Environmental Education
Examples of some activities

Activities for each theme have been developed as following:

1. Title and objectives were adapted to a local problem or environmental issue. Attractive educational materials were made for explaining new information.
2. Practices were designed in order to motivate people to participate actively and discuss the theme.

There are groups that are already organized for receiving agriculture trainings from a local instructor trained by PROEVAL RAXMU. In most of the trainings there is an environmental education issue that is related. Profiting on the existing organization of groups and local instructors, it was thought that they could expand their training with environmental education activities. Some of the local instructors, who had the will to expand their training both in agriculture and environmental education, were chosen to participate in some workshops focused on environmental education activities.

Examples of two activities are presented:

1. Food chain: Which natural plague control has God given to us?

A food chain that connects plagues from the nurseries and crops with nature predators, is a good example related to a farmer's life. The next materials were prepared and are used by local instructors for this activity:

• Rubber models of plagues: Grasshopper, leaf cutter ant, mouse.
• Rubber models of plague natural controls: Snakes (painted like real poisonous and non poisonous species of sierra Sacranix), scorpion, lady bugs, lizard, cat, frog, and bat.
• Full color drawings of bats with different diets (blood, insects, nectar, fish, and mammals).
• Full color drawings of frogs feeding on insects and tadpoles.
• Full color drawing of lady bug feeding on aphids.
• See Guide for the local instructor for detailed description of practice:
  original Spanish version cadena.pdf In order to display this file on your computer you need the software Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded free of charge here:
  

2. Importance of trees: How valuable are trees?

Learning about how valuable a tree plantation can be may motivate them into learning about crops of different trees, which could represent an income for their families. The next materials were prepared and are used by local instructors for this activity:

• Samples of products that come from trees: Cinnamon, fire starter wood (ocote), incense (copal), chewing gum, picture of football, paper.
• Color drawings of the processing of gum.
• Samples of precious woods.
• Table with information on harvesting time and prices of precious woods.
• See Guide for the local instructor for detailed description of practice:
  original Spanish / q’eqchi’ version arboles.pdf,  English version trees.pdf. In order to display these files on your computer you need the software Acrobat Reader, it can be downloaded free of charge here:
  

3. In which soil will my crop grow better?

Soil analysis.

The traditional use of slash and burn agriculture, and the expanded costume of using chemicals for fertilizing and fighting weeds and plagues, has lead to a cycle of impoverishment of the soil. The loss of fertility in the soil forces the farmer to apply chemicals, which will help the plants to produce in an acceptable way, but which will force the farmer to keep using more chemicals over and over again.

Farmers have noticed the difference of life in a soil were chemicals have been used and a really organic one. They have trusted chemicals more that the "small animals" they find in a good soil. It is interesting for them to learn what the lack of this life causes in the soil.

The permanent cover of the soil, all year long, is essential for the production of new and healthy soils. This can be done even by farmers who are just renting the land and are not willing to invest in temporal soil conservation techniques. These techniques should be applied by those who own their lands and wish to multiply the productivity of their soils.

Materials needed for this activity are:

• Paper to measure the pH, a lemon for comparison
• Yellow nylon and magnifying glasses
• Photo collection of plants that grow on good and bad soils
• See Guide for the local instructor for detailed description of practice:
  original Spanish / q’eqchi’ version suelos.pdf. In order to display these files on your computer you need the software Acrobat Reader, it can be downloaded free of charge here:
  

4. How do plants produce fruit and seeds?

Workshop about how pollination works.

Pollination is a basic nature phenomenon for the production of crops. Animals play an important role as pollinators of many of them. In rural areas the killing of small birds, insects and snakes is a popular children’s game. The understanding that cultivations do need certain animals (birds and insects) for being able to produce fruits and seeds, give people a reason to avoid killing them again "just for fun". Some people also have the initiative of having their own bees and producing honey (see photos of medicinal honey production in Purulhá, Baja Verapaz).

Materials needed for this activity are:

• Flowers and fruits of different types and crops
• Needles, knife
• Magnifying glasses
• Model of flower (with internal parts)
• Plastic models of 2 identical flowers and 1 pollinator (bee or bird)
• Net for catching insects
• See Guide for the local instructor for detailed description of practice:
  original Spanish / q’eqchi’ version polinizacion.pdf. In order to display these files on your computer you need the software Acrobat Reader, it can be downloaded free of charge here:
  

5. Where does the water for our community come from?

Water is a basic need for human populations. A system of nature reserves with no or low intensiv human land use is an important contribution to watershed protection. Workshops about the natural water cycle were held in order to support the creation of an acceptance of protected areas in the vicinity of rural communities.

Materials needed for this activity are:

• Posters and photos of protected areas
• Map of protected areas of Guatemala
• Drawings of the natural water cycle
• See Guide for the local instructor for detailed description of practice:
  original Spanish / q’eqchi’ version agua.pdf. In order to display these files on your computer you need the software Acrobat Reader, it can be downloaded free of charge here: