History Of Environmental Education As Infused Through Science Education

Since 1980s, along with economic development, environmental issues have become increasingly prominent global impact. Not only a regional environmental pollution and massive ecological destruction, but also greenhouse effect, ozone depletion, global climate change, acid rain, species extinction, desertification, forests dropped, transboundary pollution, marine pollution, wildlife species reduction, rainforest reduction, soil erosion and other global environmental crisis, are threatening to the survival and development of

For many years, people have satisfied their needs, without showing any concerns or awareness about the care of our planet, the way we treat our environment is described by some, like murder. Thus, it is natural to ask ourselves if the environment should be protected because and only because human livelihoods depend upon it or the opposite, that us, humans, exist only because of our planet, and that we should do all our best to save the air we breathe, the ground we live on, the entire environment that surrounds us. First of all the study will begin by what the environment is through time, then it will show the obvious relationship

In high school I had the opportunity to take an environmental science class that opened my eyes to how society treats our environment. In turn, I realized the repercussions that those actions have on human health. It is necessary that society make an effort to push towards making human health a priority before making a decision on how the environment will be altered. A majority of our society today is either unaware of the damage they are causing or are in denial. Humans were created to live in a natural and organic world, however as time has gone on and as technology has greatly improved, Earth has become extremely inorganic. This is evident in grocery stores and chain supermarkets because anywhere from sixty to seventy percent of the food made available to us is genetically modified. It is crucial that people become more aware of how the environment and human health are linked. As our society continues to become globalized, the food industry is putting our health more at risk. With the fluctuation in economic development and the rapid increase in population, our environment along with our personal health suffers.

The hyper-connected world we live in is rapidly changing. It is through EfS, a transformative learning process equipping learners, teachers, and education systems with the knowledge required to achieve economic prosperity and responsible citizenship, which will prepare people of all ages to assume responsibly for creating a more sustainable future (Department of Environment and Heritage [DEH], 2005). Taking into consideration the range, complexity and immediacy of issues such as climate change, pollution and water security, an improved coordinated national effort on EfS is now needed (Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts [DEWHA], 2009). Ecologising education and incorporating sustainability into the curriculum, encourages students to view the world holistically and think systematically about the contexts and interconnections involved in the challenges of meeting future requirements (DEWHA, 2009). It is more than

The schools that majority of youth have spent more than ten years to study in, are wonderful places to educate them the knowledge of the ecology and environment and expand YES services widely. In the article “Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability”, Tulipane (2009) introduces that we should build more facilities, programs and associate with local schools, even systems in order to help children and teenagers to invest in our future. Furthermore, Clean Annapolis River Project (CARP), non-governmental organization, has already worked with school to engage youth to participate to the environment. There is a short video on YouTube that calls Youth Leading Environmental Change which was uploaded by CARP. There are two groups of young boys and girls which evaluate their experience in this program. Several young girls mentioned that they do not learn much about environment in class, and their teachers said that they need to spend more time on math and self-ability instead of on the environment; they actually learn a lot from the program, such as group work and protect the environment. Thus, those information indicates that it is a wonderful chance to expand the service of Rural

The ethical perspectives of whether to teach children and students about environmental sustainability needs to be explored. Argument can be made that because of the environmental problems faced by the world today it is not fair to be placing the burden of repairing and managing this problem upon them. McFarlane and Ogazon state “challenges to sustainability education are both natural and socially-imposed because of our nature as individuals. On a collective or societal level, we are hampered by political economy and governmental policies and actions. On an individual level, we feel helpless when we think about the possibility of taking on problems at the global level” (2011,

The author considers environmental education as a cause for children to remain unknown with the nature. He describes environmental education as being “didactic and stead, restrictive and rule bound” (Sobel, 2012). The author mentions that children these days are not allowed to interact or play with the nature in a wild way because environmentalist and naturalist believe that those interaction might be harmful for the nature. Therefore, author has compared nature as being a museum for children because they can look at it but they cannot feel or touch it. The author believes if children were left to play with nature on their own terms, they establish an affection with it, which will encourage them to care about nature in future. Like John Burroughs stated “Knowledge without love will not stick. But if love comes first, knowledge is sure to follow”, children learn more through their experience with nature as children establish a deep connection with it which will inspire them to take care of nature (Sobel 2012). To further elaborate this, the author have shared the experiences of naturist such as Wilson, Muir, Rachel Carson, and Aldo

The textbook, The Principles of the Environment, which discusses the Earth’s environment, is an informational writing. The purpose is to learn about the Earth’s environment through descriptive information.

Therefore there is need to educate the general public on the proper utilization of environment and also be enlightened about the importance of the good environment to the future generation. In doing so, they will use self-control and proper judgment as an approach to avoid causing environmental hazards. Also, they put into practice the virtue of courage in putting across the reasons for maintaining a better environment for them and future generation. Finally, through justice, an individual will establish equality and fairness for

In this study, a baseline environmental literacy of middle school students will be established. Then STEM-based learning activities that use both inquiry and project-based learning approaches will be used to measure the fluctuations in environmental literacy of middle school students. Much research has been done regarding the ideas of environmental literacy, the impacts of different factors on environmental literacy, and the complexities of measuring environmental literacy. These things must be taken into account when designing a study to establish data that examines the patterns of learning initiatives that focus on problem-solving, investigations and project development, and the dynamics of environmental

In order to develop future active and responsible citizens, it is important to emphasise to students our role and impact on the environment. This should begin during early childhood education, as this is the most significant developmental period for children (Elliot & David, n.d.). There are many benefits to placing importance on childrens’ early connection to nature. The following will discuss why sustainability initiatives should be taking priority in our kindergarten.

Our education should be aimed at educating people who love the world they lie in and who are ready to become peacemakers and healers of the world (Orr 55). A sustainable society “consists” of citizens, workers, specialists, technicians, etc, who are ready to work in order to build and support such society. One of the ways to provide such education is to “get outdoor”. The skills and abilities develop in real world and not in artificial situations in class. In this regard, we may refer to the Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”. One should “touch” the real world problems and get personal experience from it. Shadows in the cave are the retrospectives of the real knowledge. To acquire the knowledge, we should leave the “cave”. We can learn theory separated from practice and this will not have any result. Instead, we should understand that every individual is a part of the natural world, thus, education should be based on ecological literacy as “health of our planet” is one of the most urgent questions of the modern social community.

Ecologising education need not be difficult. Humanity’s affinity for nature has been well documented (Gullone, 2000) and eco-literacy can be driven by an innate wonder and joy (Orr, 1992), which are qualities most notably observed in children, allowing ecological thought and sustainable practices to be taught to even the youngest members

Environmental issues have been a cause of a lot of debate in the recent past. Governments and nongovernmental organizations have been in constant consultations on how to help protect the environment. Apparently, as a result of man’s many actions, the natural environment is getting torn apart so quickly that the coming generations will not enjoy this kind of environment, unless a

This report is designed to investigate the rationale behind teaching Education for Sustainability (EfS) in early childhood education, through investigating the relevant issues and concept of sustainability in relation to the pedagogies and principles of early years education. The initial part of this report will focus on three issues of sustainability, all falling under the greater sustainability concept of waste management. The report will then go on to articulate the role and importance of EfS in early years principles and pedagogies. Finally, some teaching strategies for teaching EfS will be outlined.