To What Extent Should Human/Environment Interactions Be Included in Science Education?

1. To What Extent Should Human/Environment InteractionsBe Included in Science Education? By Kim Kastens and Margie Turrin Presentation to ESIP Federation 19 July 2006

11. Information Specialists (ESIP)

12. Information Specialists (ESIP) Instrument Builders

13. Information Specialists (ESIP) Instrument Builders Scientists

14. Information Specialists (ESIP) Curriculum Developers Instrument Builders Scientists

15. Information Specialists (ESIP) Curriculum Developers Instrument Builders Scientists Teachers

16. Information Specialists (ESIP) Curriculum Developers Instrument Builders Scientists Teachers Who?

17. Information Specialists (ESIP) Curriculum Developers Instrument Builders Scientists Teachers Who? • Families? • Friends? • Environmental Journalists? • Environmental advocacy groups? • Clergy? • Boy & Girl Scouts? • Summer camps? • Parks & nature centers?

18. Information Specialists (ESIP) Curriculum Developers Instrument Builders Scientists Teachers Who? Does science education take responsibility for closing the loop? Should science education take responsibility for closing the loop?

21. Method: • Examine the outcomes of 49 separate and deliberate processes: The State Science Education Standards

22. Coding scheme • Earth & Environment Humans • Humans  Earth & Environment • Individuals  Earth & Environment

23. Earth & Environment => Humanity (E => H) • Standard states or implies that Earth & environment influence or affect humanity OR standard states or implies that humanity is dependent on natural systems. • Refers to “humans,” “human beings,” “humanity,” “society” or “societal,” “economy,” “people,” “community,” or “family” and also mentions an object, phenomenon or process of the Earth or environment.

24. Earth & Environment => Humanity (E => H) • Standard states or implies that Earth & environment influence or affect humanity OR standard states or implies that humanity is dependent on natural systems. • Refers to “humans,” “human beings,” “humanity,” “society” or “societal,” “economy,” “people,” “community,” or “family” and also mentions an object, phenomenon or process of the Earth or environment. • Key words connoting humans being impacted by Earth processes i.e. “damage” or “hazard.”

25. Earth & Environment => Humanity (E => H) • Standard states or implies that Earth & environment influence or affect humanity OR standard states or implies that humanity is dependent on natural systems. • Refers to “humans,” “human beings,” “humanity,” “society” or “societal,” “economy,” “people,” “community,” or “family” and also mentions an object, phenomenon or process of the Earth or environment. • Key words connoting humans being impacted by Earth processes i.e. “damage” or “hazard.” • Key phrases connoting humans depending on the Earth i.e. “natural resource,” “renewable resource,” “non renewable resource,” “fossil fuel.”

26. Earth & Environment => Humanity (E => H) • Standard states or implies that Earth & environment influence or affect humanity OR standard states or implies that humanity is dependent on natural systems. • Refers to “humans,” “human beings,” “humanity,” “society” or “societal,” “economy,” “people,” “community,” or “family” and also mentions an object, phenomenon or process of the Earth or environment. • Key words connoting humans being impacted by Earth processes i.e. “damage” or “hazard.” • Key phrases connoting humans depending on the Earth i.e. “natural resource,” “renewable resource,” “non renewable resource,” “fossil fuel.” • Mentions a specific natural resource (e.g. water) that humans use or depend on, in a context where use by humans is clearly implied.

27. Earth & Environment => Humanity (E => H) • Standard states or implies that Earth & environment influence or affect humanity OR standard states or implies that humanity is dependent on natural systems. • Refers to “humans,” “human beings,” “humanity,” “society” or “societal,” “economy,” “people,” “community,” or “family” and also mentions an object, phenomenon or process of the Earth or environment. • Key words connoting humans being impacted by Earth processes i.e. “damage” or “hazard.” • Key phrases connoting humans depending on the Earth i.e. “natural resource,” “renewable resource,” “non renewable resource,” “fossil fuel.” • Mentions a specific natural resource (e.g. water) that humans use or depend on, in a context where use by humans is clearly implied. • Mentions a specific human or societal use of a resource, e.g. “drinking,” “washing,” “irrigating.”

28. Example:Earth & Environment  Humanity Nebraska: Earth & Space Science 4.4.3. by the end of fourth grade, students will develop an understanding of the characteristics of earth materials. • List earth materials that are used by humans (e.g., water, fossil fuels, ores, soils). • Select the best earth materials for a specific human use (e.g., marble-buildings, clay-pottery, coal-heat).

29. Humanity Impacts Earth & Environment H => E • Standard states or implies that human society influences/affects/changes the Earth or environment. Category refers to actions of decisions of humanity acting collectively (organizations, institutions, governments, communities, corporations, society as a whole). • Refers to “humans,” “human beings,” “humanity,” “society” or “societal,” “people,” or “community,” and also mentions an object, phenomenon or process of the Earth or environment.

30. Humanity Impacts Earth & Environment H => E • Standard states or implies that human society influences/affects/changes the Earth or environment. Category refers to actions of decisions of humanity acting collectively (organizations, institutions, governments, communities, corporations, society as a whole). • Refers to “humans,” “human beings,” “humanity,” “society” or “societal,” “people,” or “community,” and also mentions an object, phenomenon or process of the Earth or environment. • Implies humanity affecting the Earth and environment in a positive way include “preserve/protect/conserve [e.g. biological diversity, natural resources],” “reduction of energy consumption,” “solve environmental problems,” “management [of waste, of natural resources].”

31. Humanity Impacts Earth & Environment H => E • Standard states or implies that human society influences/affects/changes the Earth or environment. Category refers to actions of decisions of humanity acting collectively (organizations, institutions, governments, communities, corporations, society as a whole). • Refers to “humans,” “human beings,” “humanity,” “society” or “societal,” “people,” or “community,” and also mentions an object, phenomenon or process of the Earth or environment. • Implies humanity affecting the Earth and environment in a positive way include “preserve/protect/conserve [e.g. biological diversity, natural resources],” “reduction of energy consumption,” “solve environmental problems,” “management [of waste, of natural resources].” • Implies humanity affecting the Earth and environment in a negative or possibly negative way include “pollute” or “pollution,” “environmental impact [e.g. of a technology],” “environmental degradation,” “consequences of exploration and/or development of natural resources,” “depletion of ozone in the atmosphere,” “global warming,” “deforestation.”

32. Example:Humanity impacts Earth & Environment • Delaware: Standard 8 – Ecology • Grades K-3: Changes in Environments • Pollution and human activities can change the environment and adversely the health and survival of humans and other species. Careful planning and safe practices are required in waste disposal, recycling and waste management, pest control, and use of resources to ensure the well being of humans and the environment.

33. Individuals impact the Earth & Environment I => E • Standard states or implies that the actions of individuals influence/affect/change the Earth or environment. • This category differs from the previous in that it refers to actions or decisions made by individual adults or children in their private capacity in their daily lives (e.g. as they purchase, consume, conserve or waste, dispose of).

34. Individuals impact the Earth & Environment I => E • Standard states or implies that the actions of individuals influence/affect/change the Earth or environment. • This category differs from the previous in that it refers to actions or decisions made by individual adults or children in their private capacity in their daily lives (e.g. as they purchase, consume, conserve or waste, dispose of). • The individual actions/decisions can be good (e.g. conserving water, conserving energy) or bad for environment (e.g. littering).

35. Individuals impact the Earth & Environment I => E • Standard states or implies that the actions of individuals influence/affect/change the Earth or environment. • This category differs from the previous in that it refers to actions or decisions made by individual adults or children in their private capacity in their daily lives (e.g. as they purchase, consume, conserve or waste, dispose of). • The individual actions/decisions can be good (e.g. conserving water, conserving energy) or bad for environment (e.g. littering). • The focus of this category is on actions or decisions that could be achieved by all or most students, either now or when they become adults.

36. Example: Individuals impactEarth & Environment • Arkansas: Strand 2: Life Science Systems Content Standard 3: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the connections and applications in life sciences. • Grade 2: Students can write about ways to save the rain forests of the world. Students can develop plans for their homes that can save resources. • Grade 3: Students can measure the amount of solid waste produced at their homes over a week's time.

38. Large variation from state to state in how much emphasis on human/environment interactions

39. EH vs HE More emphasis on Humanity impacting the Earth & Environment than on the Earth & Environment impacting Humanity

40. Environment Affects Humanity (E=>H) Humanity Affects Environment (H=>E)

41. HE vs IE 21 states have no mention of any impact of individuals Far more emphasis on Humanity impacting the Earth & Environment than on Individuals impacting the Earth & Environment

42. All States emphasize collective rather than individual impact Individuals Affect Environment (I => E) Humanity Affects Environment (H=>E)

43. Abundance of human/environment interactions in state science standards does not follow familiar Red States/ Blue States pattern.

45. Coverage of human/environment interactions is loaded into high school years in many states. • Some environmental education research has found that improved environmental behaviors are most likely to result when the intervention targets young participants.

46. Human/Environment Interactions in Non-science Standards • Character Education:(“courage, patriotism, citizenship, honesty …cleanliness, cheerfulness, respect for the environment, patience, creativity, sportsmanship…..) • Geography Standards:(e.g. effect of climate and resource distribution on development of human society) • Technology Standard independent of science standard (e.g. disposal of hazardous waste, use of new technologies for environmental remediation) • Health Education Standard: (e.g. impact of air pollution on human health) • Consumer & Family Science: (e.g. purchasing choices that conserve natural resources) • Free-standing “Environment” Standard: (“spanning economic, cultural, political, social structures as well as natural processes and systems”) • Bits of human/environment interaction are scattered across disciplines.

47. Science Education? Observations: • No consensus • More emphasis on collective impact of humanity than individual impact • Asymmetrical emphasis stressing humanity as the actor and environment as recipient • Coverage skewed towards high school years in many states • Bits of human/environment interaction scattered across the curriculum

48. Education? Options: Changing student attitudes and actions towards the environment is important and should be done in science class. Changing student attitudes and actions towards the environment is important and should be done in school. Some aspects can be done in science class; others are more appropriate for other parts of the curriculum. Human/environment interactions should be taught in a new subject area: environmental education. Changing how humanity interacts with the environment is not an appropriate goal for public schools.

49. Education? Changing student attitudes and actions towards the environment is important and should be done in school. Some aspects can be done in science class; others are more appropriate for other parts of the curriculum. Best option, but requires purposeful coordination and alignment of curricula across disciplines, with planned handoffs, e.g.: Science => Social Studies => Family/Consumer Education

50. Your role?