Environmental Education In The Public Schools

“The hope for the future depends on teaching current and future students the analytical and critical thinking skills for dealing with the most critical problems. My own hope is for this book to be read by everyone, even those outside the field of environmental education. Read this book, read it again, share it widely, and do something - anything - to help our needy and wounded planet."-Marc Bekoff, author of The Animal Manifesto: Six Reasons For Expanding Our Compassion Footprint "Saylan and Blumstein provide a compelling vision of what can be, and what should be, if we have the courage to open our eyes and the boldness to act.”-Peter Saundry, Ph.D., Executive Director of the National Council for Science and the Environment “A clarion call to incorporate environmental education in all grades K-12, across all academic disciplines, in order to produce future generations of environmental stewards."-Mark Gold, President, Heal The Bay "We need a sea change in the educational system. After all, if we can teach schoolchildren that vandalism is wrong, why can we not teach them that environmental destruction is wrong? This book is a haunting call to action. A beautifully written manifesto that gets it right."-Ron Swaisgood, Director of Applied Animal Ecology, Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global “The greatest threat to the future of all species on the planet is the huge gap between what is understood about global climate change by the scientific community and what is known about climate change by the people who need to know -- the public. The sound prescriptions in this book need to be read now. We are running out of time.”-Dr. James Hansen, world-renowned climatologist and author of Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity “Environmental education is a disaster and educating the public on environmental issues is the greatest challenge facing humanity today. This book will help us understand why we are headed toward the collapse of civilization, and more important, how to fix it. Packed with sound science, useful information, and brilliant ideas, it is a book we must read, and give, to our local school boards and principals nationwide. Our children will thank us."-Paul R. Ehrlich, author of The Population Bomb and Humanity on a Tightrope

Descriptions of model environmental education projects that were funded by the Environmental Education Grant Program in California from 1983 through 1991. Projects were selected for grants by fitting specific environmental education criteria. The programs encourage efforts and innovations at the school district level to help students learn about their interrelationships with the natural and human environment, practice making decisions which enhance the quality of life and learn to conserve energy and other natural resources. Emphasis is placed on partnerships with local community resources and rethinking science curriculums. Grant projects were also encouraged to restructure curriculum to integrate learning across disciplines and ages. Projects are clearly coded with the environmental concepts emphasized, and include a description of the project, the grades appropriate for the activities, the year the grant was used and school contact information. Projects are designed for a range of ages, from kindergarten through high school.

In the coming decades, the general public will be required ever more often to understand complex environmental issues, evaluate proposed environmental plans, and understand how individual decisions affect the environment at local to global scales. Thus it is of fundamental importance to ensure that higher quality education about these ecological issues raises the environmental literacy of the general public. In order to achieve this, teachers need to be trained as well as classroom practice enhanced. This volume focuses on the integration of environmental education into science teacher education. The book begins by providing readers with foundational knowledge of environmental education as it applies to the discipline of science education. It relates the historical and philosophical underpinnings of EE, as well as current trends in the subject that relate to science teacher education. Later chapters examine the pedagogical practices of environmental education in the context of science teacher education. Case studies of environmental education teaching and learning strategies in science teacher education, and instructional practices in K-12 science classrooms, are included. This book shares knowledge and ideas about environmental education pedagogy and serves as a reliable guide for both science teacher educators and K-12 science educators who wish to insert environmental education into science teacher education. Coverage includes everything from the methods employed in summer camps to the use of podcasting as a pedagogical aid. Studies have shown that schools that do manage to incorporate EE into their teaching programs demonstrate significant growth in student achievement as well as improved student behavior. This text argues that the multidisciplinary nature of environmental education itself requires problem-solving, critical thinking and literacy skills that benefit students’ work right across the curriculum.