Title: Environmental Education: Using the Power of Education to Create a More Sustainable Future
Intro
-refer to last blog
-still touching it up, but I will probably just get rid of half of it before I start going into facts about phys ed classes already mandated. I will go more in detail to why we need to care about our future.
–Thesis?: One way to engage students with climate science and related topics is through the implementation of American state mandates on requiring courses to be taught about environmental literacy in grades k-12. This can help young people grasp the reality of the climate crisis and push them to be more involved in reaching a climate-safe future for themselves and those who come after them.
Note: Still researching the feasibility of this idea. Instead of mandating that the course be required for graduation (which may run into political/religious conflicts and be an “extreme” change), I might make the claim of making sure that every school has at least one environmental related course offered and push that educators bring up environmental conversations.
The Climate Crisis
-this section will go further in depth at what the intro talked about relating to the urgency of climate change (what is the issue, why is it happening, and who should be concerned). I will also talk about how many people are concerned about the environment, how many learned about the environment growing up, and any related statistics to show that this is an issue many are starting to be wary of.
– https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/10/16/many-globally-are-as-concerned-about-climate-change-as-about-the-spread-of-infectious-diseases/–> Will use data from here to talk about how many people are concerned. May also talk about the yale climate survey.
How State Mandates Affect Curriculum
-this section will talk about what classes are required for graduation in most schools/ which ones are mandated. Planning to talk about Earth science and its similarities. The importance of them will also be talked about and then in the next section I can compare to why environmental classes should be mandated.
– https://www.ecs.org/high-school-graduation-requirements/#:~:text=Nearly%20all%20states%20require%20students%20to%20complete%20a,outside%20of%20exit%20exams%20and%20diploma%20options%20vary. –> Will be using data from this website to create graphs and/or statistics about what schools in the states require for graduation already
Environmental Literacy
-this section will combine everything and talk about studies done on how environmental education will positively benefit the students and the future.
– https://www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2019/september/teach-our-children—about-climate-change-/ –> Will use info from this website about the survey conducted on how many people already support mandating environmental classes
Future Implications
-this section will talk about how skills learned relating to environmental literacy are also skills about being an engaged, globally aware citizen. This will probably be a subsection of environmental literacy.
Conclusion
Bibliography
Note: Title headers are subject to change and gain subheaders as I look to see how the research spreads out.