1) Science education aims to develop students' knowledge of natural and human systems through observation and experimentation. It also seeks to cultivate skills like critical thinking. 2) Environmental literacy teaches how ecosystems and human activities interact, and empowers citizens to make informed decisions about environmental issues. 3) For citizens to understand complex issues like climate change, water resources, and biodiversity loss, science education must illustrate how carbon, water, and other materials cycle between natural and human systems over various scales of time and space.

1. Role of Science Education in
Environmental Literacy
Kashmala Ishfaq
2015-2837

2. Table of content
• Science Education
• Objective of Science Education
• Environmental Literacy
• Environmental Literacy Plan
• Environmental Science Literacy
• Scientific Application
• Citizenship

3. Science Education
“Science is the knowledge gained
from using observation and
experiment to describe and explain
the world around us”

4. First Science Teacher
According to Oxford University Press,
 The first Science teacher in a British public
school was William Sharp
 Left the job at Rugby School in 1850 after
establishing Science to the curriculum

5. Objectives of Science Education
They are categorized in three distinct ranges:
The range of knowledgeable purposes
This range includes basic knowledge in four fields of
sciences:
i. Hygienic sciences
ii. Biological sciences
iii. Physical sciences
iv. Geological sciences

6. The range of purposes about skills
This range includes:
Thinking skills
Scientific skills
Lifetime learning skills
The range of purposes about thoughts
The thoughtful purposes are:
 the greatness of creatures
 flexibility in thinking
 respecting the ideas of others self-reliance
 responsible decision making

7. Environmental literacy
Environmental literacy is the development of knowledge, attitudes,
and skills necessary to make informed decisions concerning the
relationships among natural and urban systems.
An environmentally literate person:
 describes environmental systems and human impacts on
these systems
 outdoor learning experiences that involve discovery, inquiry,
and problem solving
 understands how to take actions that protect the
environmental systems.

8. Components of Environmental Literacy
Capacity for personal and collective action and civic participation
Problem solving and critical thinking skills
Attitudes of appreciation and concern for the environment
Knowledge and understanding of human and natural systems and processes
General awareness of the relationship between the environment and
human life

9. Environmental Literacy Plan
“An Environmental Literacy Plan (ELP) refers to a state education
plan to teach about how ecosystems and human systems are
interdependent”
Developers
In June 2010, the Council of the District of Columbia passed the
Healthy Schools Act of 2010, which prioritizes the health and
wellness of students. The Healthy Schools Act calls for an
environmental literacy plan for the District.
Content areas
Environmental Literacy Plan’s include environmental literacy content
standards in grades Pre-K through 12th grade. high school courses
should be aligned with the topic of environmental literacy.

10. Recommendations Action Steps Main Responsible
Parties
A. School System
Use of the K-12 mandated
Environment and Ecology
Standards as the
educational framework.
Environmental content to
be taught at the primary,
middle, and high school
levels.
Pennsylvania Department
of Education
B. Life Long Learners
Provide learners with
experiences that
environment and ecology
address concepts and real
world issues at the local,
state, and national levels.
Provide opportunities for
learners to review all
available information on
local environmental issues,
to deliberate, to share in the
decision –making process
and to practice personal
and civic action.
Governmental agencies,
businesses, industries, and
families.

11. C. Sustainable Practices,
Healthy Living and the
Environment
School buildings, grounds
and operations are models
of sustainability for the
community
Enhance students’ ability to
learn by providing an
environment with natural
light, high indoor air quality
etc.
Department of
Environmental Protection,
Community leaders
D. Funding and
Implementation
Existing federal education
funds will be reviewed for
the purpose of determining
how funding can be
integrated into an
implementation plan.
Review Title II, Title IV, Title
V and other sources of
federal funding
Pennsylvania Department
of Education, all state and
federal agencies
E. Partnerships
To sustain current
partnerships to
appropriately an defectively
foster environmental
literacy.
Utilize all current technology
and communication tools to
sustain current
partnerships.
Environmental and science
education groups
H. Professional
Development
Determine needs
Conduct needs
assessments.
Pennsylvania Department
of Education

12. Environmental Science Literacy
Environmental science literacy is the ability
to:
Enact personal agency on environmental
issues
Understand and evaluate arguments
among experts
Reconcile actions with values

13. Scientific Application
Carbon: Processes that generate, transform
and oxidize organic carbon
Water: Processes that move and redistribute
water
Biodiversity: Processes that create, sustain,
or reduce biodiversity

14. CARBON CYCLING
Importance of Carbon Cycling
Carbon is an essential element for all life, so
understanding how it moves helps us to
understand biological processes and factors
that influence them
 Human are altering global carbon cycling and
atmospheric CO2 levels

15. The burden on science
education
• Citizens need to understand flow of
carbon between systems

16. WATER CYCLING
The Importance of Water Cycling
Freshwater is hugely important to our
lifestyles, for both personal use and for
consumer products
Humans are altering the flow and
distribution of freshwater
The abundance and quality of freshwater
available to people has major
environmental, economic and political

17. The burden on Science Education
Students need to know where water comes
from and where it goes
they need to be able to trace water, and
materials found in water, through systems
They need to know about human systems that
alter water distribution and composition, and
consequences of those alterations.

18. BIODIVERSITY
The Importance of Biodiversity
Biodiversity involves organisms living through
their life cycles (growth and reproduction)
Humans are altering biodiversity through land
management, pesticides (e.g., agriculture), etc.

19. The Burden on Science Education
 School science should teach accounts of biodiversity at
multiple scales:
a) Life cycles: changes in individuals over time
b) Evolution: changes in populations over time
c) Succession: changes in ecosystems over time
connecting these to human activities that alter
changes over time.

20. Environmental literacy in the science
education curriculum
In Macedonian Primary Schools
1) First period( 1st to 3rd grade): Introduction of the
Environment
2) Second period( 4th to 6th): Nature, Science and
Technique
3) Third period(7th to 9th): Biology, Geography, Chemistry
and Physics
In Turkish Schools
 1st to 3rd grade: Life science
 4th to 8th grade: Social science

21. In Iran
 The content of each primary school science books presented
in four basic fields:
1. Biological Sciences: which include subjects about plants
and animals
2. Physical Sciences: including subjects about materials,
energy, and technology
3. Geological Sciences: which include subjects about
space, earth, and weather
4. Hygienic Sciences: including subjects about the human
body, health and a better life on earth

22. German Students’ Environmental Literacy in
Science Education Based on PISA Data
Scientific literacy was the main topic of PISA 2015.The main aim of this
research is to determine the factors that affect the EL of 15-year-old
students in Germany.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
More specifically, its research questions were:
 Which factors affect EL of 15-year-old German students?
 What is the relationship between EL and SEC of the students?

23. Results
The variances of environmental
awareness (EA) and environmental
responsibility (ER) were found to be 29.2%
and 25.9%, respectively.

24. Environmental Education Promotion at
School and College Level in Pakistan
In 12 Sep 2002, a project which developed by the
“Policy Coordination and Environmental
Governance” of NEAP-SP, Ministry of
Environment with the support of the Curriculum
Wing of the Ministry of Education was approved.

25. Salient Features
 Review and analysis of the current state of
environment
 Development of age-appropriate environmental
education curricula for primary, middle, secondary
and higher secondary levels
 Development of lesson content in line with
environmental education curricula
 Capacity building of the Curriculum Wing of the
Federal Ministry of Education and Provincial
Education Departments in the area of environmental
education

26. Expected Results and Benefits
It is envisaged that the project, which would target
over 200,000 educational institutions and more than
26 million students across the country, will, in the
long run, contribute to the promotion of sustainable
development in Pakistan through enhancement of
knowledge base and skills of students and by
bringing about attitudinal and behavioral changes

27. CITIZENSHIP
Importance of Citizenship
• Human make decisions in public and private
roles: publicly as voters, advocates, volunteers
etc, and privately as consumers, learners,
workers, etc.
• In democratic societies, such as the US, citizens
have the power to make choices with potentially
profound consequences for local and global
environments.

28. The Burden on Science Education
 School science can help prepare students to understand
and make decisions within complex socio-ecological
systems
 School science needs to “blur” traditional boundaries
between scientific disciplines and between science and
social studies (such as geography, sociology, economics,
etc), so that citizenship issues are addressed alongside
science content