ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the teaching experience of Judy Elson, a teacher. Judy Elson teaches in a beautiful classroom-not because of state of the art resources but because her whole western wall of windows faces a wide span of woods and fields, with a peek of Lake Champlain and a view toward New York's Adirondacks in the distance. She voices concern at how little her students know about the natural world and seeks out ways to use the curriculum to bring them closer to nature in what she calls her natural classroom. She finds ways to search out how ideas in the science book play out in natural world on a regular basis. An experienced environmental educator who worked for many years at Shel-burne Farms, it is fitting that Judy have all these riches at her door. As practiced she is in learning outdoors, Judy acknowledges the challenges that it is harder to have control of student work in the field.
