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Should schools teach children about the environment?
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Global warming is a hard sell during a Michigan February!
However, it’s great to read about many schools across the country that are participating in small and large projects to teach children how to protect our planet.
An easy way for a school to start environmental education is to join 700 elementary and secondary schools who are taking part this spring in the first “National Green Week.”
Schools can sign up and select any week until April 13, 2009 for their "Green Week.”
One million children are expected to participate by bringing snacks and drinks in reusable containers. They will weigh their total classroom trash the week prior to and during their Green Week.
The nationwide trash savings will be consolidated and announced on Earth Day, April 22, 2009. Earth Day has grown each year as an annual day of educating the public about environmental issues.
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Some schools are going much further than Earth Day or National Green Week, and incorporating “green educational programming” into every subject throughout the year.
For example, the Wisconsin River Academy has a secondary curriculum focusing on the interaction of people and the environment of the Wisconsin River watershed.
In fact, Wisconsin leads the nation with 15 “green charter schools.” Recently, the Green Charter Schools Network was formed in Wisconsin, and the group is seeking new members and leaders from across the country.
This organization consists of environment-focused schools, organizations and individuals who want to “build a collective knowledge base about environmental education that provides students the academic knowledge, technical skills and personal dispositions they need to solve our nation’s thorniest public problems.”
It is critical for our nation to rethink the role of public education in developing a sustainable society, according to Tia Nelson in Sustainable Earth. Nelson is the daughter of the late U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, who launched the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970.
“Papa often talked about the importance of raising the next generation with environmental ethics so they make informed decisions about the use of our natural resources, which are the authentic foundation of a healthy economy,” said Nelson.
“Imagine a robust and equitable economy with clean and abundant energy resources, sustainably managed farms and forests, where innovation and green jobs give us healthy choices that can lead us to a better future.”
She quoted her father. “The real wealth of a nation is its air, water, soil, forests, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats, and biodiversity.”
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