Elementary Curriculum

Tread Lightly! developed it’s elementary curriculum based on the TREAD Pledge for kids.

A variety of activities provide insight into not only how to recreate responsibly but also some of the reasons why it is so important. The activities are designed to be interactive and promote critical thinking. They are adaptable to many grade levels and meet a variety of national standards.

Travel only on trails
How Outdoor Recreation Affects Soils
In this activity students will utilize a variety of different experiments to determine the health of soils at a field site as it relates to soil compaction: determining soil compaction, water absorption, soil makeup, and soil biodiversity.

Respect animals, plants and people
Making Connections
Students construct a web of connected elements in nature and discuss what happens when one or more of these elements are no longer part of the ecosystem.

Every time you go outdoors, think safety, bring a friend and be prepared
Pack Your Pack
Students plan for a recreational outing given a particular scenario and equipment to choose from. Then they will be given an event card to see if they are prepared for the unexpected.

Always leave the outdoors better than you found it
What is Stewardship?
Students create collages with magazine pictures depicting their idea of natural resource stewardship and then describe their idea to classmates. Upon completion of this activity, students will design and carryout a class stewardship project.

Discover how fun the outdoors can be when you Tread Lightly!
Valuing the Land
Students first identify things they value and the rewards and behaviors associated with them in a brainstorming activity, from which they will come up with a group definition of ethic. Then they will play the Values Game to identify the differing views individuals have related to ideas or items and how to respond to these differences with respect. Finally, they will brainstorm values and ethics related to natural resources and recreation. Using that information they will write a story or draw a picture depicting their land ethic.

To download the entire elementary curriculum including a glossary of terms click here

View Standards Here
View Glossary Here

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