Transcript Community Impacts of Environmental Education

Making the Case for
Environmental Education
Kansas Association for Environmental Education, 2012
www.kacee.org
Childhood Memories?
• American children spend less than half as much
time outdoors as their parents did growing up
• Spending 7 ½ hours per day on electronic
equipment during their free time
• US children under 13 spend about half an hour of
unstructured time outdoors each week
(Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010)
Nature Deficit Disorder
•ADHD
•Childhood obesity
•Cognitive & conceptual
development
Children need more time
outdoors in structured and
unstructured settings
Richard Louv (2005)
“Within just one generation, the definition of
‘play’ has changed dramatically among
children in industrialized countries.”
Ruth A. Etzel, MD PhD, 2010
Impact on Children’s Health
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Childhood obesity
Diabetes
Cardiovascular disease
Asthma
Sleep disorders
Lack of Vitamin D
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Depression
(McCurdy Et. Al., 2010)
This Might Say It All…
Today’s children may be the first generation to
have a shorter lifespan than the previous
generation.
How Nature Helps
• Physical activity improves health
• Exposure to natural environments improves
attention
• Exposure to natural environments decreases
stress
• Play in nature is a practical method to address
childhood obesity and mental health
• Cost-effective & easily sustainable
Cognitive Benefits
• Increased Focus
• Improved Cognition
(Wells, 2000)
Emotional & Social Benefits
• Children with attention-deficit disorder (ADD) benefit
from more exposure to nature –the greener a child’s
everyday environment, the more manageable their
ADD symptoms.
• Access to green spaces for learning and play, and
even having views of green settings, enhances
peace, self-control, and self-discipline among innercity youth, especially among girls.
(Taylor, 2001)
Emotional & Social Benefits
Play and learning in diverse natural environments reduces or
eliminates anti-social behavior such as violence, bullying,
vandalism, and littering and reduces school absenteeism.
(Coffey, 2001; Malone, 2003; Moore, 2000)
Health & Nutrition Benefits
Children who experience school grounds or play areas
with diverse natural settings are more physically
active, more aware of good nutrition, more
creative, and more civil to one another. (Bell &
Dyment, 2006)
Nature Helps Adults, Too!
Newsweek Web, “A Moment of Zen” Feb. 12, 2009
• People who have even
“electronic” views of nature
had a greater sense of wellbeing and clearer thinking.
(Kahn)
• Time in nature helps
promote better focus,
attention &
concentration.(Berman)
Spend More Time Outdoors? It’s Not That
Simple
What’s Your
Environmental
IQ?
NEETF/Roper Starch Surveys
• Only 3 out of 10 Americans
can pass a quiz on basic
environmental knowledge
• Most Americans believe
they know more about the
environment than they
actually do
• Makes case for increasing
opportunities for
Environmental Education
Benefits of EE for the Environment
• EE Engages children in hands-on learning
activities that promote critical thinking &
problem solving skills, increased environmental
knowledge relevant to the place they live, and
development of a land ethic.
• Higher levels of environmental knowledge
correlate significantly with a higher degree of
pro-environment behavior. The more people
know, the more likely they are to recycle, be
energy efficient, conserve water, etc. (NEETF,
2006).
Where Does Environmental Education
Take Place?
• Formal settings:
- Head Start
- Preschools
- Child Care Centers
- K-12 Public & Private Schools
- Home Schools
- Technical & Community Colleges
- Colleges & Universities
Where Does Environmental Education
Take Place?
• Non-formal Settings:
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Zoos
Nature Centers
Parks
Museums
Homes
Churches
Libraries
After School Programs
Summer Programs
Natural Resource Field Days
Fairs & Festivals
EE Starts in Early Childhood
Early childhood educators should provide opportunities
for children to experience peace, joy, and fascination
with nature because these emotions undergird the
developing knowledge, skills, and dispositions.
(Harlan & Rivkin, 2008)
What is Early Childhood
Environmental Education?
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Develop a sense of wonder
Appreciation for the natural world
Opportunities to experience nature
Development of problem-solving skills
Respect for other creatures
Development of interest and
appreciation for the world around us
(NAAEE Early Childhood Guidelines for Excellence)
What is Early Childhood
Environmental Education?
• Learning is more than a cognitive process
• Emotions play an important role
• Environmental education
begins close to home,
encouraging children
to understand and form connections
with their immediate surroundings
(NAAEE Early Childhood Guidelines for Excellence)
Why Early Childhood
Environmental Education?
Research has shown that most
attitudes are formed very early in
life, and this is why it is so important
for environmental education to
begin in early childhood.
(NAAEE Early Childhood Guidelines for Excellence)
Early Childhood Environmental Education
& National Standards
• Early Childhood EE Activities are
designed to address all Head Start
Domains (language development,
literacy, mathematics, science,
creative arts, social and emotional
development, approaches to
learning, and physical health and
development).
• Early Childhood EE Activities are
aligned with NAEYC’s goals for
children and promote learning and
development in the areas of social,
emotional, physical, language, and
cognitive development.
Why Environmental Education
in K-12 Schools?
Outdoor education, greener school grounds and more outdoor
play time in natural settings:
• Usefully employ all of a child’s native intelligences, ranging from math and
science smarts to interpersonal communications
• Are particularly effective at helping under-resourced, low-income students
perform measurably better in school
• Quantitatively increase student motivation and enthusiasm to learn
• Markedly improve classroom behavior with fewer discipline referrals and
related problems
• Help students concentrate for longer periods and help mitigate attention
deficit problems
(National Wildlife Federation, 2010)
Why Environmental Education
in K-12 Schools?
Outdoor education, greener school grounds and more outdoor
play time in natural settings:
• Help students to learn across disciplines and make them better real-world
problem solvers
• Help keep students engaged in their school work and make them
less inclined to drop out of school
• Measurably improve classroom performance in math, science, reading and
social studies.
• Increase scores on statewide standardized tests in basic skills, reading,
science and math.
• Improve performance on college entrance exams.
(National Wildlife Federation, 2010)
Why Environmental Education
in K-12 Schools?
• Schools that adopt EE as the central focus of their
academic programs frequently demonstrate the
following results (Liberman & Hoody, 1998; NEETF,
2000; Archie, 2003):
– Reading, science, social studies, and
mathematics scores improve.
– Students develop the ability to transfer their
knowledge from familiar to unfamiliar contexts.
– Students “learn to do science” rather than “just
learn about science.”
– Classroom discipline problems and truancy
decline.
– All students have the opportunity to learn at a
higher level.
www.seer.org
Environmental Education &
the 21st Century Learner
•Consensus building
•Inquiry-driven
•Connection to service learning
•Involving the community
•Project-based
•Working in teams
•Presenting your case, ie town
hall meetings
•Representing viewpoints different
than your own
EE Supports Critical Thinking, Analysis, Synthesis,
& Real World Applications Emphasized in
New National Standards
Environmental Education, Career &
Technical Education, & Green Jobs
•EE can serve as a real world entry
point for students to discover an
interest in the environment
•EE can provide a basic
understanding of how ecosystems
work and how human actions affect
the environment
•EE can introduce students to
environmental issues such as
energy production and use, and
help them learn the skills needed
to solve challenges
High Quality
Environmental Education
• KACEE offers nationally developed
EE Curricula such as Project WET,
WILD, Learning Tree and Leopold
Education Project
• Activity guides developed and field
tested by educators AND natural
resource professionals to guarantee
sound teaching methods & scientific
accuracy
• Non-biased approach to EE,
teaching HOW to think, not what to
think about environmental issues
• Workshops delivered by trained
facilitators
Support EE in the Community
• Support/Enhance Non-Formal &
Out of School Programs to make
EE a PRIORITY as school-based
EE is limited
• Offer EE workshops with Project
Learning Tree, Project WET,
Project WILD, Project WILD
Aquatic and the Leopold
Education Project
• Get involved with KACEE
(www.kacee.org)
Support EE in Schools
Kansas Green Schools Program:
www.kansasgreenschools.org - Sign up!
• Network of schools in Kansas working toward
dual goals of environmental
projects/stewardship and EE (500+ schools)
• Small Grant Opportunities
• School Recognition
• Green School Awards
• Partner Organizations
Sponsored by KACEE and the KS Dept of Health and Environment
Support Statewide & National Initiatives to
Re-connect Children with Nature
• Children and Nature Network
• No Child Left Inside Coalition
• Kansans for Children in Nature
www.kacee.org