An Environmental Learning Center is a place students and other visitors can go to learn more about the natural world. An ELC, through carefully developed programs and activities for children and adults, encourages self-discovery and rediscovery of the limitless wonders of nature and of the undeniable, even mysterious interconnectedness of all life on Earth. In an era when pollutants, noise, crowding, unbridled growth and hurried living tend to diminish the use of our senses, the ELC strives, through "hands-on-learning", to bring us back to these inborn capacities of smell, touch, taste, hearing and seeing. In so doing, the ELC returns us to our most natural state: that of being fully alert to our surroundings and deeply respectful and appreciative of them.

Some examples of other Learning Centers can be found at

http://www.islandwood.org/default.asp

http://www.mckeever.org/

http://oxbow.colstate.edu/

http://mohicanoutdoorschool.org/elc.html