Pillar
Three: Effective Environmental and
Sustainability Education
Pillar Three focuses on effective environmental and
sustainability education, which includes:
- Interdisciplinary learning about the key relationships between dynamic environmental, energy and human systems;
- Use of the environment and sustainability to develop STEM content knowledge and thinking skills; and
- Development and application of civic engagement knowledge and skills.
School districts can provide opportunities for teachers and
students to engage in "awareness to action" discussions and learning
programs. As schools implement sustainable practices, teachers need necessary
tools to involve students in understanding the reason behind the changes and
how they impact the natural and social world in which they live.
Resources are available to help meet the challenges facing schools,
teachers, and students are available through this web site. The goal is to make
sure good programs can be shared and lessons learned can help move experiences
in the right direction.
The
Environment
and Ecology Standards are grounded in the complexity of
the world we live in and its sustainability. Through the five major standard
categories of environment and ecology, a systems approach has been taken along
with opportunities for hands-on, place-based learning to occur. The Environment
and Ecology Standards include the study of watersheds, sustainable systems and
practices, ecosystems and their interactions, agriculture and society and
humans and the environment. Allowing students to understand, through a sound
academic content, how their everyday lives revolve around the use of the
natural resources, the resources it provides, and the laws that influence
it.
EPA Resources
for Schools
iConserve Pennsylvania Conservation tips, ideas and
information to help children and adults understand how they can help protect
our natural resources.
Pennsylvania State Parks
provide programs, to teacher workshops, to hands-on outdoor discoveries, our
state parks system is full of learning opportunities for teachers and students.
Project Learning Tree is an
award-winning environmental education program designed for teachers, parents,
and community leaders working with youth from preschool through grade 12.
Project WET is dedicated to bringing water
education to children, parents, educators and communities.
Project
WILD is a wildlife-focused conservation and environmental
education programs among educators of students in kindergarten through high
school.
School of Rock Explore
Pennsylvania's rich natural history, abundant mineral resources, and varied
landscape in an awesome geoscience classroom.
Sustaining Penn's Woods is a
Pennsylvania-specific curriculum designed to improve knowledge of forests and
land use. It focuses on environmental issues, the wood products industry,
harvesting and other related topics.
US Department of Energy
Solar Decathlon