Environmental literacy

Energy and water conservation recommendations ask individuals to conserve their use of these utilities, such as turning off the lights when leaving a room. Research shows that people need a reasonable number of options to give them agency and limit indecision. Listing five behaviors as examples rather than making them seem mandatory might improve the outcome. The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) says a person's elaboration of a message, or how much conscious effort they put into understanding the message, influences how deeply they can be persuaded.

As the threats of climate change and ecological endangerment become more complex, the need for education about ecological endangerment in schools must be a priority. It is often anthropocentrism, the view that humans are the center of the universe, that produces such harmful views of natural surroundings as places of exploitation for humans. In this study, children ages 2 to 12 years old visited the endangered Noorook Yalgorup-Lake Clifton thrombolites in Australia.

Spending time in natural settings has proven to be physically and psychologically beneficial for humans, and environmental education aims to reconnect youth to nature. However, it has become a reality that children and young people spend less time outdoors, which has been dubbed, nature-deficit disorder. The London-based Green Spaces, Learning Places (GSLP) creates opportunities for children to engage with their environment through interactive learning sessions in the United Kingdom's parks, heaths, and forests.

Environmental research organizations often run citizen science programs which bring non-expert volunteers into the scientific process to collect and analyze data. These programs help further scientific research and generate positive outcomes for volunteers, including learning and place attachment, which is defined as an appreciation for the intangible value of a certain location. Past research shows that place attachment and learning can both contribute to conservation behavior and advocacy in participants.

Climate change education spans a wide array of topics and issues stemming from the cause of climate change: greenhouse gas emissions. One of the effects of these emissions is ocean acidification, during which the pH level of seawater decreases, or becomes more acidic, over time. This inhibits the ocean ecosystem to function normally, causing serious implications for environmental and human health. Despite ocean acidification being taught in the curriculum and scientific research on ocean acidification made available to the public, many people are still unaware of its impacts.

Park managers try to maximize visitors' enjoyment and satisfaction with personal interpretation experiences – face-to-face interactions such as amphitheater shows and guided hikes – to create lasting behavior change in visitors. Research suggests that interpretation enhances visitor learning; enhanced knowledge can alter a person's attitudes; and many factors that improve attitude change also improve visitor satisfaction. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model shows that attitudes can influence a person's behaviors.

The Mariana crow (Corvus kubaryi), or Åga, is a critically endangered species endemic to the Mariana Islands, a U.S. Commonwealth in Micronesia. Among the Chamorro people of the island of Rota, past surveys showed that 52% approved of chasing or even shooting Åga on their property, and many could not reliably distinguish Åga from other birds. Past research indicated that a place-based ecological literacy curriculum with an emphasis on storytelling would be the best fit to protect the species on Rota.

Environmental education has traditionally focused on increasing knowledge and encouraging pro-environmental behavior but has paid little attention to the emotional needs of its audience. Research shows that climate change disasters can cause lasting mental health impacts in children, and merely learning about climate change may harm a child's mental health. In addition, children are affected by adults' emotional states when experiencing or learning about climate change. Media articles indicate that parents and teachers seek advice on ways to speak to children about climate change.

Dominant cultural norms in the Western world include anthropocentrism, or valuing human life above non-human life, and a dependence on capitalism and fossil fuels. These cultural norms have contributed to a lack of respect for environmental health, which has led to environmental degradation and a slow response to the current climate crisis and sixth mass extinction. Art is a tool that can question, shift, and recreate cultural norms. Artmaking can therefore be a powerful force in reorienting cultural norms to value ecological health and sustainability.

Climate change is a wicked problem that evokes a range of emotional responses, from support (believing we need to and can change the future) to apathy (believing there is no hope to change the future) to denial (firmly believing that climate change is not happening). Prior research has suggested that creating space for students to react emotionally while simultaneously encouraging teachers to responsibly coach those reactions should be a part of climate change education to better handle and solve environmental issues.