Environmental literacy at the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory
Environmental literacy provides people with the information they need to participate in discussions about managing the resources we all rely upon. Some projects educate elementary students, others high school and university students, and some help provide citizens with the information they need to play a role in policy decision making. From educating people about the ecology in their backyards to teaching people about our most pressing environmental issues, the following projects are a sample of the outreach done at NREL.
Pathways to Environmental Literacy
In this Math and Science Program project supported by the National Science Foundation, several universities collaborate to create culturally relevation lessons in ecology that adopt a learning progressions approach. Three strands provide a framework, increasing the literacy of students and others in carbon, water, and biodiversity.
Northern Colorado - Global Climate Change Education
In a project supported by the NASA Global Climate Change Education Project, a group of research scientists at Colorado State University are working with teachers and students at Poudre and Greeley-Evans School Districts, northern Colorado. We are creating classroom modules that use NASA data sets that teachers may use to instruct students about climate change.
MSP Live Data Collection Server
The MSP Live Data Collection Server allows teachers to create their own environmental literacy assessments, and have students take those assessments online. Since 2009, more than 20,000 users from more than 150 institutions have participated by creating or taking exams.
CitSci.org supports citizens in their own science. Visitors may create their own projects, where trained volunteers and scientists can manage their data and leverage other available datasets to answer local, regional, and global questions. Together, citizens inform natural resource decisions, advance scientific understanding, and improve environmental education.
The RMSSN is a research coordination network focused on undergraduate biology education with a focus on public lands. The RMSSN uses the Rocky Mountains as a laboratory to engage underrepresented students in the science around sustainability. RMSSN is funded by NSF.