Flushing Out My Inquiry Topic (Exit 8)

Especially in cities, kids are being exposed to natural environments far less than they used to be (needs citation). Part of my thesis is my opinion (for now) that this creates three main effects. Children exposed less to natural environments 1) have a lesser sense of environmental stewardship and care for the natural world, 2) have worse academic outcomes in terms of both understanding and grades, and 3) have worse emotional regulation which results in more difficult classroom management for teachers. These ideas need some significant form of backing up, but I believe them to be true.

With this in mind, I would like to determine whether we can use outdoor education and exposure to natural environments to improve all three of these aspects of children's and teacher's lives. Environmental stewardship is a part of the curriculum in science in some way (needs citation) and is a part of the First People's Principles of Learning (needs citation). Not only that, but in the face of climate crisis we all need to have some sense of social responsibility to the Earth.

Starting my lit review I'm first focusing on the emotional regulation side of things. I made a search for "outdoor education and emotional regulation". It seems the literature talks more about emotional intelligence and adaptation and mental health and well-being, which might be an interesting slight change to my tiopic.