Nature-Based Learning in Maine: How Three Organizational Partnerships Are Immersing Students in the Outdoors

In the modern classroom, students can access vast amounts of information in the blink of an eye. But the intense stimulation of modern technology, combined with the volume and pace of informational flow, requires extreme concentration to filter out distractions. This level of extended focus can be incredibly fatiguing.

The solution, according to one study? More time outside.

A mix of classroom and nature-based learning gives students the best of both worlds: the advantages of technologies that bring core subjects to life and the expansive benefits that come from spending time in the natural environment.

And when environmental education organizations and schools partner up, they’re able to integrate outdoor learning directly into school lesson plans, amplifying the impact of their curriculum and expanding access to more students. This type of place-based instruction helps students thrive — both in the classroom and in life.

The Power of Learning in Nature

Science-based environmental education programs emphasize experiential learning, bringing students directly into ecosystems to help them better understand natural systems in action. They also encourage students to connect the dots between environmental shifts and human interventions, often leading to more effective conversations around climate change and conservation efforts.

In addition to driving better learning outcomes, high-quality nature learning has been shown to help students:

• Build life skills. The Child Mind Institute notes that the less-structured format of outdoor play and learning promotes confidence, creativity, and critical thinking. Being outside activates more senses than being indoors, but it also provides the space and slower pace needed to process that stimulation more effectively.

• Develop academically, physically, and socially. A study in the Natural Medicine Journal found that nature-based learning programs encourage physical activity and help students’ overall intellectual and psychological well-being — benefits that can extend well into adulthood.

• Become better learners. According to a Frontiers in Psychology study, nature learning promotes improved attention spans, stress levels, self-discipline, and interest in learning. As evidenced by boosts in test scores and graduation rates, these programs foster better overall student outcomes, allowing students to carry outdoor lessons into their classrooms.

• Explore their purpose. Research from the Journal of Happiness Studies found that a greater connection to nature often drives greater eudaimonic well-being, or “a type of contentment that goes beyond just feeling good and includes having meaningful purpose in life.”

Because of these benefits, more and more schools in Maine are partnering with environmental nonprofits to extend the classroom outdoors to meet learning objectives while also supporting students’ overall well-being.

Nature-Learning Partnerships in Action

According to the 2022 Community-Based Outdoor and Environmental Learning (CBEL) census, 51% of schools in Maine prioritize this kind of environmental learning within their core curricula — and many partner with outside organizations to accomplish this work. In fact, 71% of nature-learning organizations work with schools regularly to offer nature-based programming.

These partnerships help transform classroom education into outdoor experiences for students. They enable students to “do” science in practical, hands-on ways and in immersive environments, and they allow nonprofit leaders to support classroom educators in fostering experiential learning long term.

As a core priority of our Environment Program at the Onion Foundation, we offer grant funding to a number of nature-learning organizations throughout the state. Here’s a closer look at three environmental learning collaborations we’re proud to support and the significant impact they have on students in Maine.

1. Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust and Brunswick School Department

Founded in 1985, Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust (BTLT) has a long and rich history of driving conservation and environmental education in midcoast Maine. In 2023, the organization officially merged with its longtime partner, the Cathance River Education Alliance (CREA), enabling hands-on outdoor learning for students throughout the area through field trips to CREA’s Ecology Center.

As a result of the merger, BTLT has been able to extend its nature-learning initiatives even further by deepening its collaboration with the Brunswick School Department. Using public funding, the school district engaged the land trust to design a standards-aligned environmental science curriculum. And in fall 2024, BTLT teams began training Brunswick teachers to use the curriculum in upcoming outdoor and garden-based science units.

The Collaboration

First, BTLT educators applied their nature-learning experience to develop a custom curriculum that aligns with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The standards enable students to learn science by doing science, combining core ideas, scientific practices, and crosscutting concepts.

Then, through four small-group professional development sessions, Brunswick teachers across 25 third, fourth, and fifth grade classrooms got their own hands-on education in the garden. Here, BTLT leaders taught educators how to guide students through outdoor observation and experiential science exercises.

In addition to designing new outdoor curriculum and training teachers, BTLT also continues to offer programming for around 1,000 BSD elementary students through initiatives such as:

• Field trips connected to inquiry-based lessons aligned with NGSS

• Storywalks and observation-focused hikes for kindergarten students

• Open houses at the CREA Ecology Center

• Guided walks and science-based activities for youth and their families

The Impact

Both BTLT and the Brunswick School Department are committed to implementing high-quality curricula that emphasize the application of science. But BTLT doesn’t have the capacity to reach every student, just as Brunswick teachers have limited time during the school day to meet all of their many teaching objectives.

By working together, the nonprofit educators and classroom teachers created immersive, pedagogically sound outdoor learning experiences that are now a core part of the elementary school science program. The Brunswick School Department feels confident delivering nature-learning lessons knowing that students are learning fundamental scientific principles in accordance with the NGSS. BTLT is able to reach entire grades of students with the educational and well-being benefits of its programming. And the students get to connect directly with the environment, seeing firsthand how science lessons come to life in the natural world.

2. Western Foothills Land Trust and Oxford Hills School District

In 2011, Oxford Hills School District (OHSD) established what would become a long-lasting partnership with Western Foothills Land Trust (WFLT), a land-protection nonprofit founded in 1987. After receiving public funding to bring on specialized nature-learning educators, the school district partnered with the land trust to design its own environmental science curriculum.

Together, the two organizations offer monthly nature-learning programming at the land trust’s Roberts Farm Preserve to around 350 fifth graders across the district.

The Collaboration

A 212-acre preserve in Norway, Maine, Roberts Farm is a recreational resource for Mainers, with robust gardens and more than seven miles of walkable trails. Each month, OHSD fifth graders embark on outdoor adventures throughout the farm, participating in interactive, NGSS-aligned nature-learning lessons focused on:

• Energy flows

• Hydro power

• Atmospheric phenomena

• Biological evolution

• Natural ecosystems

This collaboration offers both organizations key benefits: The school district’s qualified environmental science educators get access to the land trust’s rich landscape for hands-on lessons, while the land trust expands its offerings to more families within the community.

The Impact

Among all involved, students benefit the most from this collaboration. Fifth graders across the district can put science into action, seeing their experiments and theories come to life right before their eyes. OHSD recently expanded its nature-learning program with new after-school offerings to reach more elementary grades and high school students. These students will engage in place-based lessons focused on the ecosystems they observe at Roberts Farm and other land trust preserves. They’ll also participate in hands-on activities such as collecting seeds, tapping maple trees, and producing syrup.

The Western Foothills Land Trust emphasizes equitable access to nature in all its programming, and by partnering with Oxford Hills School District, all students get safe, inclusive access to its preserves. They learn how to become stewards of the land by engaging directly with it, which sparks further intellectual curiosity.

3. Rural Aspirations Project and Maine Forest Collaborative

The Rural Aspirations Project (RAP) works to expand educational and professional learning opportunities for students in rural areas. The organization’s Maine Forest Collaborative (MFC) was born out of a desire to empower youth to build connections with their local ecosystems and communities in the forests of rural Maine. Through the MFC initiative, students from eight schools in rural Maine work with community leaders, university professors, and businesses to address real-world challenges while learning about forest-based careers available to them.

The Collaboration

As in past years, students in the 2024-25 cohort — from Piscataquis Community Secondary School, Greenville Consolidated School, Schenck High School, and more — participated in a series of lessons designed to engage them in the natural world. Students worked on community-based projects, such as improving public access to local trail systems and creating educational signs at community parks to help residents learn about the native ecosystem.

Throughout the program, students focused on applied learning. They identified a community challenge, researched it, and designed a project to address it, working side by side with forest experts and other local professionals.

The Impact

The collaborative’s emphasis on place-based, experiential learning carries over to its core goals. The MFC team ensures that students have access to a number of natural resources professionals, practitioners, policymakers, and industry leaders to encourage them to explore job opportunities in the outdoor sector in the future. These lessons help students develop not only the skills local employers are specifically looking for in new hires, but also the curiosity, care, and knowledge to invest in their local environmental resources long term.

Fostering Environmental Awareness

These and many other nature-learning collaborations throughout Maine are generating a renewed energy for nature-based education in different forms, inspiring other schools and nonprofits to partner together. Their work integrates classroom learning and outdoor experiences in organic ways, helping teachers and students connect science with hands-on practice. Successful collaborations prove that, through these partnerships, schools can meet student learning objectives while leveraging the benefits that being outside offers to our overall well-being.

By deepening understanding of the natural world, these collaborations aren’t just helping students develop skills they need to succeed today. They’re also building the environmentally conscious generation of the future — one with the knowledge and sense of purpose to protect and nurture natural ecosystems well beyond graduation.