www.aaee.org.au

Maryland Environmental Literacy

Standards

Cam Mackenzie

Vice President, AAEE

8th March 2017

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History of Australian Cross

Curriculum Priority - Sustainability

• April 2008, the Rudd Government established the independent National Curriculum Board

• December 2008 the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians stated:

– a focus on environmental sustainability will be integrated across the curriculum

– Active and informed citizens ... work for the common good, in particular sustaining and improving natural and social environments.

• In May 2009 the statutory Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) was established to oversee the implementation of the planned nationwide curriculum initiative.

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History of Australian Cross

Curriculum Priority - Sustainability

• During this period the National Council on Education

for Sustainability advocated for a focus on

environmental sustainability in the Australian Curriculum

and met with Rob Randell (ACARA) on 16th September

2009.

• The first drafts of the cross curriculum concepts were

originally called dimensions and then perspectives and

finally cross- curriculum priorities.

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Influencing documents

NSW Department of Education and Communities (2009)

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Influencing documents

Sustainability Curriculum Framework: A guide for

curriculum developers and policy makers (2010)

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Sustainability Organising Ideas

Systems OI.1 The biosphere is a dynamic system

providing conditions that sustain life on Earth.

OI.2 All life forms, including human life, are

connected through ecosystems on which they

depend for their wellbeing and survival.

OI.3 Sustainable patterns of living rely on the

interdependence of healthy social, economic

and ecological systems.

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Sustainability Organising Ideas

World views

OI.4 World views that recognise the dependence

of living things on healthy ecosystems, and value

diversity and social justice, are essential for

achieving sustainability.

OI.5 World views are formed by experiences at

personal, local, national and global levels, and are

linked to individual and community actions for

sustainability.

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Sustainability Organising Ideas

Futures OI.6 The sustainability of ecological, social and

economic systems is achieved through informed

individual and community action that values local and

global equity and fairness across generations into the

future.

OI.7 Actions for a more sustainable future reflect

values of care, respect and responsibility, and require

us to explore and understand environments.

OI.8 Designing action for sustainability requires an

evaluation of past practices, the assessment of

scientific and technological developments, and

balanced judgements based on projected future

economic, social and environmental impacts.

OI.9 Sustainable futures result from actions designed

to preserve and/or restore the quality and uniqueness

of environments.

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Environmental Education in USA

• USA is one of 7 countries that has an Environmental

Education Act (1990) https://www.epa.gov/education/national-environmental-education-act

• No Child Left Inside Act of 2009 https://www.congress.gov/bill/111th-congress/senate-bill/866

• Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

1965 to require states, as a prerequisite to receiving

implementation grants, to develop environmental literacy

plans, approved by the Secretary of Education, for pre-

kindergarten through grade 12 that include environmental

education standards and teacher training.

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Environmental Education in USA

• Directs the Secretary to award Environmental Education

Professional Development Grants to states and, through

them, competitive subgrants to partnerships that include

an LEA and, permissibly, institutions of higher education

(IHE), other educational entities, or federal, state,

regional, or local natural resource or environmental

agencies, for activities involving, among other things,

teacher training and the development of more rigorous

environmental education curricula that advance the

teaching of interdisciplinary courses.

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Environmental Education in USA

• Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive matching

grants to partnerships that include an LEA and,

permissibly, IHEs, other educational entities, federal,

state, regional, or local natural resource or

environmental agencies, or park and recreation

departments, for activities to improve and support

environmental education that include:

(1) advancing content and achievement standards;

(2) developing or disseminating innovations or

model programs; and

(3) research.

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Maryland Legislation – COMAR

13A.04.17.01Environmental Education Instructional Programs for Grades

Prekindergarten — 12.

A. Each local school system shall provide in public schools a

comprehensive, multi-disciplinary environmental education program

infused within current curricular offerings and aligned with the Maryland

Environmental Literacy Curriculum.

B. The Maryland Environmental Education Program shall:

(1) Provide a developmentally appropriate instructional program;

(2) Advance students’ knowledge, confidence, skills, and motivation to

make decisions and take actions that create and maintain an optimal

relationship between themselves and the environment, and preserve

and protect the unique natural resources of Maryland, particularly those

of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed.

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Maryland Legislation – COMAR

13A.04.17.01Environmental Education Instructional Programs for Grades

Prekindergarten — 12.

(3) This comprehensive instructional program shall provide for the

diversity of student needs, abilities, and interests at the early, middle,

and high school learning years, and shall include all of the standards

from the Maryland Environmental Literacy Curriculum as set forth this

regulation.

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Maryland Legislation –

Graduation Requirement

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Maryland Environmental Literacy

StandardsSTANDARD 1 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

The student will investigate and analyze environmental issues ranging

from local to global perspectives and develop and implement a local

action project that protects, sustains, or enhances the natural

environment.

STANDARD 2 INTERACTIONS OF EARTH’S SYSTEMS

The student will analyze and apply the properties of systems thinking

and modeling to the study of Earth’s systems.

STANDARD 3 FLOW OF MATTER AND ENERGY

The student will analyze and explain the movement of matter and

energy through interactions of earth’s systems (biosphere, geosphere,

hydrosphere, atmosphere, and cryosphere) and the influence of this

movement on weather patterns, climatic zones, and the distribution of

life.

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Maryland Environmental Literacy

StandardsSTANDARD 4 POPULATIONS, COMMUNITIES AND

ECOSYSTEMS

The student will use physical, chemical, biological, and ecological

concepts to analyze and explain the interdependence of humans and

organisms in populations, communities and ecosystems.

STANDARD 5 HUMANS AND NATURAL RESOURCES

The student will use concepts from chemistry, physics, biology, and

ecology to analyze and interpret both positive and negative impacts of

human activities on earth’s natural systems and resources.

STANDARD 6 ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH

The student will use concepts from science, social studies and health

to analyze and interpret both positive and negative impacts of natural

events and human activities on human health.

STANDARD 7 ENVIRONMENT & SOCIETY

The student will analyze how the interactions of heredity, experience,

learning and culture influence social decisions and social change.

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Maryland Environmental Literacy StandardsSTANDARD 8 SUSTAINABILITY

The student will make decisions that demonstrate understanding of natural communities

and the ecological, economic, political, and social systems of human communities, and

examine how their personal and collective actions affect the sustainability of these

interrelated systems.Topic A: Intergenerational Responsibility

Indicator 1: Understand and apply the basic concept of sustainability to natural and human communities.

Topic B: Interconnectedness of Systems

Indicator 1: Recognize the concept of sustainability as a dynamic condition characterized by the

interdependency among ecological, economic, and social systems and how these interconnected

systems affect individual and societal well-being.

Topic C: Influence of Economic Systems on Sustainability

Indicator 1: Investigate and make decisions that demonstrate understanding of how the dynamics of

economic systems affect the sustainability of ecological and social systems.

Topic D: Influence of Social and Cultural Systems on Sustainability

Indicator 1: Investigate and make decisions that demonstrate understanding of how the dynamics of

social and cultural systems affect the sustainability of ecological and economic systems.

Topic E: Limits of Ecological Systems

Indicator 1: Investigate and make decisions that demonstrate understanding of how the dynamics of

ecological systems affect the sustainability of social, cultural systems and economic systems.

Topic F: Action Component

Indicator 1: Apply knowledge and skills to investigate and implement personal and collective decisions

and actions on an individual, local community, national, and global levels in order to achieve

sustainability.

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Maryland Environmental Literacy Standards

Melanie ParkerCoordinator of Environmental Literacy and Outdoor EducationDivision of Curriculum & InstructionAnne Arundel County Public SchoolsArlington Echo Outdoor Education Center

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Maryland Environmental Literacy Standards

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Maryland Environmental Literacy Standards

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Maryland Environmental Literacy Standards

Partnerships Model

The Maryland Environmental Literacy Partnership

(MELP) has served as a pilot for how field-based

learning and community engagement can be

integrated into curriculum and supported through

teacher professional learning in ways that are both

relevant and meaningful for individual school districts.

The Environmental Literacy Model features three

primary components: a Curriculum Anchor in

connections to academic standards are identified and

life-relevant contexts for learning are established;

Issues Investigations, in which students construct

knowledge through field-based inquiry; and Civic

Engagement, in which students apply the knowledge

that they’ve constructed through investigation in

authentic situations.

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Maryland Environmental Literacy Standards

Workshop hosted by World Future Council

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Maryland Environmental Literacy Standards

Workshop hosted by World Future Council

www.aaee.org.au

Maryland Environmental Literacy Standards

Workshop hosted by World Future Council

www.aaee.org.au

Maryland Environmental Literacy Standards

Workshop hosted by World Future Council

www.aaee.org.au

Maryland Environmental Literacy Standards

Workshop hosted by World Future Council

https://youtu.be/u9Az4ZX6MPI

https://youtu.be/ukNM81FpjbI

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Maryland Environmental Literacy Standards

Workshop hosted by World Future Council

Thank You

cam.mackenzie@bigpond.com