394— Environmental Education: An Active Pedagogy to Integrate Environmentalism, Engagement, and Equity

The environmental and climate changes occurring on our planet are largely the result of human actions. In concert, rampant bias and inequity exist in many human spheres, including – but not limited to – social, academic, and civic. Environmental education (EE) is a methodology and mindset that integrates systems thinking, hands-on learning, and social justice work across a cohesive curriculum. EE empowers educators, learners, and community members in many ways. Whether it is taking an active role in learning, protecting and restoring the environment, or dismantling biases, EE provides tools for success. I provide five lesson plans that serve as a basis for the development of a science curriculum based in EE principles at the 7-12 level. These lessons may be personalized in a number of ways to suit a variety of learners and learning needs. Ideas to help educators meet students’ needs and gradually reduce dependence on teacher-centric learning, is provided throughout. This allows scaffolding of the curriculum for a variety of levels. I provide pedagogical and EE principles to accompany each lesson and detail the process of development of this curriculum.