Perspectives and

Lenses
Imagine you are wearing red sunglasses.
What colour do you see the world?
What about green sunglasses?
What about no sunglasses?
Do you think everyone wears no sunglasses?
Why?

Outcome 2
Knowing Outdoor Environments

There are different ways people can come

to know and therefore understand outdoor
environments.
To know something is to be aware through
observation or investigation.
To have developed a relationship through
meeting and spending time with it.
To have learnt about and to possess
information and an understanding for it.

Experiential knowledge
Obtaining knowledge and understanding
through actively engaging in an environment.
A personal experience, such as visiting a
location and/or partaking in an activity.
Hands-on experience, allows us to form a
relationship with the environment.

Environmental and natural

history
Natural and environmental history is
based on land formations, climate and
weather events, changes to the
landscape and the animals that inhabit it,
and a basic knowledge of what has
occurred in a specific environment
throughout a period of time.

Ecological, Social and

Economic
perspectives

Ecological perspective
This perspective is grounded in
biology and is concerned with the
interrelationships between living
organisms and their physical
surroundings.

Social perspective
Human interactions with outdoor
environments. They refer to the
actions of a society as a
collective or community, rather
than just focusing on individuals.

Economic perspective
Directly linked to profit. This
perspective is associated with
what the environment has to
offer in terms of its resources
and income opportunities.