The Importance Of Environmental Education

Turk, J., & Bensel, T. (2014). Contemporary environmental issues (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Everyday the world we live in changes. Some of these changes are small while others our impacting our health and futures. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.” –Dr. Seuss. I can’t think of a better way to say it, especially when talking about the environment. The problem with the environment is not that people don’t care enough to change it; it’s that people aren’t educated enough to know that they need to care to change it. We cannot know what we don’t know; if we don’t know about something we can’t be expected to care to change it.

Teaching environmental responsibility is an important aspect of students’ education. The lesson will focus on studying the consequences of the Dust Bowl and the Chernobyl Disaster on the U.S. and the Eastern Europe. Discovering reasons and analyzing impacts of these catastrophic disasters will help raise students’ awareness and understanding of the importance of making responsible environmental decisions. By instilling in students environmental awareness, the lesson also contributes to building lifelong habits and developing necessary skills which will allow students to make informed decisions and consequently responsible choices. Such choices have a positive impact on a community, society, nation and potentially the world.

Because of the increasing concern about pollution, I chose this unit. Global warming is a serious problem due to human behavior, and I find it necessary to teach students about pollution and the direct impact it has on living organisms, including their own personal lives. It will be important for the United States to continue the expansion of renewable energy sources to reduce pollution and help control its ill effects. Assuming this lesson would be taught in Iowa, it would be important to note the proposed Bakken oil pipeline that would run through the state and the impact it would have on the environment and rural communities. Wind energy is also a growing topic in rural Iowa and more expansion of wind energy is happening across the state. Connecting these topics to Iowa and rural communities, will engage my students in the learning experiences that will occur during this unit lesson plan. Elementary aged students tend to be intrigued by topics relating to pollution, and for this reason I chose to create a summative assessment experience that allows students to choose their own pollution related topic to research. I truly believe allowing students to have the ability to choose their own topic to research, will inspire them to get the most out of the learning experience.

When I was five years old I began school. In Kindergarden we learned basic things like letters, numbers, and how not to be fully engulfed in flames. For some reason, 2004 was the height of anti-fire education in Missouri and before I knew how to tie my shoes I knew that if I ever was ablaze, to cover my face, fall to my knees, and roll back and fourth. This is what my institution placed serious value upon and because I was a student of that institution I also placed serious value upon it. The same idea must be applied to a university's teaching of environmental sustainability. This is discussed in David Orr's "What is Education For?" Through choosing a curriculum a university chooses what it places value onto, by making the environment a priority it showcases to the future generations that environmental wellness is an important responsibility for them to take ownership.

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 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 environment is viewed by Orem as having physical, chemical, biological and social features. “It includes the family, culture and community” (Gonzalo, 2011, para. 5). From a patient’s point of view, the environment includes everything that impacts their health and recovery. Environment is not limited to only external factors but can also include mental status, geographical location, personal relationships and even their culture.

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

The earth supplies humanity with a plethora of natural resources, but what has mankind done with these gifts? The modern world is a marvel of carefully constructed skyscrapers, painstakingly pieced together palaces, and brilliantly fabricated bridges. The United States has eliminated diseases that used to plague entire nations, constructed hypersonic jets, and made advancements in technology only dreamed about by past generations. However, society's beautiful and convenient design has a cost.

Pollution has become a prevalent issue worldwide and has begun to affect the air used to breathe, the soil used to grow food, and the water used to drink. All of these effects result in commonly occurring destruction of health and wildlife that one may have seen on the news or heard from peers. In order to live, one needs food, water, clothing, and shelter. If the water and food that society consumes gets contaminated, a major component of life has been eradicated, which can only have negative consequences. If more people are educated as to what effects the environment, the world has a chance to counteract the effects of pollution. The main causes of pollution are the burning of fossil fuels such as with car exhausts, littering as a result of societal norms and laziness, and factory waste as a result of lax waste regulation, and can result in mass destruction of the environment and catastrophic effects on the everyday lives of contemporary people.

This essay will review two significant environmental experiences I have encountered exploring the influences of these my life and how these have altered my view on what is environmental sustainability. An examination into these two experiences will follow into reviewing my perspectives on environmental sustainability and how these two experiences influenced this. To conclude a discussion on my role as a teacher and how this will impact myself when in the classroom.

As a 17-year old teenager going to high school, contrary to the environmental activist, David Suzuki’s, remarks about the ignorance of humans about nature, I receive much information about these kinds of problems at my school, from dedicated assemblies, eco fairs and special days that address our responsibility to deal with nature in a more responsible fashion. Yet, when the school day is over, all of the information seeps out of the roof of the school; plastic water bottles are still found in the corners of hallways and leftover Tim Hortons cups are still present in the desks of my former Business class. Even when I step inside the door of my house, the disconnection from nature is apparent. Most of my time at home is spent looking at a screen and doing homework and the only sign of nature would be the fly

Numerous sensitization campaigns have been launched, all over the world, with the aim of promoting awareness of the rising cases of ecological destruction. These campaigns have not only targeted human activities but also business operations. Shaw (22), highlights the major environmental challenges faced in the modern world; most notoriously, water and air pollution, which he says, kills crops and vegetation, damages the ozone layer and threatens people’s lives and health. Businesses play a massive role in contributing towards ecological damage. According to Shaw (22), “businesses damage the environment when they take natural resources from the earth and dispose of waste” (4). Most sensitization campaigns, however, argue on environmental conservation from a human interest perspective. Shaw, for example, states that industrial chemicals harm animals and plants which consequently causes poisoning and possible death to human beings (75). This article, therefore, aims at establishing that, apart from their interest to human beings, plants and animal’s rights should also be conserved for their own sole interest.

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.