The Leopold Education Project is an interdisciplinary environmental education curriculum inspired by Aldo Leopold’s land ethic idea and based on the essays in his iconic book, A Sand County Almanac. The curriculum guide, updated in 2016, includes 20 lessons that build skills in observation, plant and animal identification, land stewardship, natural history, writing and reflection, and environmental values. Lessons are designed primarily for middle school and high school age students, but are also easily adapted for use with elementary age children, families, and adults.

The goal of the Leopold Education Project is to create an ecologically literate citizenry by heightening student awareness of the natural world; fine-tuning the skills necessary to read the landscape; and instilling a love, admiration, and respect for the land so that each individual may develop a personal land ethic.

The objectives of the Leopold Education Project are:

• To share Aldo Leopold’s land ethic, his legacy, and his writings with educators, students, and families.
• To instill in learners, through direct experience, an appreciation and respect of the natural world so they may develop a positive relationship with the land.
• To advance learners’ scientific understanding of the land community’s natural processes so that they may make informed decisions about conservation and land use issues.
• To advance learners’ critical thinking skills through hands-on/minds-on activities.