NAAEE Publications

   Excellence in

   Environmental Education —

   Guidelines for Learning (K-12)

OVERVIEW FOURTH GRADE EIGHTH GRADE TWELFTH GRADE

Learners should be able to meet the guidelines included in this section by the end of fourth grade.
The kindergarten through fourth grade years are a time of tremendous cognitive development. By third and fourth grades, learners have developed some basic skills that help them construct knowledge. Instructors in earlier grade levels should use these fourth grade guidelines as a target, extrapolating from this end goal appropriate activities and lessons for younger learners.
In these early years of formal education, learners tend to be concrete thinkers with a natural curiosity about the world around them. Environmental education can build on these characteristics by focusing on observation and exploration of the environment – beginning close to home.
Learners should be able to meet the guidelines included in this section by the end of eighth grade.
In the fifth through eighth grades, learners develop greater skills in abstract and creative thinking – and along with these, the ability to understand the interplay of environmental and human systems in greater depth. Environmental education can foster this development by focusing on investigation of local environmental systems, problems, and issues. As learners become actively engaged in deciding for themselves what is right and wrong, educators can use environmental problems to help learners explore their own responsibilities and ethics.
Learners should be able to meet the guidelines included in this section by the time they graduate from high school.
By the end of twelfth grade, learners are well on their way to environmental literacy. They should possess the basic skills and dispositions they need to understand and act on environmental problems and issues as responsible citizens – and to continue the learning process throughout their lives. In the ninth through twelfth grades, environmental education can promote active and responsible citizenship by challenging learners to hone and apply problem-solving, analysis, persuasive communication, and other higher level skills – often in real-world contexts.

OVERVIEW	FOURTH GRADE	EIGHTH GRADE	TWELFTH GRADE
	Learners should be able to meet the guidelines included in this section by the end of fourth grade. The kindergarten through fourth grade years are a time of tremendous cognitive development. By third and fourth grades, learners have developed some basic skills that help them construct knowledge. Instructors in earlier grade levels should use these fourth grade guidelines as a target, extrapolating from this end goal appropriate activities and lessons for younger learners. In these early years of formal education, learners tend to be concrete thinkers with a natural curiosity about the world around them. Environmental education can build on these characteristics by focusing on observation and exploration of the environment – beginning close to home.	Learners should be able to meet the guidelines included in this section by the end of eighth grade. In the fifth through eighth grades, learners develop greater skills in abstract and creative thinking – and along with these, the ability to understand the interplay of environmental and human systems in greater depth. Environmental education can foster this development by focusing on investigation of local environmental systems, problems, and issues. As learners become actively engaged in deciding for themselves what is right and wrong, educators can use environmental problems to help learners explore their own responsibilities and ethics.	Learners should be able to meet the guidelines included in this section by the time they graduate from high school. By the end of twelfth grade, learners are well on their way to environmental literacy. They should possess the basic skills and dispositions they need to understand and act on environmental problems and issues as responsible citizens – and to continue the learning process throughout their lives. In the ninth through twelfth grades, environmental education can promote active and responsible citizenship by challenging learners to hone and apply problem-solving, analysis, persuasive communication, and other higher level skills – often in real-world contexts.

Excellence in Environmental Education - Guidelines for Learning (K-12) Executive Summary & Self Assessment Tool

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