User:Spencer.bennett2/sandbox

Articles of Interest

Environmental education

~ Doesn't have many citations

~ Can use input on global E.E.

~ Can use input on how to better E.E.

~ Can use more input on how the United States has been educated students on E.E.

Article ~ Environmental Education

Add in and talk about Renewable Energy Education and the national energy education development project.

Merge the first 2 paragraphs and take the information from the second intro paragraph and maybe turn it into its own heading on the page.

Peer Review:
Think about mentioning other countries that also have environmental education or countries that fail to teach it.

Peer Review:

If possible try to find some statistics, data, or facts to add to this page so that the reader can better understand environmental education

Just an idea but you could maybe split up or rename the about section of this page because it is very general and doesn't specifically tell the reader what they are going to read about

Opening:
Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating disciplines such as biology, chemistry, physics, ecology, earth science, atmospheric science, mathematics, and geography. The term often implies education within the school system, from primary to post-secondary. However, it sometimes includes all efforts to educate the public and other audiences, including print materials, websites, media campaigns, etc..

Environmental education (EE) is the teaching of individuals, and communities, in transitioning to a society that is knowledgeable of the environment and its associated problems, aware of the solutions to these problems, and motivated to solve them. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) states that EE is vital in imparting an inherent respect for nature amongst society and in enhancing public environmental awareness. UNESCO emphasises the role of EE in safeguarding future global developments of societal quality of life (QOL), through the protection of the environment, eradication of poverty, minimization of inequalities and insurance of sustainable development (UNESCO, 2014a).

^^^I plan to merge and condense these 2 paragraphs into 1 as they are the opening paragraphs. I feel that there does not need to be that much information and most of it is repetitive. ^^^

Editing the "In the US" Section
Following the 1970s, non-governmental organizations that focused on environmental education continued to form and grow, the number of teachers implementing environmental education in their classrooms increased, and the movement gained stronger political backing. A critical move forward came when the United States Congress passed the National Environmental Education Act of 1990, which placed the Office of Environmental Education in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and allowed the EPA to create environmental education initiatives at the federal level.

The EPA has their own definition of what Environmental Education should be and it is as follows. "Environmental education is a process that allows individuals to explore environmental issues, engage in problem solving, and take action to improve the environment. As a result, individuals develop a deeper understanding of environmental issues and have the skills to make informed and responsible decisions." The EPA also has a list of the components of what should be gained from EE.


 * Awareness and sensitivity to the environment and environmental challenges
 * Knowledge and understanding of the environment and environmental challenges
 * Attitudes of concern for the environment and motivation to improve or maintain environmental quality
 * Skills to identify and help resolve environmental challenges
 * Participation in activities that lead to the resolution of environmental challenges

Through the EPA Environmental Education (EE) Grant Program, public schools, communities agencies, and NGO’s are eligible to receive federal funding for local educational projects that reflect the EPA’s priorities: air quality, water quality, chemical safety, and public participation among the communities.

In the United States some of the antecedents of Environmental Education were Nature Studies, Conservation Education and School Camping. Nature studies integrated academic approach with outdoor exploration (Roth, 1978). Conservation Education brought awareness to the misuse of natural resources. George Perkins Marsh discoursed on humanity’s integral part of the natural world. The governmental agencies like the U.S. Forest Service and the EPA were also pushing a conservation agenda. Conservation ideals still guide environmental education today. School Camping was exposure to the environment and use of resources outside of the classroom for educational purposes. The legacies of these antecedents are still present in the evolving arena of environmental education.

The page on E.E. has a section titled “In the United States”. Within that part of the page it mentions the EPA several times and what they do, but there is no description of what the EPA thinks environmental education should be. I think this should be added to the page because it would give the reader a better understanding of why they do what they do which is discussed in that section.

Trends
One of the current trends within environmental education seeks to move from an approach of ideology and activism to one that allows students to make informed decisions and take action based on experience as well as data. Within this process, environmental curricula have progressively been integrated into governmental education standards. Some environmental educators find this movement distressing and move away from the original political and activist approach to environmental education while others find this approach more valid and accessible.[31] Regardless, many educational institutions are encouraging students to take an active role in environmental education and stewardship at their institutions. They know that "to be successful, greening initiatives require both grassroots support from the student body and top down support from high-level campus administrators."[32]

Environmental Education is also being funded through the Every Student Succeeds Act. Under Title IV, Part A of ESSA, it states that Environmental Education is an enrichment activity for students which is eligible for funding under a new grants program. The program gives a “well-rounded” education as well as access to student health and safety programs. Under Title Iv, Part B, it states that environmental literacy programs are also eligible for funding through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program. The funds that are available for both parts are block granted to the states using the Title I formula. In the FY2018 budget, Titles IVA and IVB were both given $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion. For title IVA, this is a $700 million raise from the 2017 budget which makes the 2018-2019 school year the most availability to environmental education ever.

I will be adding a section on renewable energy education because that is apart of Environmental Education

Renewable Energy Education
Renewable energy education (REE) is a relatively new field of education. The overall objectives of REE pertain to giving a working knowledge and understanding of concepts, facts, principles and technologies for gathering the renewable sources of energy. Based on these objectives, the role of a renewable energy education programs should be informative, investigative, educative, and imaginative. REE should be taught with the world's population in mind as the world will run out of non-renewable resources within the next century. Renewable energy education is also being brought to political leaders as a means of getting more sustainable development to occur around the globe. This is happening in the hopes that it will uproot millions of people out of poverty and into a better quality of life in many countries .Renewable energy education is also about bringing awareness of climate change to the general public as well as an understanding of the current renewable energy technologies. An understanding of the new technologies is imperative to get them stream-lined and accepted by the vast majority of the public.

Editing the "History Section"
The roots of environmental education can be traced back as early as the 18th century when Jean-Jacques Rousseau stressed the importance of an education that focuses on the environment in Emile: or, On Education. Several decades later, Louis Agassiz, a Swiss-born naturalist, echoed Rousseau’s philosophy as he encouraged students to “Study nature, not books.” These two influential scholars helped lay the foundation for a concrete environmental education program, known as nature study, which took place in the late 19th and early 20th century.

The nature study movement used fables and moral lessons to help students develop an appreciation of nature and embrace the natural world. Anna Botsford Comstock, the head of the Department of Nature Study at Cornell University, was a prominent figure in the nature study movement. She wrote the Handbook for Nature Study in 1911 which used nature to educate children on cultural values. Comstock and the other leaders of the movement, such as Liberty Hyde Bailey, helped Nature Study garner tremendous amounts of support from community leaders, teachers, and scientists to change the science curriculum for children across the United States.

A new type of environmental education, Conservation Education, emerged as a result of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl during the 1920s and 1930s. Conservation Education dealt with the natural world in a drastically different way from Nature Study because it focused on rigorous scientific training rather than natural history. Conservation Education was a major scientific management and planning tool that helped solve social, economic, and environmental problems during this time period.

The modern environmental education movement, which gained significant momentum in the late 1960s and early 1970s, stems from Nature Study and Conservation Education. During this time period, many events – such as Civil Rights, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War – placed Americans at odds with one another and the U.S. government. However, as more people began to fear the fallout from radiation, the chemical pesticides mentioned in Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, and the significant amounts of air pollution and waste, the public’s concern for their health and the health of their natural environment led to a unifying phenomenon known as environmentalism. Environmental education was born of the realization that solving complex local and global problems cannot be accomplished by politicians and experts alone, but requires "the support and active participation of an informed public in their various roles as consumers, voters, employers, and business and community leaders."

One of the first articles about environmental education as a new movement appeared in the Phi Delta Kappan in 1969, authored by James A. Swan. A definition of "Environmental Education" first appeared in The Journal of Environmental Education in 1969, written by William B. Stapp. Stapp later went on to become the first Director of Environmental Education for UNESCO, and then the Global Rivers International Network.

Ultimately, the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970 – a national teach-in about environmental problems – paved the way for the modern environmental education movement. Later that same year, President Nixon passed the National Environmental Education Act, which was intended to incorporate environmental education into K-12 schools. Then, in 1971, the National Association for Environmental Education (now known as the North American Association for Environmental Education) was created to improve environmental literacy by providing resources to teachers and promoting environmental education programs.

Internationally, environmental education gained recognition when the UN Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972, declared environmental education must be used as a tool to address global environmental problems. The United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) created three major declarations that have guided the course of environmental education.

ADDING: In 2002, the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005-2014 (UNDESD) was formed as a way to reconsider, excite, and change approaches to acting positively on global challenges. The Commission on Education and Communication (CEC) helped support the work of the UNDESD by composing a backbone structure for education for sustainability, which contained five major components. The components are "Imagining a better future", "Critical thinking and reflection", "Participation in decision making" and "Partnerships, and Systemic thinking"

On June 9-14 2013, the seventh World Environmental Education Congress was held in Marrakesh, Morocco. The overall theme of the conference was "Environmental education and issues in cities and rural areas: seeking greater harmony”, and incorporated 11 different areas of concern. The World Environmental Education Congress had 2,400 members, representing over 150 countries. This meeting was the first time ever that it had been held in an Arab country, and was put together by two different organizations, the Mohamed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection and the World Environmental Education Congress Permanent Secretariat in Italy. Topics addressed at the congress include stressing the importance of environmental education and its role to empower, establishing partnerships to promote environmental education, how to mainstream environmental and sustainability, and even how to make universities "greener"