“Advancing and supporting the education efforts to develop an environmentally conscious and responsible public and inspire personal responsibility in caring for the environment.”

-United States Environmental Protection Agency

Many people refer to the idea of environmental education as a different form of science which strays from a school’s core curriculum. Some teachers may do their best to add something “environmentally focused” here and there while trying desperately to stick to their original agenda in order to meet state benchmarks and assessment standards. In a day and age when educators are forced to teach toward strict guidelines and critical assessment, we often limit ourselves to a conventional style of teaching to make sure that all bases are covered. Teachers across the country are realizing that there is hope to integrate important global environmental concepts that so many of today’s youth are blind to. Possibilities are emerging that will instill a sense of learning in today’s youth which will work to strengthen the understanding of the issues that plague our modern-day society.

In contrast to many of the misconceptions out there, environmental education refers to a form of education which promotes a knowledge base of how the environment works, an awareness of the current state of our environment and a deep sense of appreciation for the world that we live in. While encouraging critical thinking, multi-dimensional problem solving and effective decision making skills, environmental education also strives to provide a strong base in environmental science and social issue awareness for students to make well-grounded environmental decisions.

Environmental Science:

As referred to in all state-established curricula benchmarks, it is essential that children have a clear understanding of earth sciences and the laws that define them. Most curricula provides ample learning opportunities for students to build a clear understanding of plants and animals, mountains and streams and in many cases, the skies and the sea. Unfortunately, we are living in a day and age where unharmed science is hard to come by. Plants and animals are waning toward extinction, while mountains and streams are being developed and skies and seas are continuing to shift from their natural state. Environmental Education looks to include these issues in its’ approach to learning. With a common base of knowledge in scientific areas that impact our world today, we will be able to utilize tangible ideas to prepare the next generation to deal with the social and cultural issues which continue to surface throughout the world.

Global Education:

Not only will environmental education provide a science-based knowledge to make sense of many of today’s modern issues, but it will also address many of the political, legal and economic struggles that sit at the forefront of the news. While many of these global issues seem distant and isolated, students will begin to see local impacts that may be driving these issues. Environmental Education provides a constructivist approach to education, in which children work on real, concrete problems in context rather than abstract problems. It takes pedagogy to the next level of integrating various curriculum areas and opens the learning doors for students to be engaged in their immediate and global surroundings.

 Environmental Appreciation/ Awareness:

While a cognitive understanding of our planet plays an important role in our perception of the environment, there comes a point when people need to feel some type of emotional and spiritual tie to the land. Technology’s heightened impact on our society has in many ways established a barrier between today’s youth and their natural surroundings. The final stage of environmental education is to learn to love and to cherish the environment that we are striving to know more about. Although science can be taught through a textbook, science can be understood and appreciated in great depths through a direct interaction with it. Whether it be visually observing the geology of a snow-covered mountain, smelling an intricate sage plant or sensing the fear from venom in a near by Rattle Snake, the sensations that our environment provides something yet to be found elsewhere.