The Status of Environmental Education in K-8

Abstract

Abstract

This paper explores whether environmental education programs like project WET (water education for teachers), project Wild (wildlife education curriculum), and project Learning Tree (forestry education curriculum) are being used in science classrooms by teachers with the implication of the new science common core standards in place. These three environmentally driven projects, also known as the “Big Three”, use active learning based activities to teach students about various environmental issues and topics. These projects are research based and have shown that student learning and understanding about environmental issues have improved through the use these projects. Therefore the purpose of this study is to examine how often these projects are being used in K-8 classrooms. Online survey will be distributed to teachers in North Georgia. Mean, percentage, and Person Correlation will be used for data analysis. The results will provide valuable information to improve effective teaching of science.

Keywords: Environmental Science curriculum, effectiveness of science teaching