K-12 Implementation
Integrating Environment and Sustainability Across the K-12 Educational Enterprise

Chair: Mary Smith, National Audubon Society

Panelists:
Tamar Chotzen, National Audubon Society, Vice President, Centers and Education
Jim Stofan, National Wildlife Federation, Senior Vice President for Education Programs
Trudi Volk, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Professor and the Center for Instruction, Staff Development, and Evaluation, Executive Director, Carbondale, Illinois

How can we enable people to act in an environmentally responsible way?  What education efforts can empower students and their larger communities to work together for a sustainable future and a healthy, diverse environment?  

Today’s students live in an increasingly urban, indoor world. Their access to nature is limited not only by that physical geography, but also by their hectic schedules, their parent’s fear of abduction, and their school’s focus on textbook presentation.  Their primary source of information about nature is television. 

Recycling, energy conservation, and endangered species "facts" are the extent of environmental learning in many schools. Environmental information lives in a TV or in a book, but not in the student’s daily experience.  Without hands-on personal ownership, students fail to link the "What" to "Why" and or "Why should I care."  

This session will reference the efforts of three organizations working to develop environmental connection with schools and their communities.   They will participate in a discussion that focuses on successful strategies and work with all participants to develop our conference recommendations on how to integrate environment and sustainability into K-12 education.    

Audubon Centers offer hands-on experiences for students and families in nature.  They link home and school in programs like Audubon Adventures, Great Backyard Bird Count, Audubon Expeditions, and Audubon at Home.  Promoting healthy habitats for wildlife and people, Audubon engages students in environmental research, outreach, and restoration.   Their vision includes building 1,000 nature centers, with half located in diverse, underserved communities.    

The National Wildlife Federation focuses on developing schoolyard habitats, hosting teacher-training workshops, and designing school resources.  Their magazine/web materials target a range of ages and interests with titles like Wild Animal Baby, Your Big Backyard, Ranger Rick, Earth Tomorrow, Teen Zone, and Nature Link.   Their efforts also include student clubs, handicapped-access nature activities, and certification of schoolyard habitats.      

The Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Professor and the Center for Instruction, Staff Development, and Evaluation in Carbondale, Illinois, have worked to assess, evaluate, and publish findings that address the nation’s environmental literacy and the incorporation of environmental education in the nation’s K-12 schools.  Further, the Center has piloted issue investigation and environmental case study instruction and tested its impact on environmental behavior in several studies across the country.      

Resources:

• Discussion and Attendees
  Click here to join the online discussion and view the list of attendees registered for this breakout session.