Environmental education is an excellent means for interdisciplinary teaching, providing skills and knowledge that can be easily transferred to other disciplines.
Environmental education enhances:
- Awareness – developing an awareness and sensitivity to the environment
- Knowledge – acquiring a basic understanding of the environment and its problems
- Attitudes – acquiring a set of values and feelings of concern for the environment and motivation for participating in improving and protecting it
- Skills – acquiring skills for identifying and solving environmental problems
- Participation – encouraging active involvement in resolving and preventing environmental problems (from the Tbilisi document, 1977)
Outdoor education draws upon the philosophy, theory, and practices of experiential and environmental education. Education research (Lieberman & Hoddy, 1998) shows that when the natural and cultural environment is a focus of experiential learning in school, wonderful things happen: increased enthusiasm for learning, greater pride in accomplishments, fewer discipline problems, better attendance and better scores on standardized tests.
South Central Service Cooperative is collaborating with several educational organizations, agencies and businesses to provide experiences in environmental and outdoor education. Take advantage of these opportunities to advance teaching and learning in your district.
Youth Eco Solutions
YES! provides a unique opportunity for students to learn by engaging directly in community efforts that lead to dramatic demonstrations of renewable energy technology and conservation practices and exposes them to how science is applied in real life.