Taking Risks with Somber Environmental Exhibits at Zoos
“I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests. I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans . . .” – from Bob Dylan's song “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall”
“I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests. I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans . . .” – from Bob Dylan's song “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall”
Energy can be considered the “currency of humanity.” Everything we do relies on energy, and historically, societal advancements—such as the Industrial Revolution and the corresponding increase in human population—parallel energy-related developments. Despite our dependence on energy, particularly in the United States, and a looming energy crisis, various energy studies demonstrate a general lack of energy-related knowledge and awareness among the general U.S. population.
Environmental education (EE) has often been touted as a tool for environmental conservation due to its potential to enhance environmentally related knowledge and attitudes and influence conservation-oriented behaviors among participants. Although many see value in EE, there have been active debates about the appropriate—and most effective—audience for EE programs.
Over 80% of people in the United States and half of the world's population live in urban areas, yet current teaching methods in environmental education (EE) are often not focused on learners in urban settings. This paper addresses the ways in which EE is lacking in an urban context and how the food justice movement might help EE become more inclusive and effective for urban learners.
Written materials are often used to enhance environmental knowledge acquisition, one of the primary goals of nature centers. Despite the importance of these resources, the content and form of written materials have not been deeply studied. In this article, the author presents the results of a survey on the use of written materials at nature centers throughout the United States. The survey investigated the content that is presented as well as the medium.
Early environmental experiences can help children develop environmental knowledge and concern; support their physical, emotional, and cognitive development; and increase their “naturalistic intelligence”—their ability to recognize and classify parts of nature. The prevalence of environmental education in early childhood education is growing; however, there is a dearth of research on the topic. This paper discusses many of the challenges to conducting research with young children, as well as suggestions for developmentally appropriate research methods.
Culture plays a large role in an individual's sense of identity, and it likely also pertains to an individual's environmental identity as well, although this connection has not been well researched. This paper's author attempts to address this question by exploring whether a person's engagement with the Nordic cultural tradition of friluftsiv contributes to his or her sense of environmental connectedness.
Despite the potential of climate change education programs to inspire the younger generation to change current behaviors and embrace possibilities for mitigation, the education community remains torn over addressing climate change, and related behaviors, with youth in younger grades. This study set out to address the feasibility and appropriateness of teaching about climate change at a young age—in particular, third through fifth grades. The authors used student artwork both as a teaching and an evaluation tool; they also reported on the effectiveness of these methods.
Although education research has established a strong connection between a student's cognitive engagement and affective connection to a learning topic, little research has been conducted on how, and whether, environmental education curricula do this effectively across a spectrum of audiences. Do environmental education curricula reach students from diverse backgrounds and, if so, do they do so effectively?
Past research suggests that digital augmentation, when used as a scaffolding device in science museums, can have a positive impact on both conceptual (content) and cognitive (thinking process) understanding. There is a danger, however, that “overformalization” can occur from scaffolding devices, and that informal learning behaviors—such as experimenting, asking questions, and collaborating with others—can be diminished. Reduction in these behaviors is problematic because of the unique affordances that informal education settings provide over more formal approaches to learning.