Nature set:

Source 1: How Does Nature Impact Our Wellbeing?

1 Research reveals that environments can increase or reduce our stress, which in
turn impacts our bodies. What you are seeing, hearing and experiencing at any
moment is changing not only your mood, but how your nervous, endocrine, and
immune systems are working.
2 The stress of an unpleasant environment can cause you to feel anxious, or sad,
or helpless. This in turn raises your blood pressure, heart rate, and muscle tension
and suppresses your immune system. A pleasing environment reverses that.
3 And regardless of age or culture, humans find nature pleasing. In one study cited
in the book Healing Gardens, researchers found that more than two-thirds of people
choose a natural setting to retreat to when stressed.
Nature heals
4 Being in nature, or even viewing scenes of nature, reduces anger, fear, and
stress and increases pleasant feelings. Exposure to nature not only makes you feel
better emotionally, it contributes to your physical wellbeing, reducing blood pressure,
heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones. It may even reduce
early death, according to scientists such as public health researchers Stamatakis and
Mitchell.
5 Research done in hospitals, offices, and schools has found that even a simple
plant in a room can have a great impact on stress and anxiety.
Nature soothes
6 In addition, nature helps us cope with pain. Because we are genetically
programmed to find trees, plants, water, and other nature elements interesting, we are
absorbed by nature scenes and distracted from our pain and discomfort.
7 This is proven in a study of patients who underwent gallbladder surgery; half had
a view of trees and half had a view of a wall. According to Robert Ulrich, the
physician who conducted the study, the patients with the view of trees tolerated
pain better, appeared to nurses to have fewer negative effects, and spent less time
in a hospital. More recent studies have shown similar results with scenes from nature
and plants in hospital rooms.
Nature restores
8 One of the most interesting areas of current research is the impact of nature on
general wellbeing. In one study in Mind Magazine, 95% of those interviewed said
their mood improved after spending time outside, changing
from depressed, stressed, and anxious to more calm and balanced. Other studies by
Ulrich, Kim, and Cervinka show that time in nature or scenes of nature are
associated with a positive mood, and mental wellbeing, meaningfulness, and vitality.
9 Furthermore, time in nature or viewing nature scenes increases our ability to pay
attention. Because humans find nature inherently interesting, we can
naturally focus on what we are experiencing out in nature. This also
provides relaxation for our overactive minds, refreshing us for new tasks.
10 In another interesting area, Andrea Taylor’s research on children with attention
disorders shows that time spent in nature increases their attention span later.
Nature connects
11 According to a series of studies conducted by Kuo and Coley at the Human-
Environment Research Lab, time spent in nature connects us to each other and the
larger world. Another study at the University of Illinois suggests that residents in
Chicago public housing who had trees and green space around their building
reported knowing more people, having stronger feelings of unity with neighbors,
being more concerned with helping and supporting each other, and having stronger
feelings of belonging than tenants in buildings without trees. In addition to this
greater sense of community, they had a reduced risk of street crime, lower levels of
violence and aggression between people, and a better capacity to cope with life’s
demands, especially the stresses of living in poverty.
12 The experience of connecting to nature may be explained by studies that used
MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) to measure brain activity. When participants
viewed nature scenes, the parts of the brain associated with empathy and love lit up, but
when they viewed urban scenes, the parts of the brain associated with fear and
anxiety were activated. It appears as though nature inspires feelings that connect us
to each other and our environment.
Too much time in front of screens is deadly
13 “Nature deprivation,” a lack of time in the natural world, largely due to hours
spent in front of TV or computer screens, has been associated, unsurprisingly, with
depression. More unexpected are studies by Weinstein and others that associate
screen time with loss of empathy and lack of altruism.
14 And the risks are even higher than depression and isolation. In a 2011 study
published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, time in front of a
screen was associated with a higher risk of death, and that was independent of
physical activity!

Source 2: Why Kids Need Nature

1 It used to be that, whether you grew up in a suburb, on a farm, or in a big city,
you probably spent a lot of time playing outside, getting dirty, and coming home happy.
Maybe you watched ants making anthills in your backyard, climbed trees in the park, or
simply lay in the grass watching the drifting clouds. Unfortunately, young people
today do not have as many direct experiences with nature, and it's taking a toll.
Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-
Deficit Disorder maintains that this disconnect from the natural world is producing ill
effects in both mind and body. But he's optimistic that well-meaning, positive-
thinking parents and educators can close the kid-nature gap. "We should not think of a
child's experience in nature as an extracurricular activity," says Louv. "It should
be thought of as important to children's health and development."

2 Research suggests that a connection to nature is built into us and we yearn for
the natural world. When children spend most of their time indoors, they miss out.
Problems associated with not being in nature include depression, obesity, and
difficulty focusing. Kids who have direct access to nature are better learners.
Exposure to nature has been shown to reduce stress and increase attention spans.

3 When a child is out in nature, all the senses get activated. He is involved in
something bigger than himself, rather than focusing narrowly on one thing, such as
a computer screen. He's seeing, hearing, touching, even tasting. Out in nature, a
child's brain has the chance to rejuvenate and grow, so the next time he has to
focus and pay attention, perhaps in school, he'll do better.

4 But even if kids don't have any of the specific problems mentioned above, kids
who don't get out much lack the sense of wonder that only nature can provide. “I've
taken kids into the woods who've never been there. At first, they're scared because
it's unfamiliar, but then you can see them open up and start exploring,” states Louv.

Why are kids disconnected from nature?

5 There are some obvious reasons, such as the fact that many families are
overscheduled, which chips away at leisure time. Parental fears — of traffic, of
crime, even of nature itself, such as with Lyme disease or the West Nile virus — also
play a big role in keeping kids indoors. What's unfortunate is that these fears have
been over-exaggerated by the media, and the overall effect is that kids spend
more time in their homes, or very close to home.

6 In many places, children's access to nature has been cut off. The woods at the
end of the street were made into a new apartment building. Parks are manicured —
there may be a nice smooth soccer field or a baseball diamond but no rough edges.
Rough edges are the places children go to explore, where they find rocks and weeds
and bugs. Efforts to provide nice-looking and safe outdoor spaces are well intentioned,
but they give kids the message that nature is not something you go out in to get your
hands dirty.
 Writing Prompt
Write an informative essay to present to your class about the effects
experiencing nature has on individuals. Use information from the
passages in your essay.

Manage your time carefully so that you can

• read the passages;
• plan your response;
• write your response; and
• revise and edit your response.

Be sure to include
• an introduction;
• information from the passages as support; and
• a conclusion that is related to the information presented.

Your response should be in the form of a multiparagraph essay. Write

your response in the space provided.