This course provides content, methods, and resources to be used in developing and implementing an instructional program of environmental education. It reviews the major concepts that underlie our understanding of the environment and environmental problems including: ecosystems and the relations among their components, biodiversity, exponential growth, carrying capacity and limiting factors, watersheds, and principles and mechanisms of natural selection. It also examines the process of science and the historical and philosophical perspectives that contribute to current attitudes toward the environment and leads to an integration of concepts from the NYSED Living Environment, Physical Setting and STS standards. A survey of educational resources, curricula, and teaching and assessment strategies is included. Course requirements include readings and discussion, lesson planning and presentation, and when practicable, participation in a field-related environmental education workshop.
