Elements

Natural Connections balances six different outdoor experiences:

NATURAL CONNECTIONS ELEMENT	WHAT DO WE MEAN?
Discovering nature Understanding the natural world	Finding out about the landscape, plants, birds, animals, insects, fish, trees. Seeing how nature works and how humans can affect it. Exploring how we feel about the natural world and what place it has in our lives.
Working together Teamwork and group activities	Looking at how to do things together, understanding what other people need, learning to share ideas and make decisions together. Working as a team, solving problems, learning about give and take.
Adventure skills Taking part in outdoor adventure activities	Developing new skills and working to improve them, challenging ourselves, finding out what we can do, getting new perspectives and feeling the thrill of success.
Finding your way Learning to navigate and use maps	Understanding how we find our way around our world. Learning to interpret maps and directions, identifying features that help us know where we are and where we are going.
Journeying Travelling under your own power	Making our way together through the natural world, reaching the parts that planes, trains and cars can’t reach. Sharing the ups and downs, the sunshine and the showers.
Helping the environment Practical work to help the environment	Acting to protect the environment by carrying out a practical conservation project, an environmental survey or work to help an endangered biodiversity species.
Making connections Looking back, moving forward	Looking back at all your different Natural Connections experiences, showing the connections between the different elements, between yourself, other people and the natural world. Exploring the links between Natural Connections and your every-day life.