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Cohort 1: Matthew

Matthew, PreK

Year 1, Cohort 1, Non-Rural Alaska
Child-Nature Points of Interest (2018-2019)


Demographic Information

  • Ethnicity: White/Caucasian, Alaska Native (Athabascan)
  • DOB: April, 2013
  • Gender: Male
  • Birthplace: Fairbanks, AK
  • Family Members: Mother, Father, Sister (age 7)
  • Years Parent Lived in Alaska: 36
  • Parent’s feeling about place lived: (1-10 rating; 10=extremely happy, 1=extremely unhappy)
  • House Location(s) in Fairbanks: Inside Fairbanks City Limits

Source: Family Survey, Fall 2018 (completed by Matthew’s father)

  • Family Outdoor Activities:
    (Ranked frequently and almost always)
    • Go to playground or park (in city/town/village)
    • Go to sportsfield (soccer, baseball, etc.)
  • Child’s Outdoor Activities:
    (Ranked frequently and almost always)
    • Make believe
    • Play with dog
    • Sled
  • Favorite Family Activity (Written response): "Camping"
  • Child’s Favorite Summer Activity (Written response): “Swimming/4-wheeling"
  • Child’s Favorite Winter Activity (Written response): “Sledding"
  • Description of outdoor experience when child was afraid/scared (Written response): “Sometimes he worries about wildlife (bears, moose)."
  • Description of outdoor experience when child was excited/happy (Written response): “He loves finding bugs."

Source: Family Survey, Fall 2018 (completed by Matthew’s father)

Child's Drawings

Fall 2018

Not completed 

Child's drawing: toothless the dragon and a person running in the snow

Spring 2019

Child Quotes:

"I don't like winter."

"I like - like the summer"

"I like the snow but I don't like the cold."

"I like to run in it"

"Running in the snow"

"Oh, I wanna watch Train your dragon. I wanna write a dragon. How do we write a dragon?"

"How do we write the blue toothless?"

Family Feedback: N/A

Empty sheet (I don't want to color guys the birds came away the birds escaped)
Fall 2018

Spring 2019: No drawing

Fall 2018: "I don't want to color"

Spring 2019: No Drawing

Fall 2018
Class Nature Tour Video Highlights

Emotional and Behavioral Points of Interest:

Excited about finding wild raspberries and splashing in puddles; Tension navigating wooden bridge; Growling while navigating trails; Expressed fear while in forest; Worried about encountering wildlife (i.e., bears, moose)

Spring 2019
Class Nature Tour Video Highlights

Emotional and Behavioral Points of Interest:

Humming in the forest, stick as weapon, play in ice puddle “need to get the ice,” determination and mission

Child Reflections on Educational Activities

No reflections

Source: Transcribed Notes from Class Discussions

Child Quotes:

“I was hunting. I think I saw an arctic wolf under the tree, couldn’t go in there. Some people hunting with me.”

“When I just had my stick that’s all or maybe when I find my stick that was tall to the sky.”

“I like when I was falling down but it didn’t hurt.”

“I learned about bald eagles. I saw a bald eagle flying up in the air. I saw a wolf.”

Source: Transcribed Notes from Class Discussions


This project is funded by the National Science Foundation. Award # 1753399, CAREER: A longitudinal study of the emotional and behavioral processes of Environmental Identity Development among rural and non-rural Alaskan children