Looking Critically at Environmental Science

K12 environmental science curriculum comes alive when students become active participants rather than onlookers to the class. Guiding students to use critical literacy skills in their research and learning can achieve this.

Critical literacy in science curriculum allows teachers to expose the students to critical skills by which they investigate, record, question, and discuss the topics presented. Students will obtain a deeper understanding of the environment and the issues around the environment with immersion into science literacy.

When choosing what topic pertaining to the environment for science class, educators should look at current issues that will challenge their students as well as allow them to create, write, discuss and participate through a critical lens.

For instance, if students live in an area where this is heavy erosion along a body of water, the unit could include water cycles, erosion prevention, the history of the area and how it was used by inhabitants. This could then lead to discussions in community responsibility, experiments in ways to prevent erosion and reports on findings. In addition, students could maintain a science journal in which they write about their findings, how the lessons inspire them, ideas for change, as well as vocabulary lists, questions they would like to have answered and/or lists of resources for further research.

Other topics for discussion might include:

• Climate
• Earth resources
• Energy consumption/resources
• Pollution
• Ecosystems
• Population issues/effects
• Agriculture
• Forestry

The objectives of teaching critical literacy in conjunction with science are:

• students develop the ability to question
• students learn to research soundly
• students assess issues critically
• students analyze options for change
• students create ways to solve problems

All subject matter has its own language. The study of the environment has key terms that students must be able to master in order to discuss problems as well as research ideas.

Within environmental science some of the terms students should know are:

• Acid rain - Highly acidic substances within rainwater
• Aquifer - Body of water in the ground available for human use
• Biodiversity - The rich variations of species within the flora and fauna of the planet
• Clear-Cutting - Systematic removal of all trees in a given area
• Climate change - Long-term changes in the weather that cause changes in the environment
• Ecosystem - Term used to describe any of a number of communities that exist in the environment
• Hazardous Waste - Any of a variety of toxins that produce waste the can impact the environment
• Organic Agriculture - Farming in which crops are planted, fertilized and harvested with natural methods
• Precipitation - The term used for snow, hail, or rain
• Rainforest - An endangered biome consisting of a dense population of broad-leafed trees with a high percentage of rain
• Smog - Pollution in the air that makes it difficult to breathe
• Waste Reduction - Various processes that help reduce the amount of waste in the world

Science literacy also includes the knowledge of how to do certain things. For instance, students who automatically recycle their paper and plastic waste have become developing their "literacy" in environmental science.

Classroom teachers can create a handout (available as a download here from the author) that will enable their students to look deeply at the topic they choose to study, thereby enabling them to “own” what they are learning.

Begin with asking the students to record everything they already know about the environment. This enables them to utilize their individual science literacy. Then, ask them to list any questions they hope to have answered during the course of the unit. Finally, create “who, what, when, where, why and how (5W/H) questions for the students to use as they research the topic of the unit.

Questions such as, “Who are the key participants concerned with this problem?” or, “What are some of the issues concerning (whatever topic you are studying)?” or, “How will changes in society help the environment?” Using 5W/H questions, assist students in discovering an in depth perspective on the topic at hand.

Critical literacy also helps to show the diverse connections between the environment and the rest of life, which is essential to developing conscientious citizens.

When K12 environmental science curriculum taught with critical literacy skills, it enables students to become active participants in their world, as opposed to containers into which educators pour knowledge. The combination of science literacy and critical literacy brings forth students who are informed, inspired and able to utilize the tools taught in school to become active, contributing participants in their communities as well as the world at large.

References:

• Content from author's experience.
• Environmental Protection Agency: Glossary of Terms, 2009 - http://www.epa.gov/OCEPATERMS/

Resources:

• Environmental Science Education for Kids: Eek, Carrie Morgan, 2011 - http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/eek /
• Environmental Protection Agency: Environmental Kids Club - http://www.epa.gov/kids/
• Environmental Literacy Council: Environmental Websites for Kids, 2008 - http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php?id=221