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ROCKY MOUNTAIN TEACHER INSTITUTE
Teaching Environmental Issues
Overview
Welcome to CAEE's Online Environmental Education Rocky Mountain Teacher Institute! We are pleased to offer this professional development opportunity to you. By "attending" this teacher institute via a distance learning format you will be able to explore the information presented here on your own schedule and from the convenience of your home or office.
This project is sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 8; the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education; the Utah Society for Environmental Education and EELink.
The Institute actively engages the educator to explore their role in facilitating the investigation and evaluation of environmental issues with their learners – in classrooms and some non-formal settings. The Institute models a variety of environmental education strategies that assist learners to analyze issues and seek courses of responsible action toward the resolution of issues. Participants will work first individually and then participate in a virtual large discussion format by communicating their responses to the whole group.
Objectives
- To examine the role of EE in addressing environmental issues
- To demonstrate effective strategies for helping learners explore environmental issues.
- To explore some of the skills needed to investigate environmental issues.
- To introduce a five-step process as a framework
for approaching environmental issues.
- To understand the role of “action” within the environmental education context, as well as the skills involved in responsible environmental action.
| Lesson Plan | Due Date: |
|---|---|
| Introductory Activities #1 and #2 | June 4 |
| #1 A Role for EE in Solving Problems | June 13 |
| #2 EE or Advocacy: Two Hats | June 13 |
| #3 Defining EE | June 16 |
| #4 Building A Rationale | June 16 |
| #5 A Process for Addressing Environmental Issues | June 20 |
| #6 What Skills Do I Need? | June 20 |
| #7 Guidelines for Success | June 23 |
| #8 What Do You Know? | June 23 |
| #9 Different Viewpoints, Sources of Info | June 27 |
| #10 Analysis of an Issue | June 27 |
| #11 Eco-Ethics, Zero Population Growth | July 11 |
| #12 Using Environmental Success Stories | July 11 |
| #13 Taking Action | July 14 |
| #14 Practicing Steps 1-5 | July 14 |
| Capstone Project: Developing a Lesson Plan | July 21 |