John Muir Award
Topic outline
John Muir Paperwork
The John Muir Award aims to encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to discover, enjoy and care for the planet's wild places.
There are many ways to participate - through an Award Provider, such as Hampshire Outdoors, Youth organisations, environmental organisations, schools, outdoor centres, clubs or as an individual.
These resources will help support you with registering, recording, reviewing and applying for certificates.
A 10 minute video explaining about the John Muir Award, John Muir and the John Muir Trust
This information booklet provides information about the John Muir Award.
Use of the John Muir Award can support teachers to deliver learning outcomes through practical, creative and engaging approaches that are beneficial to all as part of the National Curriculum. This document explains how the John Muir Award can be delivered in educational establishments and settings.
If you are running the award through your establishment and not Hampshire Outdoors, you will need to complete and send a proposal form and programme areas form to info@johnmuiraward.org two week prior to the commencement of your delivery.
Example of Programme Area information for:
- Bees
- Birds
- Butterflies
- Bugs
These resources can be downloaded and adapted to suit the interests of your learner(s).
The John Muir Award can be tailored to meet the needs of the group, the wild place(s) chosen and the curriculum. Here is an example of a programme covering the four key programme areas/challenges.
Each level of the award has specific time commitments.
- Discovery Award - 4 days (or 25+ hours equivalent) minimum time commitment.
- Explorer Award - 8 days (50+ hours equivalent) minimum time commitment.
- Conserver Award - 20 days (or 125+ equivalent) minimum time commitment, over at least 6 months.
These can be spread out over a long period or condensed to be completed quicker.
Use this form to inform the John Muir Award office of your Certificate requirements. If you are deliverying the award through Hampshire Outdoors, please email names, award level and Challenge Review Form to outdoor.education@hants.gov.uk or call 01962 876218
Please note, the Challenge Review Form will need to accompany the Certificate Request Form.
This Challenge Review Form will need to accompany the Certificate Request Form.
This Four Challenge Review can helps Award participants review and demonstrate that they have understood and successfully met the Award Challenges. Capture informally through group and individual discussion. Use pictures and drawings, write on flip chart, or a combination of these. Or just have a chat.
Intro to John Muir Resources
John Muir (1838 - 1914) is the founder of the modern world conservation movement.
These resources will help educate students on his life, his conservation efforts and his achievements.
Rescoures to introduce the award, John Muir and his conservation work.
A short stop motion film exploring the writings and adventures of naturalist, author, and father of the National Parks, John Muir. 2:27minute duration
Twenty John Muir quotes with music. 2:20 minute in duration.
Discover Resources
The Four Award Challenges relate to the approach that John Muir took during his travels and adventures.
Discover:
Indentify a wild place (or places) on which to focus the Award activities.
Find out or become award of it, whether by research, word of mouth, or by chance, and experience it directly. This can be a garden, school grounds, a park or beach, or any other wild place that's local, national or international.
Resources for Flora/Fauna found within a typical back garden/school ground.
Covers:
- Bats
- Bees
- Bird
- Butterflies
- Bugs
Resources for Flora/Fauna found within a typical coastal area.
Covers:
- Rockpooling
- Fauna Identification
- Flora Identification
Resources for Flora/Fauna found within a typical local woodland.
- Ponds
- Flora Identification
Additional resources and activities.
- Plastic Pollution
- Plastic Pollution
Explore Resources
Explore:
Explore its wildness - travel extensively through it, in order to understand and appreciate more about it.
Places can be explored through walking, camping, canoeing... or just sitting and looking. There are a lot of resources to help develop an understanding of a place, such as enivronmental games, scavener hunts or activities that use all of the senses.
Resources for Flora/Fauna found within a typical back garden/school ground.
Covers:
- Bats
- Bees
- Bird
- Butterflies
- Bugs
Resources for Flora/Fauna found within a typical coastal area.
Covers:
- Rockpooling
- Fauna Identification
- Flora Identification
Resources for Flora/Fauna found within a typical local woodland.
- Ponds
- Flora Identification
Additional resources and activities.
- Plastic Pollution
- Plastic Pollution
Conserve Resources
Resources for Flora/Fauna found within a typical back garden/school ground.
Covers:
- Bats
- Bees
- Bird
- Butterflies
- Bugs
Resources for Flora/Fauna found within a typical coastal area.
Covers:
- Rockpooling
- Fauna Identification
- Flora Identification
Resources for Flora/Fauna found within a typical local woodland.
- Ponds
- Flora Identification
Additional resources and activities.
- Plastic Pollution
Share Resources
How you and your students wish to complete the last challenge - share- is up to you! It's all about reflecting, reviewing and discussing the experiences - during and after, informally or more formally.
Some ideas:- Keep a personal or group diary. Use the John Muir paper log book.
- Make a film, use photos, videos or sound recordings.
- Create an individual or group newsletter.
- Create a poster of the experience.
- Record eBook
- Social media:
Twitter #JohnMuirAward #HampshireOutdoors - Lead a guided walk around your wild place(s).
- Share conversation around a camp fire.
- Discuss/ present to other students.
- Display drawings, stories, poems or artwork.
- Get creative and make art out of natural materials.
- Invite the local press to your sharing event celebration.
This record can be printed to record John Muir Award activities. Examples; drawing, sketching, painting, writing quotes, stories, songs, names of things, poetry or sticking things in it.
This is an example of a young person's John Muir log book. Alongside this they completed surverys, graphs, internet research, bird fact files, step by step bird feeder instructions, map of the grounds and a wildlife log book recording wildlife they observed on their walks.
The Record eBook (feed) provides a handy place to share experiences through: quotes; poems and stories; songs and sounds; films and pictures. It is available to use across a range of devices such as smart phones, tablets, laptops and interactive smart boards, and anywhere from wild places to centres, the home or classroom.
Get in touch with your key John Muir Award contact to request a Record eBook account.Upon completion a certificate can be applied for. This is an example of one.
Additional Resources
These resources are additional to the topics covered for the award, however, can be included to help enhance any outdoor programme.
Bushcraft activities suitable for young students
Craft activities using natural resources.