This section provides sample lesson plans about safety during outdoor education activities. The goal of these lessons is to engage elementary students in age and developmentally appropriate activities to build their knowledge and skills of safe practices that prepare them to safely and confidently participate in a variety of outdoor education activities.
These lesson plans may be used as part of the Grade 1 - 8 Health and Physical Education curriculum. Connections may be made to the overall and specific expectations of Strand A: Social-Emotional Learning Skills, Strand B: Active Living, and Strand D: Healthy living at the Primary, Junior and Intermediate level. These lessons provide students with an opportunity to apply their social-emotional learning skills to identify potential risks and strategies to prevent injury. Students learn about the importance of establishing and following appropriate safety rules and procedures to maximize their safety and the safety of others while participating in outdoor education activities. Students also have the opportunity to make connections to healthy eating in various contexts and engage in skill-building activities and discussions about ways to reduce the safety risks for themselves and others and prevent injury in a variety of outdoor environments.
These sample lesson plans do not target a specific grade but are instead designed with each of the three divisions in mind, providing teachers with the flexibility to adapt these lessons to a specific division. Suggested strategies to adapt lessons according to student needs are included in the lessons as a guide. Teachers should use their professional judgment to choose the appropriate lesson plan and learning strategies for their students and if necessary, adapt the lesson content appropriately to address their students’ needs.
Teachers may consider incorporating these lessons to address safety as part of an outdoor education activities unit or correspond to the theme presented in the lesson. For example, mindfulness, cooperative group learning, environmental justice, or healthy eating in various settings. The lessons are independent of each other; however, they can be used in combination to complement or extend student learning.
Each lesson plan includes strategies that support assessment for learning, a self-check for students to complete to check their understanding (with the exception of Challenge Your Comfort Zones and Safety Shelters), and a suggested assessment strategy, which may be adapted or replaced as necessary. Note that the self-checks are designed to be used as a pairs or small group quiz game or challenge before or as part of the consolidation and are not meant to be used for grading or evaluation. Teachers can use student answers to clarify or extend learning or provide feedback.
Sample success criteria are presented as well. Criteria for assessing knowledge and skills regarding safety measures during outdoor education activities should be co-created with the students at the beginning of a lesson. Please review these criteria with the students before having them complete the assessment activity, and use the criteria to provide feedback based on the learning goals.
