Environmental Literacy course

One-week Summer Institute coming to UCSD

nvironmental issues touch our lives on a daily basis. So education for environmental literacy is not limited to a group of single issues, but is rather the context of everything else. In our modern world, it is important to understand how human systems and the built environment interact with the natural ecosystems that surround them.

A one-week Summer Institute on Environmental Literacy will be held July 28 August 1, Monday through Friday, from 8:30am to 3:30pm at UCSD.

Teaching these complex ideas in a balanced, interdisciplinary manner is often a challenging task. Designed for 4-8th grade teachers, this intensive week will be applicable for others. It will include an introduction to the field of environmental education by exploring the new California Guide to Environmental Literacy (K-12), the superb curriculum, A Child's Place in the Environment (K-6), and many other resources and strategies.

The course will examine some ways in which environmental literacy may be incorporated into various disciplines including English-Language Arts, Visual and Performing Arts, Science, Health, and History-Social Science. And it will encourage interdisciplinary classroom instruction that incorporates a study of San Diego's diverse natural and human environments.

The Program Director is Jared Aldern, a fifth grade teacher from Warner Unified School District. He has developed curriculum and led teacher workshops in the areas of science, mathematics, history-social science, and the arts. An active environmental historian, he is cofounder of the restoration group Wildlands Recovery.

Guest speakers will include David Bainbridge, (see article page 9), Olga N. Clymire, the principal author of A Child's Place in the Environment; Florence Shipek, a noted San Diego anthropologist; and Gary C. Smith, the project coordinator of the California Guide to Environmental Literacy and coordinator of Environmental Education Projects for the California Department of Education.

Enroll in course section #010381, by calling (619) 534-3400. Cost for the course is $270. For more information, please call Sharon Danks, University of California, San Diego Extension, (619) 534-3259, sdanksucsd.edu.