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Cohort 1: John

John, PreK

Year 1, Cohort 1, Non-Rural Alaska
Child-Nature Points of Interest (2018-2019)


Demographic Information

  • Ethnicity: White/Caucasian, Alaskan Native (Tlingit-Haida, Unangan (Aleut))
  • DOB: March, 2014
  • Gender: Male
  • Birthplace: Fairbanks, AK
  • Family Members: Mother, Father, Brother (age 10)
  • Years Parent Lived in Alaska: 15
  • Parent’s feeling about place lived: (1-10 rating; 10=extremely happy, 1=extremely unhappy)
  • House Location(s) in Fairbanks: Inside Fairbanks City Limits

Source: Family Survey, Fall 2018 (completed by John’s mother)

  • Family Outdoor Activities:
    (Ranked frequently and almost always)
    • Go to playground or park (in city/town/village)
    • Go to sportsfield (soccer, baseball, etc.)
    • Family bike rides (in town/city/village)
    • Hike in natural setting
    • Garden or greenhouse (garden) 
  • Child’s Outdoor Activities:
    (Ranked frequently and almost always)
    • Bike, scooter, or skate
    • Make-believe/free play (outdoors summer)
    • Pick flowers
    • Look for bugs
    • Hide and seek
    • Swim or water play
    • Collect/Find things (sticks)
    • Build snowman, snow forts, snowballs
    • Free play outside (winter)
    • Sled
  • Favorite Family Activity (Written response): "Playing at the park."
  • Child’s Favorite Summer Activity (Written response): “Bike riding"
  • Child’s Favorite Winter Activity (Written response): “Playing in the snow"
  • Description of outdoor experience when child was afraid/scared (Written response): “A baby moose walked by our campsite."
  • Description of outdoor experience when child was excited/happy (Written response): “Hiking at Denali National Park."

Source: Family Survey, Fall 2018 (completed by John’s mother)

Child's Drawings

Child's drawing: rocks, sun with rocks

Spring 2019

Title: Rocks and snowballs

Child quotes:

“Make snowballs with snow that is wet”

“I want to draw a rock around it… it’s a big giant rock with a rock and that’s a snowball. And it was… black or whatever.”

“It’s a sun with rocks in it.”

“Make a fort.”

“Shoot snowballs with my shovel.”

“Not snowball fights just making forts and throwing snowballs at stuff.”

Family Feedback: N/A

Child's drawing: I drew grass and a sea and me. I made the sea.
Fall 2018
Child's drawing: Mazes
Spring 2019
Child's drawing: I'm worried about a surf board flying
Fall 2018

Spring 2019: No drawing

Fall 2018
Class Nature Tour Video 
Highlights

Emotional and Behavioral Points of Interest:

Curious and observant of flora and fauna – Noted “poisonous” tree mushrooms, Tasted puffball mushrooms; Observed rosehip seeds; Discerned that the grass fields were “planted”; Took notice of cranes, stating, “look at the cranes!”

Fall 2018
Family Nature Tour Highlights

Emotional and Behavioral Points of Interest:

Built environmental features limited nature interactions – Biking on paved road, Merry-go-round, and manicured lawn; Threw pebbles from playground into river; Blew a dandelion; Mother encouraged John and brother to stomp mushrooms because “it is fun”

Spring 2019
Class Nature Tour Video 
Highlights

Emotional and Behavioral Points of Interest:

Stick “not a sword;” finds fur in the snow; notices bird habitat; fell from tree when branch broke

Child Reflection on Educational Activities

Child Quotes:

“Go in the forest and play.”

>“Play”

“They [sandhill cranes] stand on one foot sleeping.”

Child Quotes:

“There was trees not broken but they were like a C stuck to the ground.”

"There was a big stick and James screwed it into the ground. He wanted to reach the sky.”

“We was climbing on the trees.”


This project is funded by the National Science Foundation. Award # 1753399, CAREER: A longitudinal study of the emotional and behavioral processes of Environmental Identity Development among rural and non-rural Alaskan children