|
On This Page
Recommended Reading
EE Research
|
|
|
EE Practices
|
|
EECSD has set up a page dedicated
to sharing the best practices, resources and materials for teaching
about climate change and global warming.
EECSD
Climate Change Resource Page
|
|
Environmental literacy is having the knowledge and skills necessary
to practice
responsible environmental behavior. Environmentally literate people: - Can question,
analyze and interpret situations, data and information.
-
Understand environmental processes and systems.
- Understand
environmental issues and know how to address them.
- Act upon their understanding individually and in their communities to work
for environmental health.
Environmentally literate people will not resolve environmental
issues the same way. The goal of environmental education is to create environmentally
literate citizens. |
| |
|
Environmental Literacy
Plan |
The
North American
Association for Environmental Education has developed a guidance
document to help states craft their environmental literacy plans.
Environmental literacy plans, which are part of the
No Child Left
Inside legislative initiative, describe how each state will
integrate environmental education into their formal education
framework.Please see the South Dakota
Environmental Literacy Plan page for information and updates on
a South Dakota ELP.
NAAEE Environmental Literacy Plan (requires PDF reader. Opens in
a new window, please allow pop-ups) |
|
|
What is Environmental
Education?
(The Short Answer) |
Environmental education (EE) teaches
children and adults how to learn about and investigate their
environment, and to make intelligent, informed decisions about how
they can take care of it. Environmental education is concerned
with teaching how to think, not what to
think.
|
What is Environmental
Education
(The Long Answer) |
Guidelines
for Excellence in EE
What does "good" EE look like? What content should be covered?
What skills are taught? Which methods are best used to teach
EE?
The Guidelines for Excellence in
EE were developed by the National Project for Excellence in EE
to answer those questions and more. The Guidelines,
published by the North American Association for Environmental
Education (NAAEE), provide a framework for quality, effective EE to
those interested in designing, conducting and evaluating EE.
More about the Guidelines
NEW! Proposed Guidelines for
teaching about climate change from NAAEE and National Wildlife
Federation.
Draft Guidelines |
| |
|
Definitions of EE
"Jargon" |
Environmental Education, like most
fields, has its own jargon. To get up to speed, see the
glossary compiled by the
Definitions Project. |
| |
|
Recommended Reading &
Resources |
Two Hats - A short essay
on the importance of distinguishing between environmental education
and environmentalism.
Guidelines for Excellence in Environmental Education set the
standard for high quality environmental education. Educators
and EE providers will find the Guidelines useful for
designing their instruction, selecting resources and evaluating
their programs. EECSD has formally adopted the Guidelines
and is committed to their use, dissemination and integration
into South Dakota's environment education network.
Last Child in the Woods
by Richard Louv.
With this book, Richard Louv drew attention to the problem of
children who no longer play outdoors which has in turn initiated a
grassroots movement to return kids to outdoor play.
The Sense of Wonder by Rachel Carson is inspiring a new
generation of parents, early childhood educators, and concerned
adults to ensure that young children are able to experience that
innate sense of wonder for as long as possible. Originally an essay
in the 1950's magazine, A Woman's Home Companion, this short
book is still relevant and perhaps even more necessary than when
first written.
|
The Journal of
Environmental Education is available online through the State
Library. All you need is a library card to access this
rich resource of cutting edge research on environmental
education.
Go to:
http://library.sd.gov/
Click on:
For remote users w/ library cardsScroll down to
Infotrac. Click on:
Professional Collection
Enter your library card barcode number and password. Consult your librarian for password
(usually your last name).
Click on "Publication Search" in the menu bar at the upper left of the screenEnter "Journal of
Environmental Education" in the Publication Search box.You will then be able to search the Journal of Environmental Education.
Enjoy!
|
|
Children and Nature Network
Children and Nature Network has a
compiled a list of findings from a review of research concerning
the beneficial effects of the natural environment on children’s
health and well-being.
See:
http://www.childrenandnature.org/research/
Place Based Education Evaluative
Collaborative
http://www.peecworks.org/index
PEEC is a partnership between the organizations and projects
involved in Place Based Education. By combining efforts, the
collaborative is able to support program evaluation for each of
the individual programs and also to better identify successful
program characteristics that span all of these place-based
education programs.
Children, Youth and Environments
http://www.colorado.edu/journals/cye/
CYE Journal, the world's leading publication for the latest news
on children, youth and their environments. Endorsed by
UN-Habitat and guided by a distinguished Editorial Advisory
Board, the Journal is a one-stop online resource, which supports
the sharing of knowledge across disciplinary and national
boundaries.
With readers in
over 160 countries, the Journal provides easy access to
authoritative research articles, in-depth analyses, cutting-edge
field reports, and critical book reviews.
|
|
Environmental Education Report:
Empirical Evidence, Exemplary Models, and Recommendations on the
Impact of Environmental Education on K-12 Students.
The Washington State Office of the
Superintendent of Public Instruction has published
Environmental Education Report:
Empirical Evidence, Exemplary Models, and Recommendations on the
Impact of Environmental Education on K-12 Students.
In 2006, the Washington state
legislature instructed the Washington state department of
education to undertake a rigorous study of environmental
education in the state. While many of the findings are
particular to the efforts underway in Washington, some of the
findings support EE in other locales as well. These findings
include:
- Environmental Education is an
effective means of achieving a number of desirable student
outcomes.
- Environmental Education allows for the ready integration of
many techniques that are thought to define good education.
- The multi-faceted nature of Environmental Education is a key
component of its effectiveness.
Read
the Environmental Education Report*.
Wheeler, G., Thumlert, C., Glaser,
L., Schoellhamer, M., & Bartosh, O. (2007). Environmental
education report: empirical evidence, exemplary models, and
recommendations on the impact of environmental education on K-12
students. Report from Washington Office of Superintendent
of Public Instruction. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/3c/7c/21.pdf
|
Environmental Education: Improving Student Achievement
The present research, being one
strand of the Environmental Education
Consortium’s longer research effort, aims to study the impact of
environmental education (EE) programs on student achievement in
traditional subjects such as math, reading and writing. By
comparing “environmental schools” and schools with traditional
curricula and analyzing their teaching and learning
environments, the present research aims to obtain statistical
evidence of the positive impact of EE on student learning and to
make an educational case for environmental education.
The research compares two groups of schools selected by the
author after consulting with various EE providers, and other EE
and educational experts: a group of EE schools that have been
fully implementing EE for at least three years, and a group of
comparison (or non-EE) schools which do not have an
environmental education program or are only starting to develop
it. Schools were paired using US census and OSPI
information.
To evaluate the impact of the EE programs on student
achievement, data about WASL and ITBS tests from the OSPI web
site were used. WASL and ITBS data were analyzed through several
statistical tests (t-tests, discriminant analysis, longitudinal
analysis, etc.) Also in order to evaluate the schools’ teaching
and learning environments an electronic survey was administered.
According to the results, schools that undertake systemic
environmental education programs consistently have higher test
scores on the state standardized tests over comparable “non-EE”
schools. The mean percentages of the students who meet standards
on WASL and ITBS tests are higher in WASL and ITBS in the
schools with environmental programs. There were no EE schools
that had lower percentage of students who meet or above
standards in all six areas. Overall, 73 pairs out of 77 EE
schools had higher scores in at least one subject. Also the
research shows a pattern indicating that in schools with
environmental educational programs, teachers tend to use natural
areas more; have more EE professional development/training; have
more support from parents, community and administration; and see
more value in environmental education.
To conclude, the author believes that the present research shows
the correlation between level of implementation of environmental
education and student achievement and emphasizes the necessity
of more in-depth studies of this issue.
Read the full article:
http://www.seer.org/pages/research/Bartosh2003.pdf
Bartosh, O. (2003).
Environmental education: improving student achievement. State
Education and Environment Roundtable, Unpublished Master's
Thesis. Retrieved from http://www.seer.org/pages/research/Bartosh2003.pdf
|
| Closing the
Achievement Gap: Using the Environment as an Integrating Context
for Learning. Results of a Nationwide Study
This report relates the story of
the schools, teachers, and students involved in implementing the
framework known as the Environment as an Integrating Context (EIC).
The results of a nationwide study, a description of the major
concepts and assumptions underlying EIC, an exploration of the
range of successful EIC programs across the United States, and
an analysis of the implications of EIC-based education for
student learning and instruction are presented. Observed
benefits include better performance on standardized measures of
academic achievement in reading, writing, mathematics, and
social studies; reduced discipline and classroom management
problems; and increased engagement and enthusiasm for learning.
(Contains 25 references and 17 tables.) (DDR)
Read the full article:
http://www.seer.org/extras/execsum.pdf
Lieberman, G.A., & Hoody, L.L.
(1998). Closing the achievement gap: using the environment as an
integrating context for learning. results of a nationwide study.
State Education and Environment Roundtable, Report.
Retrieved from
|
| The effects
of environment-based education on students' critical thinking
skills and disposition toward critical thinking
This study examined the
relationship between environment-based education and high school
students' critical thinking skills and disposition toward
critical thinking. Four hundred four 9th and 12th grade students
from 11 Florida high schools participated in the study. A
Pretest-Posttest Nonequivalent Comparison Group Design (9th
grade) and a Posttest Only Nonequivalent Comparison Group Design
(12th grade) were used. Interviews of students and teachers were
used in the classic sense of triangulation. Data collection took
place over the 2001±2002 school year. When controlling for
pretest score, grade point average (GPA), gender, and ethnicity,
environment-based programs had a positive effect on 9th grade
students' critical thinking skills (p=.002). When controlling
for GPA, gender, and ethnicity, environment-based programs had a
positive effect on 12th grade students' critical thinking skills
(p < .001) and disposition toward critical thinking (p < .001).
The results of this study support the use of environment-based
education for improving critical thinking and can be used to
guide future implementation.
Read the full article:
http://www.eenorthcarolina.com/research/criticalthinking.pdf
Ernst, J., & Monroe, M. (2004).
The Effects of environment-based education on students.
Environmental Education Research, 10(4), Retrieved from
http://www.eenorthcarolina.com/research/criticalthinking.pdf
|
Engaging the public in biodiversity issues
Michael J Novacek
© 2008 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA
Abstract:
To engage people in biodiversity and other environmental issues,
one must provide the opportunity for enhanced understanding that
empowers individuals to make choices and take action based on
sound science and reliable recommendations. To this end, we must
acknowledge some real challenges. Recent surveys show that,
despite growing public concern, environmental issues still rank
below many other problems, such as terrorism, health care, the
economy, and (in the U.S.) family values. Moreover, much of the
recent upswing in interest in the environment is due to the
marked shift in attention to global warming away from other
environmental problems such as destruction of ecosystems, water
pollution, overpopulation, and biodiversity loss. Such a change
in public focus often comes with a tendency to decouple various
environmental problems and ignore their synergistic effects.
Exacerbating this problem are arguments from the media and other
sources that discourage public interest in environmental topics
by characterizing the science behind them as overly complex,
immersed in debate and controversy, and detached from human
interests. Educational programming, media, exhibitions, and
other means of public outreach should build on the welcome
increase in public interest in global warming by demonstrating
the interplay of various environmental disruptions. In the case
of biodiversity, the importance of species in providing
ecosystem services, natural beauty and pleasure, and sustaining
human lives is a message that requires constant attention and
recrafting to impact diverse audiences.
Read the full article:
Engaging the
public in biodiversity issues*
*(PDF,
requires Adobe Reader) |
|
|
|
 |
