About

Environmental Education in the state of Minnesota has a goal of creating an environmentally literate population, with the skills and knowledge to understand and enhance the relationship between people and the environment. Purposeful integration of environmental education throughout the K-12 curriculum gives students opportunities to build skills and knowledge in STEM while also developing creative thinking and global perspectives. Minnesota does not currently have an actively integrated state-wide plan  for environmental education, but there are ways that environmental education skills and knowledge can fit within currently existing education standards if teachers are aware of these connections and the resources to support them. Although teaching of environmental education often happens within science classrooms, the ideas can and should be integrated throughout all disciplines (literacy, mathematics, social studies, art, music) in authentic ways. Integrated environmental education can provide students, teachers, parents, and communities the skills and critical knowledge to find solutions towards current problems in the environment and society, and provide solutions for the future. 

Vision and Benefits

Imagine a world where all learners are given opportunities to explore and care for their local environments in a way that fosters community and builds wonder and an ethic to care for the world. Sustainability is applied  in all aspects of teaching and learning, and the population grows toward  environmentally literacy together. Communities are brought together, and people are able to live happier and healthier lives with more access to the outdoors, and more knowledge about the earth.  Creating environmentally literate students contributes to a responsible and caring population that are more likely to foster sustainability locally and globally.  Teachers and community experts will work together to create authentic experiences that allow students to gain knowledge and skill while considering and developing solutions to problems. Teachers and schools will have the tools to build integrated, developmentally appropriate curricula that engage all learners and communities in appreciating and connecting to the places where they live. 

Who's Doing It?

Examples of schools working in this area

• School of Environmental Studies in Apple Valley, MN, received a 2013 Green Ribbon School award. Some of the ways they integrate environmental education into their curriculum include:

  • Outdoor classroom, with garden, rain gardens, composting, hiking trails, pond, amphitheater, 

  • Courses in Nature based photography and Ornithology

  • Students must know 100 native and invasive animals and plants before graduating

  • Art classes regularly outdoors or at MN Zoo

  • Basic and complex math based on environmental issues and measurements of collections

  • Students expected to keep a "house" journal about observations outdoors

There are many other examples and because integrated environmental education is often embedded in  meeting other standards, it is not as easy to extract the environmental education aspects in coursework. If you have a good example, please contact MN GreenStep Schools for how you can share what you are doing to inform and inspire others while gaining recognition.

Implement Best Practice Actions in a Project

The structure of Best Practice Actions (BPAs) is currently in development. 

A good reference for benchmarks for integrating environmental education into the curriculum can be found in the K-12 Environmental Education: Guidelines for Excellence from the North American Association for Environmental Education. 

From NAAEE: "K–12 Environmental Education: Guidelines for Excellence provides students, parents, caregivers, educators and others a roadmap to achieving environmental literacy by setting expectations for fourth (age 10), eighth (age 14) and twelfth grade (age 18) students and outlining a framework for effective and comprehensive environmental education programs and curricula. These guidelines help define the aims of environmental education. They set a standard for high quality education, based on what an environmentally literate person should know and be able to do by the time they graduate from high school. They draw on the best thinking in the field to outline the core ingredients of environmental education."

As you work towards greater integration of environmental education:

• Inventory how environmental education might already be integrated in your curriculum.

• Inventory opportunities for integration with the curriculum.

• With staff, students, faculty, and community create a list of goals for overall understanding of environmental education.

• Envision and imagine what an inspiring future of environmental education in your school would look like.

Related Best Practices

An important aspect of integration of environmental education is Best Practice 3.5, Community Projects: Students conduct environmental community engagement projects with environmental education at schools, but also in the community and at home.  This means fostering real-life applications and connections of curriculum, allowing environmental problems to be  taught in the environmental education curriculum, especially when related to the local ecosystem and community. This kind of community engagement in education is beneficial in helping students to foster a love and understanding for the local environment. It also includes Best Practice 3.6 Community Engagement: The district/school partners with community organizations to advance green school achievement. These best practices can help minimize overall environmental impact from learners and the community they live in. These best practices relate to the integration of environmental education because students learn outside of the classroom, and big parts of their overall education experiences will be at home, with friends, and in their community.

Submit Annual Review

The annual review for this best practice includes

• Confirming that Best Practice Actions are still active. (Eg. are programs still in operation and working? Are event or time based actions repeated each year?)

• Amending the documentation with any changes

• Adding any lessons learned from the prior year to share with others.

To submit the annual review, send in the datasheet (future) for this best practice with updated calendar year in the update column to reflect which BPAs are still active.

GreenStep Advisor

• Contact Jonee Kulman Brigham for assistance

GreenStep Resource Organizations

Explore GreenStep Resource Organizations for this best practice based on types of assistance they offer. As more resource organizations join, there will be more offerings and an ability to sort by type and topic of support. In particular:

• For a comprehensive resource, see the Minnesota Association for Environmental Education, which hosts a searchable database of resources called the EE Portal to support environmental education.

Also see:

• MN GIS Education Hub (GIS tools and apps free to K-12 schools can be used effectively in integrating environmental education into the curriculum)

• U.S. Green Building Council - Minnesota Center for Green Schools has a library of resources

Online Resources:

• A key reference is the K-12 Environmental Education: Guidelines for Excellence from the North American Association for Environmental Education. 

Other online resources include:

• The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education which includes benchmarks, standards, and resources. They work with public, charter, and private schools to integrate education for sustainability into their curriculum.

• National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF)  which includes their Greening STEM Hub with resources and guidance on integrating environmental education into STEM curricula.