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United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Communications,
Education, and Media Relations
(1704)
EPA-171-F-98-017
August 1998
Getting Involved in
Environmental Education
Things Educators Can Do
1. Educate yourself about the environment and
environmental education
A few suggestions:
- Search the World Wide Web (WWW) for
environmental education information and
resource materials
• Get copies of environmental education
publications from EPA and state and local
agencies and organizations in your state
• Obtain environmental education materials that
have been highly rated using the field's guide-
lines or conduct your own evaluation using these guidelines
• Contact teachers, education officials, nonprofit organizations, state agencies, and others to
find out what environmental education efforts are already underway in your community
• Participate in environmental education professional development opportunities (e.g.,
teacher education workshops)
• Visit local museums, parks, nature centers, zoos, aquariums, and botanical gardens for
exhibits, lectures, or special events focused on environmental issues
• Enroll in classes that teach about the environment
• Find out about local environmental issues by participating in community meetings and events
• Join a national or state environmental education professional association and attend their
conferences
2. Teach about the environment in your school or community
A few suggestions:
• Work with teachers, school officials, community organizations, state agencies, and others to
help you design an environmental education course or program in your school or
community
• Invite local university professors and researchers to visit your classroom to talk about
local and global environmental issues
• Look for award programs and contests that will engage your students in learning about
the environment
• Search for grants and other funding opportunities from state and federal agencies,
foundations, and private companies to support your teaching efforts
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3. Use environmental education to improve
education
A few suggestions:
• Tie classroom learning to real-life experiences
about local or other broader environmental issues
• Use investigative, hands-on/minds-on,
student-centered, and cooperative learning
instructional methods that actively engage the
learner in local environmental issues
• Use a local or broader environmental issue to
develop the learner's critical thinking, problem
solving, and effective decision-making skills
• Develop or adapt an interdisciplinary curriculum
which uses the environment as an integrating
context for teaching across all subject areas (e.g.,
science, language arts, and the social sciences)
• Use environmental education to meet national and
state standards (e.g., in math, science, and social
studies) which emphasize inquiry and assessment
• Use environmental education materials that are
consistent with the field's environmental education
guidelines and correlate these materials to your
state's or school district's academic standards (or
obtain copies of existing correlations)
• Use the field's learner outcome guidelines to
assist you in determining what environmental
concepts to teach at specific grade levels and
how to correlate these guidelines to your state's
or school district's academic standards
4. Communicate the educational benefits of
environmental education to your colleagues and
education decision-makers
A few suggestions:
* Invite other educators and education
decision-makers into your classroom or community
to share information and resource materials
• Make presentations to your school departments
or at faculty meetings, "back-to-school" nights,
and school fairs
• Look for award programs and contests that
enable you to communicate the successes of
your program to others
• Introduce environmental education to your
professional education association or support its
existing efforts by writing an article for their
newsletter or giving a presentation at their
conferences
A Few Suggestions on People and
Organizations to Contact
Environmental Education World Wide Web Sites
• EE-Link contains EE information and resources
and links to other EE sites ().
• EdGateway provides information and promotes
discussions on math, science, and ties between
environmental education and education reform
(< http: //www. edgateway. net >).
• EPA's Office of Environmental Education
(OEE) web site provides information about
EPA's EE programs (); the EPA web site contains
additional educational pages for kids, students,
and teachers ().
• The ERIC Clearinghouse on Science, Math,
and Environmental Education web site
provides summary information on resources in
their clearinghouse ().
EPA Environmental Education Publications
• EPA's Office of Environmental Education has
a list of some EE publications which are free to
the public. Obtain the list by contacting OEE at
202-260-4965 or visiting OEE's web site at
. Many of these
EE publications can be obtained by contacting
the National Center for Environmental
Publications and Information at 800-490-9198
or ordering on line at .
Environmental Education Guidelines
• The North American Association for
Environmental Education (NAAEE) is
developing EE guidelines for educational
materials, learner outcomes for grades K-12, and
educator preparation. Also, they have published
"EE Collection: A Review of Resources for
Educators, Volumes 1, 2, and 3" which apply the
materials guidelines to widely available EE
materials. A companion volume tided "The
Biodiversity Collection: A Review of Resources
for Educators" has been produced by the World
Wildlife Fund (WWF), in association with
NAAEE, to highlight exemplary educational
materials that focus on biodiversity and related
issues. Visit the NAAEE, EPA OEE, and WWF
web sites for information on the guidelines and
how to obtain copies of various publications
(, , and ).
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• Project Learning Tree, Project WET, and
Project WILD have developed correlations
between their EE materials and some national
and state academic standards. Contact Tess Erb,
Project Learning Tree, 202-463-2457 (phone),
elizabeth_erb@plt.org (E-mail), or
(WWW site); Sandra
DeYounge, Project WET, 406-994-1913 (phone),
rwwsr@montana.edu (E-mail), or
(WWW site); and Gwyn Rowland Rozzelle,
Project WILD, 301-527-8900 (phone),
natpwild@igc.apc.org (E-mail), or
(WWW site).
Professional Development Opportunities
• The Environmental Education and Training
Partnership (EETAP), funded by EPA, is a
consortium of nearly a dozen organizations and
universities that delivers EE training to
education professionals across the country.
EETAP is managed by NAAEE and includes
partners such as Project Learning Tree, Project
WILD, and Project WET. Contact EETAP,
202-884-8828 (phone), questions@eetap.org
(E-mail), or (WWW site).
Environmental Education Programs at the State Level
• The National Environmental Education
Advancement Project (NEEAP) supports the
development of EE strategic plans and
comprehensive programs in 26 states. Contact
Abby Ruskey, 715-346-4179 (phone), aruskey
@uwsp.edu (E-mail), or (WWW site).
• The State Education and Environment
Roundtable (SEER) supports state department
of education EE efforts in 12 states, especially
schools that use the environment to integrate its
curriculum. Contact Dr. Gerald Lieberman,
619-676-0272 (phone), gerald@seer.org (E-
mail), or (WWW site).
National and State Environmental Education Associations
• NAAEE is an association of professional
environmental educators. For membership
information, contact Janet Thoreen,
937-676-2514 (phone), jthoreen@erinet.com
(E-mail), or (WWW site).
In addition, NAAEE has a State Affiliates
Program which is a network of 54 state and
provincial EE associations across the U.S. and
Canada. This program can assist you in locating
an EE contact in your state. For State Affiliates
Program information, contact David Starnes,
202-884-8942 (phone) or dstarnes@aed.org
(E-mail).
• The National Association for Interpretation
(NAI) is an association of professional
interpreters. NAI includes an Environmental
Education Section. Contact NAI at
970-484-8283 (phone) or
(WWW site).
Conservation and Other Organizations
• National conservation organizations, such as the
World Wildlife Fund, National Audubon
Society, World Resources Institute, Nature
Conservancy, National Wildlife Federation
(NWF), and others, have information and
programs on various environmental issues,
training opportunities, and educational materials.
NWF's Conservation Directory is a useful
resource for getting information about these and
other conservation organizations (800-477-5560).
• The Association of Zoos and Aquariums
(AZA) has a listing of more than 180
accredited institutions that offer programs and
materials on environmental topics. Contact
AZA at 301-907-7777 or a zoo or aquarium in
your community.
Funding Opportunities
• EPA's Office of Environmental Education
provides grants to support EE programs.
Contact Diane Berger, 202-260-8619 (phone),
berger.diane@epamail.epa.gov (E-mail), or
(WWW site).
• The National Environmental Education and
Training Foundation (NEETF) provides
challenge grants to support EE projects.
Contact Michelle Harvey at 202-628-8200
(phone), harvey@neetf.org (E-mail), or
(WWW site).
• Resources for Global Sustainability, Inc.
publishes an annual "Directory of Environmental
Grantmaking Foundations" which contains
information on private foundations that fund
environmental projects (800-724-1857).
• Some state natural resource and education
agencies offer grants for environmental
education projects. Contact your state agency
for more information.
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