We have talked about the way different people think about nature (value, perspective), and what they do with nature (experience).

There is another factor that affects what people do and how they feel.

What percentage of people living in Traralgon would have done this?

What about people who live in Dandenong?

Why? What is the issue.Location. It is much easier for us because

we don’t have to travel far to go camping.

Why? What is the issue?Cost. You don’t have the money to be able

to do this?

Different people have different levels of access to the natural world.

This results in different feelings, values and attitudes towards natural places.

Our definition of nature that we used at the beginning of the year represents a Dichotomy. A dichotomy is when we think of two things as being completely separate, with no overlap, like good and evil.

Today, more and more people live in cities. We are the only species that has sought to make ourselves separate from the rest of the natural world.

The more we retreat into our cities, the less we feel connected to the natural world, the less we understand, the less we care. We cease to feel a ‘sense of place’ with it.

By increasing access to natural places, the hope is that this trend can be reversed, or at least slowed.

So, what are factors that restrict peoples access?

Once we know what they are, we can try and do something to address the issues.

Why could this be a good idea?As a class, list as many things as you can

that might stop someone from visiting a natural environments like the Baw Baw plateau.

Socio-economic status• If you can’t afford it, you won’t do it.

Culture• What country are you from? What activities are

popular there? What do your friends like to do? What do your parents enjoy?

• These are all cultural influences.Age

• Different activities are popular to different generations.

• Can also affect physical ability.

Gender• Boys are tough and good at sports and like the

outdoors.• Girls aren’t tough. They like to do their make up and

gossip. Girls don’t play sport.• Right?• What preconceptions to people have about gender?

Physical Ability• Most outdoor activities require some level of health

or fitness.• The more it requires the less people can do them, or

will want to do them

Today, the media (TV, magazines, internet) has a huge influence over the things we think, feel and do.

Think about what a show or ad on TV where someone is engaging in adventure activities in the outdoors.

What does this person look like?

Typically, people portrayed in the media are • young, • strong/fit, • able-bodied, • anglo-saxon and • male.

Boys – what would your mates think if you told them you weren’t going to footy training because you had to exfoliate?

Girls – what does the girl who always trys really hard in PE and is really competitive usually get called at school?

Inside, we all feel a need to belong.For different people, this need can be for

different things, and in different amounts.The more people who already think

something, the stronger our need to conform to this idea.

We already have very strong ideas about what it means to be masculine, or feminine.

A lot of the ideas we get come from the media.

When the media shows people who look similar to what we think about ourselves, we are more likely to do the things it is portraying.

So, how much are we like the people we see on TV.

The more similar we are to this model, the more likely we will be to do these activities.

Lets see if this is true in our case. Write a statement describing how much you currently

participate in the outdoors. Give yourself a rating out of ten. Discuss with the rest of

the class to give you a bit of a guide. Have another look at the characteristics of the

adventure person in the media – how many of these apply to you.

Write a statement explaining the relationship between how much you participate and how well you fit the media model. Discuss whether or not you think the statement at the end of slide 14 is true or not.