Environmental Education
Environmental Education as an Interdisciplinary Unit in the Middle School
© Amy Horn
Environmental education is not just about hugging trees. It's an easy and important area that can be incorporated in an interdisciplinary way into middle school teams.
Where does environmental education fit into middle school education? The answer is everywhere. Environmental education (EE) is not restricted to science classrooms—mostly because it is not part of the required curriculum for many science teachers. Thus, it can become just one more thing to get squeezed into an already exploding science curriculum. But, if it’s taught as an interdisciplinary unit or even in an interdisciplinary way throughout the school year, EE can be fully integrated into middle school classrooms.
Environmental education can be defined in a variety of ways and it encompasses a variety of things. One definition of EE, provided by NAAEE (1988), demonstrates just how broad of a field EE is: EE is a process of helping individuals understand the environment, their place in it, and related issues. It is a life-long process through which persons can develop the knowledge, skills, and commitment necessary to live compatibly as part of nature, act equitably toward each other and future generations, and make informed and forward-thinking decisions. The NAAEE goes on to say that EE “envisions and promotes a society peopled by strong, effective, and environmentally literate citizens who are capable of and inclined toward democratic participation, cooperation, creativity, and responsibility.” When reflected upon, EE sounds like teaching students about life, and middle school teachers know that life lessons are what middle school is all about.
It’s easy to see how EE can be used to tie curricular areas together from language arts to tech lab to social studies. The issues addressed through EE can also be considered key elements to advisory programs, character education, or citizenship classes. Several resources are available to help teachers make EE happen in their classrooms, as well. The National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education, EE Link, and the EPA Teaching Center can help teachers plan and implement EE lessons to meet any number of needs. Goals, guidelines, objectives, outcomes, and standards have all been established and will enable teachers to meet the curricular criteria in place for their subject matters. And if teachers and students study EE as a team, it will enable them to do so in a meaningful way. It makes sense to make EE a part of the middle school day. It just might make the school day fun along the way.
