ABSTRACT
In the upheaval of teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, I reevaluated my priorities as an educator and changed the way I teach my Earth science class to focus on supporting my students’ emotional connections with nature. In my chapter, I share how I use photography and objects to bring aspects of the natural world into my course, and how I accessed my students’ lived experiences through their own photographs, and their contributions to our classroom rock collection. In sharing my photographs of landscapes and Earth features, and encouraging my students to share their lived experiences, I hope to help them develop connections to nature that they will take with them long after they are done with my Earth science course.
