ABSTRACT
Creating experiences where children discover more about themselves and the world helps students realize that their questions are worth asking. This habit of making choices, taking action, and reflecting fosters a deep sense of discovery needed for the roots of sustainable happiness to take hold in childhood. Growing their flexibility, reflection, persistence, and risk-taking capacities are often cited as the greatest gains from choose, act, reflect process students engage in through their capstone projects. In a classroom devoted to discovery and action, question posing becomes more natural. Findings on how nature improves our brains and our happiness bring added legitimacy for preserving and using natural spaces but also for teachers to use the natural world as a resource for all kinds of learning experiences including literacy learning. If our classrooms are devoted to discovery and wonder as an instructional pillar in designing for happiness, we can consider the natural world another classroom or bring the natural world into the classroom.
