ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Environment-is everything around us. It includes the living and non-living things.
-according to Albert Einstein “The environment is everything that isn’t me.”

Education-the action or process of teaching someone especially in a school, college or university.

-the knowledge, skill and understanding that you get from attending a school, college or
university
-a field of study deal with the methods and problems of teaching.

Environmental Education-a process aimed at improving the quality of life by empowering people
with the tools they need to solve and prevent environmental problems.

-can help people gain the knowledge, skills, motivation, values, and
commitment they'll need to manage the earth's resources sustainably and to take
responsibility for maintaining environmental quality.

-a process aimed at developing a world population that is aware of, and

concerned about, the total environment and its associated problems, and which
has the knowledge, attitudes, skills, motivation, and commitment to work
individually and collectively toward solutions of current problems and the
prevention of new ones.

The goals of environmental education efforts around the world are similar-to maintain and improve
environmental quality and to prevent future environmental problems.

The main Goals

1. To improve the quality of environment

2. To create awareness among people on environmental problems and conversation

3. To create an atmosphere so that people participate in decision-making and develop the

capabilities to evaluate the development programs

Five objectives:

• Awareness

• Knowledge

• Attitudes

• Skills

• Participation

Importance of Environmental Education

• Increase the student engagement in science

• Improves student achievement in core subject areas

• Provides critical tools for a 21st century workforce

• Help address “nature deficit disorder”

Ecology

 Derived from greek work “oikos” meaning “House” or “Place to live”

 Study of organisms and their relationships

Ecosystem

 “Eco” means Environment and system means complex coordinated or organized units

 Interactions between living and non-living things

Ecosystem components

Biotic – Living things

Procedures (Green Plants, Photosynthetic Bacteria, Chemosynthetic Bacteria)

Consumers (Herbivores, Carnivores, Omnivores, Detritivores)

Decomposers (Bacteria, Fungi)

Abiotic – Non-living things

Climatic Factors (Light, Temperature, Precipitation, Atmosphere & Wind)

Edaphic Factors (Nutrient Content, Acidity, Moisture Content)

Topographic Factors (Aspect, Angle of slope, Altitude)

Ecosystem Functions

 Organized (Biosphere-Ecosystem-Community-Population-Organism)

 Process energy (Nutrient Cycle)

 Get nutrients through interactions

Food Chains-the feeding relationship among the members of community.

Food Webs-a series of interrelated food chains in an ecosystem.

Composition of Atmosphere

Atmosphere-Mixture of gases that cover the earth

Energy Flow in Biosphere

-the energy flow in biosphere is one direction and not cyclic

Trophic Level-a step in the flow of energy through an ecosystem

Producers- are autotrophs, can make their own foods

Consumers-are Heterotrophs, cannot make their own food.

Environmental Issues

Water Pollution-Contamination of water bodies, usually of a result of human activities

Causes

 Dumping industrial wastes into the nearby sources of water

 Improper disposal of human and animal waste

 Fertilizers and pesticides

 Pathogens, sediments and chemical pollutants

 Effects

 Damage to food chain

 Diseases can spread through polluted water
 Acid rain
 Alteration of the overall chemistry of water
 Contaminated marine food sources
 Altered water temperatures which can kill marine life

Air Pollution-Occurs when harmful or excessive quantities of substance including gases,

particulates and biological molecules are introduced to Earth’s atmosphere.

Causes

 Burning of fossil fuels

 Increase level of CO2
 Car exhausts and SMOG (combination of Smoke and Fog)
 Desertification of Wilderness
 CFCs
 Increased road and air traffic

SMOG-combination of Smoke and Fog

Desertification-transformation of fertile land into desert

Effects

 Acid rain
 Health problems to human
 Global warming

Waste and Land Pollution-Contamination of land through improper waste disposals.

Causes

 Degenerative actions
 Misuse of land
 Soil pollution
 Urbanization, improper waste disposal, E-wastes, industrial activities and nuclear
research

Effects

 Lost of forest cover

 Destruction of natural habitat (may lead to extinction)
 Biomagnification-increase in toxins absorb by the plants and other organisms
 Biodiversity disruption

Climate Change-is a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns when that
change lasts for an extended period of time

Causes

 biotic processes, variations in solar radiation received by earth, plate tectonics

and volcanic eruption and certain human activities
 Global warming due to green house effect
 Increased world population
 Burning of fossil fuels
 Effects

 Heat waves
 Rising temperature
 Worsened air pollution
 Increased SMOG
 Wildfire
 Drought, Floods
 Spread of epidemic disease
 Waterborne illnesses and infectious disease

Environmental Degradation-is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources

such as air, water and soil; destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; extinction of wildlife and
pollution