The modern education movement effecting change nationwide involves standards-based education.
In New Jersey, the state's Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS) describe what students "should know and be able to do" in specific academic areas and across disciplines, in the course of their K - 12 experience. Included in the CCCS are two environment-related standards - one in Science (5.10) and one in Social Studies (6.6).
It is the belief of environmental education professionals that all students need environmental education. Its goal is to "increase student awareness, knowledge, skills and commitment to result in informed actions and behaviors concerning the environment." Indeed, an environmentally literate citizen is one who is informed and involved.
These curriculum supplements use a natural resource - wildlife and aquatic areas - as a foundation to teach about ecology, human uses and impacts, pollution and other related issues. The materials are designed for use with students in K - 12 grade in both indoor and outdoor settings, and in all types of learning environments.
Most importantly, the lessons and community-based projects in these supplements are interdisciplinary. Their use provides concrete support for numerous content and skill-based standards and cumulative progress indicators, not only in Science and Social Studies, but in most of the major subject areas and in the Career Education and Consumer, Family, and Life Skills standards. These supportive links between WILD and the NJCCCS's are detailed in a correlation matrix.
There are additional benefits to using WILD and the other environmental education curriculum supplements on a regular basis. These include:
It is hoped that this correlation matrix is one of many tools used to build a more environmentally literate and educated society at large, as the new millennium begins.
- A focus on student-centered, hands-on, group-interactive learning
- A factual, accurate and balanced exploration of controversial issues or topics
- Applied classroom concepts and skills to a real-world context
- Local explorations, research and community projects
- The development of critical and creative thinking skills, recognizing different learning styles
- Exploration of relationships between humans and the built environment, with the natural world.
Project WILD Correlation Matrix (pdf, 27kb)
WILD Aquatic Correlation Matrix (pdf, 68kb)
Both documents were drafted Fall, 2007.
Project WILD Main Page