A virtual high school textbook and so much more.
Nature Labs
Non-Profit | Curricula-Connected | Plug-and-Play | Flexible | Trusted | Teacher-Created
Nature Labs helps students challenge their assumptions and unlock their full potential, today and every day. We use nature as a captivating metaphor to bring the lessons of five high school subjects to life, using story to connect students to Canadian experts, from former prime ministers to top chefs, and real-world issues.
Nature Labs Provides:
Explore Nature Labs Lessons!
Nature Labs is not an advocacy platform; we don’t tell students what to think. We help make class lessons relatable and relevant, allowing students to unleash their curiosity, think more critically and act more creatively in all that they do. Take a look at just a few of the hundreds of lessons featured on Nature Labs:
Testimonials
Nature Labs Is…
A Better Textbook
Textbooks are boring and out-dated the minute they’re published. Nature Labs is more than a textbook, it’s an immersive classroom. Plus, why learn from an American writer about the Canadian political system when you can learn from a former Canadian prime minister?
Experts Teaching Students
Teachers aren’t always experts in what they teach. But you know who is an expert? Subject-matter leaders. We’ve curated the stories of 150 citizens (and counting!) to help explain class lessons and relate them to real-world issues.
More Efficient Education
We take care of the lesson material so teachers can focus on working with students one-on-one. We also present almost all of our material in video, audio and written format, to help you reach students with different learning preferences.
Cross Curricular Education
We need the next generation of scientists to appreciate the art of storytelling and the next class of policy-makers to have studied science. We make education cross-curricular so you don’t have to worry about that too.
Constant Updates
A war breaks out, a pandemic is announced, a Supreme Court case is settled or a major new scientific finding in uncovered that changes everything? We’re on it. Lessons need to reflect the rapidly changing world students live in.
Balanced Storytelling
Nature Labs is not an advocacy platform. We don’t tell students what to think and don’t take positions on the issues we face. We do work to reflect and challenge every perspective in Canada, helping students understand the true complexity of our society.
Inquiry-Based
There are many great resources in Canada, but so many are limited in scope or are trying to sell students on an idea, an outcome, a campaign or an idea. We’re not the arbiters of right and wrong, but rather the askers of better questions that we hope will provoke and unleash a lifetime of inquiry.
Place-Based Learning
Our stories start from and come back to a place that students can visit, but not everyone is able to travel to Mount Robson. We bring this classroom to life through virtual field trips that capture imaginations and transform abstract concepts into real-world relevance.
More Relevant Education
The first question most students ask is why they need to know what’s being taught. And it’s the first question we answer in every lesson. We strive to help students take what they’ve learned apply it to advance their careers and help them solve the challenges facing our world.
National Yet Local
If you grow up in St. John’s or Toronto or Assiniboia or Klemtu? You’re learning differently than your neighbour, a reality that is at the heart of why we lack empathy for our neighbour. We’ve scoured every curriculum in Canada to find the commonalities that can allow for a national education program that still meets the requirements of each provincial and territorial jurisdiction.
No Funding Bias
Real or perceived, we assume so many companies and foundations have a bias and attempt to influence the message, the direction, the outcomes of what they fund. As a citizen-funded project, we have avoided strings-attached funding to ensure students are free to make whatever choices they want.
More Than Nature Literacy
Nature Labs will help students understand our natural world. But nature is really a metaphor to so much more. It’s how we can begin to tackle so many other important, more divisive issues in our society. Nature Labs is a springboard to help students become literate in a range of subjects, fostering good citizenship.
meet the creators
Jill Cooper and Simon Jackson
Jill Cooper – an accomplished educator – and Simon Jackson – an award-winning storyteller – have spent a lifetime immersed in the stories and landscapes of the place we call home. They’ve travelled from the development-rich Oil Sands to the wilds of the Rocky Mountains, from Clyde River and Val d’Or to Calgary and Halifax, to better understand nature, education and our country. Their takeaway? Nature unites us all. By making the seemingly irrelevant relevant, it’s possible to showcase that nothing is black and white and, through better education, a more thoughtful citizenry that strives to balance the needs of people and nature is possible. This was the inspiration for Nature Labs.
Federally registered non-profit #1063793-9
Simon & Jill