OVERVIEW RESOURCES
Environmental Literacy, and Sustainable & Climate Resilient Schools WebQuest: This comprehensive WebQuest is designed for educators to become familiar with the key terminology and frameworks that are associated with environmental literacy, environmental sustainability education (ESE), and Sustainable and Climate Resilient Schools.
Shared Narrative for Sustainability and Climate Resilience and K-12 Schools: This one page resource provides a high level overview to the most pressing environmental issues that we face at this time (i.e. ecological overshoot, global warming, and climate change).
ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY CONTINUUM
Integrating Environmental Literacy (Environmental Sustainability Education (ESE)) can be done along a continuum that ranges from enhancing to empowering (or mild - medium - spicy) - see image below. This continuum has no right or wrong entry point, and it often depends on a number of variables including: subject area, school culture, grading policies, instructional materials, etc. A resource that teachers can use to get started with this continuum is the California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI) County Office of Education (COE) Innovation Hub Teacher Call to Action and Guide.
California Environmental Principles and Concepts (EP&Cs): The CA EP&Cs were adopted in 2004, and integrated into multiple subject area framework starting in 2016 (i.e. NGSS, History-Social Studies, Health and soon to be in VAPA, Math, and ELA). These principles and concepts should not be seen as an "add on," but instead as “big ideas” that are intended to be integrated into standards-based instruction and drive student inquiry.
Other State Standard Examples: Expand to see a handful of other states that have developed their own specific environmental education standards.
Example Standards and Frameworks for ESE Curriculum and Instruction: The resources below serve as tools for understanding the broad themes, topics, issues and lenses that can be used as entry points for ESE and Climate Literacy.
Cloud Institute: EfS Standards and Indicators
NOAA - Essential Principles of Climate Literacy: Note, this is the 2024 Version of the Guide before the language was changed in Feb 2025. This version is no longer easily available on US Climate Government websites.
Sustainable Schools Project: Big Ideas of Sustainability
US Partnership: National EfS K-12 Learning Standards
Other Related Standards and Frameworks: Expand to see otherrelated standards and frameworks such as Social Justice Standards, Economic Standards, Global Standards, etc.
Social Standards and Frameworks
Teaching Tolerance: Social Justice Standards
Economic Standards
Global Frameworks