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Show-Me Environmental Education
published on: 2/28/2003
Contributing Teacher(s): Serena Crisp, Ray Hudock
Subject Area: Science/Life, Integrated Curriculum/Environmental Education
Grade Range: High School (9-12)
Materials Needed: NA
Process Standards:
- Goal 1.1 develop questions and ideas to initiate and refine research
- Goal 2.1 plan and make written, oral and visual presentations for a variety of purposes and audiences
Content Standards:
- Science 3. Characteristics and interactions of living organisms
- Science 4. Changes in ecosystems and interactions of organisms with their environments
Time Allowance: NA
Description: How to teach Environmental Education.
Classroom Component: I. What is Environmental Education?
- Environmental Education (hence forth referred to as EE) has quite a long history
(some sources even point as far back as Aristotle!). However, before the late 1960s the
term only focused on the idea of nature studies. As far back as the mid-1800s Louis
Agassiz stated that students should “study nature, not books." In the 1920s L.B. Sharp, a
well-respected philosopher of outdoor education stated, “Teach outdoors what is best
taught outdoors and indoors what is most appropriate there." In the 1960’s, the term was
defined as education that focuses on the environment (Disinger, quoted in Wilke,1993).
The most accepted and frequently quoted definition was provided in 1969 by William
Stapp: “Environmental education is aimed at producing a citizenry that is knowledgeable
concerning the biophysical environment and its associated problems, aware of how to help
solve those problems and motivated to work toward their solution.”
Stapp’s definition, when combined with the twelve principles developed at the
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) conference
at Tbilisi, Georgia (in the former USSR), create the guidelines used by environmental
educators today. The report (UNESCO, 1978) stated:
Environmental education should-
- Consider the environment in its totality - natural and built, technological and social (economic, political, cultural-historical, moral, aesthetic);
- Be a continuous lifelong process, beginning at the pre-school level and continuing through all formal and non-formal stages;
- Be interdisciplinary in its approach, drawing on the specific content of each discipline in making possible a holistic and balance perspective;
- Examine major environmental issues from local, national, regional and international points of view so that students receive insights into environmental conditions in other geographical areas;
- Focus on current and potential environmental situations, while taking into account the historical perspective;
- Promote the value and necessity of local, national and international cooperation in the prevention and solution of environmental problems;
- Explicitly consider environmental aspects in plans for development and growth;
- Enable learners to have a role in planning their learning experiences and provide an opportunity for making decisions and accepting their consequences;
- Relate environmental sensitivity, knowledge, problem-solving skills and values clarification to every age, but with special emphasis on environmental sensitivity to the learner’s own community in early years;
- Help learners discover the symptoms and real causes of environmental problems;
- Emphasize the complexity of environmental problems and thus the need to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills;
- Utilize diverse learning environments and a broad array of educational approaches to teaching/learning about and from the environment with due stress on practical activities and first-hand experience.
- Many times EE comes under fire due to a misconception by the general public, they
hear the words environmental education but visualize an environmentalist (and even that
picture is an incorrect one that views all environmentalists as trouble-making activists).
John Hug, Environmental Education supervisor for the Ohio Department of Education
offers some explanations in the Project Learning Tree PreK-8 Activity Guide. Hug states,
“Any world citizen who advocates with greater or lesser action that the wrongs against our
environment must be stopped is an environmentalist.” Hug identifies an environmental
educator as one who “is any world citizen who uses information and the educational
process to help people analyze the merits of the many and varied points of view usually
present on a given environmental issue,” “one who is a developer of skills,” and “an
information analyst who prepares the people (from any segment of the population) who
will participate in environmental decision making.”
You, as an environmental educator, have the right to be an environmentalist but in
the classroom you must remain value fair and value free. You must create a climate where
students hear and examine all views of an issue before they decide what their belief will be.
- One method that works well at the middle school level is to use environmental
problem solving. There are certainly enough problems out there, and I try to steer students
toward one of local concern. (See Appendix I for more information) There are just three
basic steps:
- Explore and Define the Problem (figure out what is going on)
- Search for and Identify the Solutions (figure out what to do)
- Implement and Evaluate Actions. (do something!) If we refer back to Stapp in section I, we find these 3 steps make up his definition of EE.
-
Don’t panic, there are several existing models of environmental problem-solving
from which to choose. You need to pick the method that best matches your teaching style
and classroom situation. The four models featured below are the best known and most
accepted. It is easiest to think about them on a continuum beginning with the first as
having the least structure to the last one having the greatest structure.
- Least Structured -- Ian Robottom. In this model both students and teachers explore a local controversial issue. Students research and gather knowledge about the issue and develop strategies to solve the problem. Robottom considers the student’s investigation to be their action. His goal for the student’s end result is a change in the relationship between the community and the environment. Throughout this process the skills that the students need to become problem-solvers will emerge as they evaluate and reflect on their role in the situation. Students learn by experience and the teacher takes on the role of a collaborator. Whole class groups are involved at one time. Evaluation of student’s progress is ongoing through constant reflection. There are no set objectives. There are no pretaught skills.
- A Bit More Structure -- William Stapp and Arjen Wals. Known as The Action Research Community Problem Solving process, the authors believe students should play a role in planning activities and should have the opportunity to take action. They feel students do not have to fully understand an environmental problem before they take some action to solve it. Students would then assess the outcome of their action and make adjustments. This process may then be repeated as students continue to discover new perspectives on the problem. Here the teacher acts as the facilitator and may be a source of information and coordinator of group activities. The entire class works on the problem with small groups looking at different aspects. Evaluation is in the form of student reflection and self-assessment of growth as seen in the success of the action, journals and logs.
- Even More Structure -- William Hammond and The Monday Club. This model involves students who only meet once a week. The students are the leaders whose leadership qualities are strengthened by training, support and meeting success. The class selects an issue and designs a plan to resolve the issue. This would involve elected leaders and community action. The use of group problem solving is a key component and is developed through direct instruction and coaching by the teacher. The teacher provides instruction on skills such as interviewing, problem solving, and lobbying and may even choose the issue. Students then brainstorm solutions, actions and expectations. Evaluation involves the use of journals, amount of time invested, and grades given through mutual consensus of the teacher and the student.
- Greatest Amount of Structure -- Hungerford and Volk --Investigating and Evaluating Environmental Issues and Actions. The students are taught the skills necessary to investigate a local issue of their choosing. There is a published manual to guide the students and teacher through this process. They are assigned activities that provide opportunities to practice these new skills. Students then select a local issue to investigate. This may be done as an individual, a small group, or a total class. After researching all views of the issue students must conduct a survey of a selected population and generate suggested actions that could help correct the issue. They do not have to follow through on their selected action. The teacher begins as an instructor and eventually becomes a facilitator in this model. Evaluation can be in the form of paper and pencil activities, teacher made skills test, and student oral and written reports.
- The model begins with the idea that students should progress through four goal
levels of issue instruction. These goals are
- Foundation of Knowledge
- Issue Awareness
- Issue Investigation and Evaluation
- Citizenship Action
- population dynamics
- interactions
- limiting factors
- energy transfers
- ecosystems
- succession
- biogeochemical cycling
- interdependence
- man as an ecological variable
- how human cultural and individual behaviors impact the environment
- the alternative solutions that might solve or partially solve an issue
- how values and beliefs play a part in decision-making
- the need for responsible citizen action in an attempt to solve an issue
- identifying an issue
- collecting and sorting data
- identifying research questions
- finding environmental information
- finding both sides of the issue
- summarizing information
- library skills
- developing surveys, questionnaires and opinionnaires
- sampling basics
- collecting data
- interpreting data, graphing
- drawing conclusions, making inferences
- reaching a recommendation
- identifying an action
- methods of action
- guidelines for decision-making
- action analysis criteria
- types of actions such as logical and emotional appeals, coercion, persuasion, letters, consumer boycotting and conservation, political action
- predicting possible consequences of actions
- deciding on a action
- As a portion of their grade for this project, I have students gather newspaper and
magazine articles about local environmental issues. In the past, I have expanded my
definition of local to include issues from our state. Be sure to set a date stipulation for
these articles, say within the past 6 months or the past year.
Articles and written summaries were due each Friday for seven weeks. Before they
turned in the articles they had to share it with at least 3 other students (their lab partners).
Each student kept a page in their journals briefly listing the environmental issue that was
being shared. If there was time, I would then ask for volunteers to share their articles with
the entire class, instructing the other students to add this issue to their list if they didn’t
already have it.
Articles and written summaries were graded and the summaries returned. The
article itself was placed in a class binder for future reference when the issue investigation
portion began. I also allowed students to bring in up to five extra articles and summaries
for extra credit.
- Dioxin Contamination at Times Beach
- Incineration as a Method of Dioxin Decontamination
- Reintroduction of Wolves
- Reintroduction and Trapping of River Otters
- Recreational Use of Missouri Rivers
- Air Pollution in St. Louis
- Recreational Use of Missouri Caves
- Destruction of Wetlands
- Recycling of Plastics
- Deer Hunting
- Harvesting of Forests for Chip Milling
- Lead Mining
- Exotic Animals as Pets
APPENDIX III Missouri Conservation Magazine Assessment Activity Environmental Issues Name_________________________________________________________ Assessment Activity Environmental Issues To do this activity you must choose an article from the issue of Missouri Conservationist that you receive. The article must be a major article of two or more pages. The article must also deal with an environmental issue. Get approval from your teacher. Missouri Conservationist Issue: Month ______________ Year __________ Article Name _____________________________________________________ Part I Concept Map (25 points) Produce a concept map that has a minimum of 25 circles. The information must come from the article you have chosen. All circles must be connected by lines. Remember to use the least number of words in the circles. Also write the connecting words on the lines. Part II Event Tree (12 points) Produce an event tree from the article. The parts of the event tree must be from and about the article. Remember to use two possible solutions. Part III Players (25 points) Produce a players chart.The Sequence Definitions An Example The Event A natural or man-made occurrence. Heavy rainfall with runoff. Serious flooding results The Problem A situation/condition in which the status of something or someone is at risk or threatened. Destruction of flood plain homes by high water and silt. The Issue An alleged problem or solution about which there are differing beliefs and values. Whether to continue to allow home building on a flood plain. Solutions Can be more than one. Permit building home at owner’s own risk. Rezone! Forbid new building. Resolution of the Issue A Value Decision A decision is made. The chosen values are applied. There is resolution - List at least 5 players with:
- their name
- their job
- their position
- their belief
- the value that their belief supports.
- Aesthetic: the appreciation of form, composition, and color through the human senses.
- Economic: the use and exchange of money, materials, services.
- Ecological: pertaining to natural biological, use, and communication of knowledge.
- Educational: concerning the accumulation, use, and communications of knowledge.
- Egocentric: pertaining to a focus on self-centered needs and fulfillment.
- Environmental: pertaining to human activities in terms of quality of natural resources.
- Ethical/Moral: pertaining to present and future human responsibilities, rights and wrongs, and ethical standards.
- Health & Safety: concerning maintenance of positive human physical conditions.
- Legal: relating to national, state, or local laws; law enforcement; law suits.
- Political: relating to activities, functions, and policies of governments and their agents.
- Recreational: pertaining to human leisure activities.
- Religious: pertaining to belief systems based on faith or dogma.
- Scientific: concerning the process of empirical research; knowledge; gained by systematic study.
- Social: pertaining to shared human empathy, feelings, and status.
- Technological: concerning use of technology for human/social goals.
- What environmental issue or condition has the class chosen to investigate?
- What are the research questions related to this issue which you want to have answered?
- Exactly what information (data) will be collected by this instrument?
- What type of research instrument will you develop? ( Check all that apply.) ___ survey ___ questionnaire ____ opinionaire
- In what geographic area will the data collection take place?
- If this is to be an opinionaire, what are the exact beliefs and/or opinions being investigated?
- If this is to be a questionnaire or opinionaire...
- What is the exact population from which the data are to be collected?
- How large do you think the sample will need to be to represent the entire population?
- How will you go about selecting your sample?
- Which data collection technique will you use (e.g., telephone survey, mail survey, etc.)?
- What are the exact procedures necessary to collect data with this instrument? That is, who will collect the data? How will it be recorded? During what time periods will it be collected?
- How can all the collected data be recorded and organized in a Data Summary Sheet? A Model for an Issue Investigation Hungerford and Volk, 1996 Step 1. Select an overall topic in which you are interested. Step 2. Conduct your library search on the topic of interest to you. Step 3. Identify an important environmental issue related to this topic. Step 4. Critically analyze this issue, identifying important players as well as their positions, beliefs and values. Step 5. Write research questions about the issue. Step 6. Summarize the secondary information you have collected. Step 7. Write letters for information and interview resource people (as needed). Step 8. Plan a data collection strategy designed to collect data which could answer the research questions. Step 9. Develop, pilot, and revise a survey instrument (for investigations using primary sources of data). Step 10.Collect survey data. Step 11.Organize the data into tables, charts, and graphs. Step 12.Interpret the findings making conclusions, inferences, and recommendations. Step 13.Produce a final written issue investigation report. Step 14.Present your investigation to the class. Typical Report Sections
- A Purpose Section: The PURPOSE SECTION contains the research questions and explains the importance of the issue investigated.
- A Plan Section: The PLAN SECTION details the data collection procedures including population, sampling method, instrumentation, etc.
- A Literature Section: The LITERATURE SECTION reviews information collected via letters, interviews, and secondary sources.
- A Results Section: The RESULTS SECTION contains graphs, data tables, and an issue analysis (an analysis of positions, beliefs, and values).
- A Findings Section: The FINDINGS SECTION contains conclusions, inferences, and recommendations.
- A Bibliography: The BIBLIOGRAPHY contains the references used in the issue investigation.
- An Issue Action Plan: The issue ACTION PLAN contains the investigators strategy for helping resolve the issue. The ISSUE Action PLAN should he added after you have completed Chapter 6. Investigation Task Checklist Hungerford and Volk, 1996 Investigation Due Teacher''s Task Date Approval
- Selection of issue topic __________________________
- Completion of secondary source search __________________
- Approval of research questions ____________________
- Approval of letters for information ______________________
- Approval of interview questions/format ___________________
- Approval of data collection plan ______________________
- Approval of instrument ______________________
- Approval of data collection ______________________
- Approval of charts, tables, graphs _____________________
- Approval of conclusions, inferences, and recommendations _________________________
- Approval of final report ______________________
- ________________________________________ The checklist above should help you be more effective working independently on your project. There is one more thing that might help you understand the nature of independent work - a contract. The contract on the next page is an opportunity for you and your teacher to agree on the responsibilities and rewards of effective, independent work. Issue Investigation Contract Hungerford and Volk, 1996 Student:_____________________________ Teacher: ___________________________ Name of Issue Investigation: I hereby contract with my instructor that I shall use all my mental ability and those skills in which I have been trained in order to successfully investigate the issue chosen. Further, I guarantee that my independent investigation will be conducted in a manner as to give me pride in myself and to respect the rights of other human beings. I understand that my research will be evaluated on a raw-score basis and that my final grade for this project will be based on the number of points earned. Further, I have read the following breakdown of criteria and understand how I will be evaluated. Criteria Possible Points Earned Points
- Quality of the research question(s) ____________
- Techniques used in the investigation ______________
- Seriousness of approach to research _____________
- Quality of data collected ____________
- Accuracy of conclusions ______________
- Quality of inferences ______________
- Accuracy and organization of final report ______________
- Class presentation ______________
- Other ___________________________
- Totals __________
- Is there sufficient evidence to warrant action on this issue?
- Are there alternative actions available for use? What are they?
- Is the action chosen the most effective one available?
- Are there legal consequences of this action? If so, what are they?
- Will there be social consequences of this action? If so, what are they?
- Will there be economic consequences of this action? If so, what are they?
- What are the ecological consequences of this action?
- Do my personal values support this action?
- Do I understand the beliefs and values of others involved in this issue?
- Do I understand the procedures necessary to take this action?
- Do I have the skills needed to complete this action?
- Do I have the courage to take this action?
- Do I have the time needed to complete this action?
- Do I have all the other resources (other than the above) needed to make this action effective? Have you identified a question that is not on this list that should be asked by someone who intends to take action? It might be an excellent one if you have. Discuss it with your classmates and your instructor. The questions above are useful in testing all the types of environmental action, whether they are political action, ecomanagement, consumer action, or persuasion. ISSUE ACTION PLAN Hungerford and Volk, 1996 The Issue: Your Recommended Solution: The Action(s) You Intend To ''Take To Help Bring About This Solution: Action Analysis Criteria Applying the Criteria
- To what extent is there sufficient evidence to warrant action on this issue? ___ Sufficient evidence; ___ Not sufficient evidence. Why did you answer as you did?
- Are there other alternative actions available for use? Yes _____: No _____ If yes, what are they?
- Is this action the most effective one available? Yes _____: No _____ Why?
- What are the legal consequences of this action?
- What are the social consequences of this action?
- What are the economic consequences of this action?
- What are the ecological consequences of this action?
- To what extent do my personal values support this decision?
- Do I understand the procedures necessary to take this action? Yes ___: No ___ What are they?
- Do I have the skills needed to take this action? Yes ___: No ___
- Do I have the courage to take this action? Yes ___: No ___
- Do I have the time needed to take this action? Yes ___: No ___
- Do I have all of the other resources needed to make this action effective? Yes ___: No ___ List resources Needed: Your Proposed Action Plan Using a form you are comfortable with (or one prescribed by your instructor), describe your strategy for completing your action(s). This could be in the form of a flow chart, an outline, or a step-by-step listing. It should include an anticipated time table of events, people you will need to contact, resources you will need to collect and use, financial expenditures, etc. In describing your strategy, we want you to think through all that is necessary for allowing you to successfully complete your action(s). Your Decision - The Action Recommendation Taking into consideration the analyses you have just completed, state your final recommendation(s) for action. Issue Investigation: Written Report Evaluation Student''s Name ____________________________________________________ Issue: _____________________________________________________
- The issue and its significance 5 Issue is clearly displayed (1 p''); what am the human-environmental interactions? (2 pts.); why is the issue an issue? (2 Pts).
- Background Information 7 An issue overview--provide enough information for the audience to gain a basic understanding of the topic.
- Research Questions 1 Displayed clearly for the audience to view
- Sampling Technique 6 Identify the sampling technique used (2 Pts); describe the n size of the sample (1 p''): describe how the instrument was administered to the sample including the procedure you used if and when someone refused to participate in your study (3 Pts).
- Instrument 1 Provide a copy of the research instrument to the evaluators and every member of the audience.
- Data Presentation from the Research Instrument 8 Data should be well organized, clearly labeled, spelled correctly and presented via appropriate, professional-looking graphs (primarily) or tables. Visual aids and their labels should be large enough so that they are readable for every member of the audience.
- Data Interpretation 12 The conclusion(s) to each research question is/are given and supported by data (5 Pts); inferences ~ inferences and relate directly to the data (3 Pts); recommendations flow from and are consistent ''with data collected (other recommendations can be made about the research instrument itself) (3 Pts); evaluators am each given a separate copy of the conclusions, inferences, and recommendations (1 p''). The presenter(s) will demonstrate the following
- Organization of Presentation 3 Advance preparation is evident; logical sequence of delivery: thoroughness; and clarity of information presented.
- Delivery of Presentation 4 Physical delivery: seriousness, confidence, posture, voice volume and tone and eye contact with the audience.
- Language Usage 3 Good grammar, sentence structure, etc.
| ____________________________________ | ____________________________ |
| Signature of Student | Signature of Teacher |
| ____________________________________ | ______________________ |
| Witness | Date |
| Criterion | Poss. Pts | Earned pts |
| A. Research question/problem statement. ____________ Comments: | 5 | |
| B. Sources of Information: procedures & instrument ____________ Comments: | 10 | |
| C. Data base: (review of the literature component) ____________ Comments: | 10 | |
| D. Data base: (primary data component - charts, graphs, interviews, tables, etc.). ____________ Comments: | 10 | |
| E. Analysis of players, beliefs, and values. ____________ Comments: | 10 | |
| F. Conclusions/inferences. ____________ Comments: | 10 | |
| G. Recommendations. ____________ Comments: | 10 | |
| H. Overall paper structure (form, bibl., grammar, spelling, etc.). ____________ Comments: | 15 | |
| Totals: | 80 |
TOTAL POINTS 50
STS Issue Invest/OraI ....... BB hd/2 misc ic REFERENCES Bardwell, L.V.,Monroe, M.C. & Tudor, M.T. (Eds.). (1994). Environmental problem solving: theory, practice, and possibilities in environmental education . Troy, Ohio: North American Association for Environmental Education. Hungerford, H.R., Litherland, R.A., Peyton, R.B., Ramsey, J.M., & Volk, T.L. (1996). Investigating and evaluating environmental issues and actions: skill development program. Champaign, IL: Stipes Publishing L.L.C. Project Learning Tree Environmental Education PreK-8 Activity Guide. (1995). Washington, D.C.: American Forest Foundation. Wilke, R.J. (1993). Environmental education teacher resource handbook a practical guide for k-12 environmental education Millwood, N.Y.:Kraus International Publications. To contact Dr. Harold Hungerford or Dr. Trudi Volk: The Center for Instruction, Staff Development, and Evaluation 1925 New Era Road Carbondale, IL 62901 Phone:(618) 457-8927 Fax: (618) 457-8927 Email: cisde@midwest.net What do you think of this lesson? SuccessLink needs to know. Click HERE.What do you think of this lesson? SuccessLink needs to know. Click here to tell us.
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