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Framework
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overview
Wisconsin Environmental Science
Course Framework
Purpose of the Framework
Development Process
Rationale for Environmental Science Education
One of the greatest challenges and
opportunities of the 21st century is sustainability. Achieving
sustainability will require students to discover how to meet the
needs of the human population while protecting the capacity of
the earth to sustain human and other life. To prepare students
for this challenge, we must help them understand and recognize
that the quality of our environment determines our long-term
economic and social health. This can be accomplished through an
environmental science course that emphasizes the basic laws of
ecology and a comprehensive, systems-based understanding of our
world. Environmental science courses provide a setting in which
students learn about challenges facing our society and prepare
them to be leaders and decision makers that move our society
toward sustainability. Our future depends on education.
Environmental science is an essential component of education.
According to Wisconsin’s Model Academic Standards for Life and
Environmental Science, “students will enhance their natural
curiosity about living things and their environment through
study of the structure and function of living things,
ecosystems, life cycles, energy movement and change, and changes
in populations of organisms through time. Knowledge of these
concepts and processes of life and environmental science will
assist students in making informed choices regarding their
lifestyles and the impact they have on communities of living
things in their environment.”1 A well designed environmental
science course based on the Wisconsin Environmental Science
Course Framework meets this description outlined by the
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, as well as meeting
standards for science, environmental education, agriculture
education, social studies, and other subject areas (see Appendix
pages 12-14). Environmental science courses also play an
important role in introducing students to career opportunities
in environmental and natural resources fields.
The topics of an environmental science course make it easy to
incorporate effective educational approaches such as utilizing
current issues, connecting with community resources, and
engaging students in service learning and project-based
learning. In addition to making concepts relevant to students,
integrating current issues into curriculum assists students in
becoming global citizens who understand connections between
their environment, economy, and society. Service and
project-based learning help students connect with their
community,
gain a sense of accomplishment, and transfer classroom learning
to real-world situations. Environmental science courses provide
the setting for effective and essential education.
Ultimately, environmental science education helps students
understand their relationship to the natural world in which they
live and make decisions that will influence the sustainability
of our society and the life support systems of the planet.
Environmental Education and Environmental Science Education
Framework Overview
Themes
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