world around them.
Students are encouraged to observe and to make scientific measurements to better understand the Long Island ecosystem.
The Hard Shell Clam Mariculture program culminated in scattering 200,000 immature clams in hopes of keeping the ecosystem healthy.
The Outdoor Environmental Education Program (OEEP) uses a multidisciplinary approach to study nature and to incorporate environmental science into classrooms across Long Island. Our mission is to inspire a child’s sense of wonder for the natural world and enhance classroom concepts through discovery-based learning. By employing direct observation and hands-on learning experiences both in and out of the classroom, the OEEP supports and enhances existing school curricula. The OEEP also fosters the sustainable use and preservation of the natural environment by laying the foundation for responsible action and helps districts by:
The Outdoor Environmental Education Program is provided in cooperation with SCOPE Education Services.
We depend on the resources of the natural world to sustain us which makes the wise and sustainable use of these resources essential for our own self interest. From the fossil fuels that generate our electricity and warm our homes, to healthy soils that produce our food, the environment sustains us and meets all of our requirements for life. As our society develops new technologies and policies in response to global climate change, the need for an environmentally literate population becomes increasingly crucial.
Here at the OEEP, we believe that education is a key component to developing not only an understanding of our earth and its systems, but also a sense of stewardship for the natural world.
“Ecological ignorance breeds indifference. What we know, we may choose to care for. What we fail to recognize, we certainly won’t.” ~ Robert Michael Pyle
Experiences with nature through environmental and outdoor education: