-berkeley's lawrence hall of science, craig strang is part of a team that helps shape the science curriculum used by an estimat one in four american students. but since march, strang has been working to convince school maine to take their classrooms outside. >> getting ks outdoors, not r ten minutes, not for a half an hour, but for whole school days whenever possible, really needs to be taken into consideration. >> reporter: as a co-founder of the national covid-19 outdoor learning initiative, the all-volunteer effort of hundreds of education experts have been working to develop "a guidfog framework r how schools and districts can reopen in-person classes safely using outdoor spaces." >> it's not a new idea. it's not a new solution. it's really a different way of thinking by current school leaders >> reporter: it's not a new idea. at the beginning of the 20th century, schools across the country werheld outside to otect students against tuberculosis, and then lar, the spanish flu. cl wsese held on front porches, on rooftops, and even olrry boats, throughout the entire scear. >> schools have a

craig melvin (voiceover): left behind in her garage, signs of a struggle and a strange orange mist. we didn't know what it was. craig melvin (voiceover): then, her boss went missing too. who was he afraid of? he might have been afraid that he was next. he said, if i don't get this taken care of, these people are going to put a bullet in my head. craig melvin (voiceover): he left behind a bigger mess. we three kings be stealing the gold. [laughing]

. >> reporter: a strange back-to-school day, craig. the first countries in europe getting baaing to physical classrooms. it's a big deal. you touched on it. creative ways of doing that. one, a bit controversial. in some classes and classrooms and some states just like the u.s., boeblly based. kids not wearing face masks in the classroom or on the playground. only in crowded hallways. that's causing debate in the country. listen to this. that six-foot social distancing rule is out the windows a well. instead clustering students into groups. if one student tests positive, they can simply quarantine them and try to keep the school open, craig. >> for us there from london, carl, thank you. wish we had more time. >>> nats it fthat's it for this. "andrea mitchell reports," after a short break. t break. ♪ all we do is hand you the bag. simple. done. we adapt and we change. you know, you just figure it out. we've just been finding a way to keep on pushing. ♪ for spending a perfectly reasonable amount of time on the couch with tacos from grubhu

strange? richard: how many characters and how long? craig: [laughter] paul: spoken like a good playwright. david, craig? craig: i'm not sure. i'm not sure. there was an old commercial from the 1970's where a native american is on a highway and somebody drives by and throws litter at his feet, and it's just a sign of him and a teardrop. and i think that's that play, you know? i think they would look back on where we are now and would be angry and saddened at opportunities lost and things that we're slaves to. even though we have the capability to achieve many great things, our own folly and our own whatever is keeping us from doing that, and i think they would be very saddened and angered by that. and i don't know what the play is after that. maybe they have a drink. [laughter] david: and you know, at the end of the day, you have to -- what is it? there is the word hope. so, you hope. what was his name -- leonard cohen. you all know leonard cohen, writer. leonard said some things about a crack in the sunlight, or a crack in the whatever. and he said, there's something about that's the reaso

strange? >> how many characters and how long? >> spoken like a good playwright. david? craig? >> i'm not sure. i'm not sure -- there was an old commercial from the '70s where a native american is on a highway and somebody drives by and throws litter at his feet and it's just a sign of him and a tear drop. and i think that's that play. you know, i think -- i think they would look back on where we are now and would be angry and saddened at opportunities lost and the things that we're slaves too even though we have the capability to achieve many great things, our own folly and our own whatever is keeping us from doing that and i think they would be very saddened and angered by that. i don't know that that's -- i don't know what the play is after that. you know, maybe they -- maybe they have a drink