School of Sustainability Graduate Culminating Experiences
Student capstone and applied projects from ASU's School of Sustainability.
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- Creators: Colbert, Julia
not reduced drastically over the next few decades.
When evaluating the required Next Generation Science Standards for elementary school, these standards do not include environmental literacy or sustainability themes in either second, third, or fourth grades, with little mention via one standard in first, fifth, and sixth grades. Overall, the Next Generation Science Standards do not adequately prepare students for the sustainability problems of
the future nor do the standards help connect students to the natural environment by not connecting the standards to real world climate issues. Not educating students about sustainability topics in elementary school passes the responsibility off to higher grades with optional science classes, where this sustainability education could be missed altogether.
The Sustainability for Young Learners Courses were created to equip elementary school teachers with sustainability knowledge and resources to effectivity teach sustainability to their students. The Sustainability for Young Learners Courses infuse sustainability and environmental literacy Graduate Culminating Experience
Sharing Permissions Agreement into second through fifth grade science classes via the creation of detailed unit plans. Each course incorporates important sustainability themes into the required Next Generation Science Standards, to encourage teachers to adopt these unit plans without taking away limited class time to teach about sustainability. Rather than ending in doom and gloom, students finish each unit becoming the heroes of the story by creating their own solutions to combat climate change that they can implement into their own lives, communities, homes, and classroom.
Sustainability and climate related issues are already sweeping our Earth and the problem is likely going to accelerate as today's current elementary school students start their professional careers. Equipping young students with environmental literacy and sustainability knowledge can allow students to be ready to face real-world climate related issues in the future as well as today as these students serve as leaders within their communities and schools. By realizing the gap in the United States education system, the Sustainability for Young Learners courses is helping to create a more equitable, prosperous, and sustainable society through education and knowledge.
Nature journaling in school gardens is a unique way to engage students in the natural world, providing time to notice, wonder, and observe through writing and drawing while engaging in environmental and sustainability learning. With the number of school gardens increasing in the United States, educators can benefit from understanding what students experience while participating in garden-based learning activities so they can adapt their teaching to fit the educational needs of their participants. School garden studies typically focus on measuring academic and health outcomes and nature journaling studies typically focus on educator experiences with one classroom. We facilitated a nature journaling study with four elementary classrooms in a public, Title I school in the desert southwest to explore student experiences while nature journaling in their school garden. Our findings show that nature journaling provides opportunities for students to engage in sustainability literacy by helping them to develop a sense of place in their school garden, inspire environmental stewardship, and practice systems thinking right outside their classrooms.