Lesson Notes
Lesson Notes
Lesson Notes
Environment is derived from the French word “Environner”, which means encircle or
organisms, the environment and all the factors, which influence life on earth, including
atmospheric conditions, food chains, the water cycle, etc. It is a basic science about our earth
and its daily activities, and therefore, this science is important for everyone.
The term ‘Environmental Education’ has been discussed in various national and international
seminars and has been defined in different ways. Some of the definitions have been provided
The International Union for the Conservation for Nature and Natural Resources Commission of
“Environmental Education is the process of recognizing values and clarifying concepts in order
to develop skills and attitudes necessary to understand and appreciate the inter-relatedness
among man, his culture and his biophysical surroundings. It also entails practice in decision
making and self-formulation of a code of behaviour about problems and issues concerning
environmental quality.”
awareness and an understanding of the evolving social and physical environment as a whole, its
natural, manmade, cultural, spiritual resource, together with the rational use and conservation of
Mishra (1993) opines that, “Environmental education appears to be a process that equips human
beings with awareness, knowledge, skill, attitude and commitment to improve the environment.”
According to R.A. Sharma (1996):” Environmental Education refers to the awareness of physical
and cultural environment and perceive its relevance for real life situation. The problems and
sustainable development.”
The Tbilisi Conference held at Georgia in the USSR in October, 1977 under the auspices of the
UNESCO and UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) resolved that Environment
education involves:
a) Awareness: to help social groups and individuals so as to get an awareness of and sensitivity
b) Knowledge: to help social groups and individuals so as to gain a variety of experiences in and
c) Attitude: to help social groups and individuals achieve a set of values and feelings of concern
for the environment and the motivation for actively participating in environmental improvement
and protection.
d) Skill: to help social groups and individuals so as to acquire skills for identifying and solving
environmental problems.
e) Evaluation ability: to help individuals and social groups so as to evaluate economic, social,
Environmental education discipline has multiple and multilevel scopes. The scopes are
summarized as follows:
1. The study creates awareness among the people to know about various renewable and
nonrenewable resources of the region. The endowment or potential, patterns of utilization
and the balance of various resources available for future use in the state of a country are
analyzed in the study.
2. It provides the knowledge about ecological systems and cause and effect relationships.
3. It provides necessary information about biodiversity richness and the potential dangers
to the species of plants, animals and microorganisms in the environment.
4. The study enables one to understand the causes and consequences due to natural and
induced disasters (flood, earthquake, landslide, cyclones etc.,) and pollutions and measures
to minimize the effects.
6. The study enables environmentally literate citizens (by knowing the environmental acts,
rights, rules, legislations, etc.) to make appropriate judgments and decisions for the
protection and improvement of the earth.
7. The study exposes the problems of over population, health, hygiene, etc. and the role of
arts, science and technology in eliminating/ minimizing the evils from the society.
8. The study tries to identify and develop appropriate and indigenous eco-friendly skills
and technologies to various environmental issues.
9. It teaches the citizens the need for sustainable utilization of resources as these resources
are inherited from our ancestors to the younger generation without deteriorating their
quality.
10. The study enables theoretical knowledge into practice and the multiple uses of
environment.
The needs to protect the environment hence the rationales for environmental education
1. Environment as the basis of all life deserves proper care and management.
3. The environment is part of our cultural heritage which should be handed down to
prosperity.
4. Some resources of the environment are not easily replaceable and should be
5. There is need to enhance the sanity and aesthetic quality of our environment in
6. The environment is part of nature and needs to be preserved for its own sake.
Rationale for Environmental Education
provide expertise that can utilize scientific knowledge towards the preservation and
solution of environmental problems. Knowledge about the changes that have altered
the environment — land, water, weather, vegetation, social, cultural and political
population should be equipped with all these to be able to solve the problems of the
environment.
firmly rooted on the exploitation of the natural resources in our environment. Land,
water, forest and other mineral resources utilization is the dominant feature of rural
economy with agriculture the driving force. Uncontrolled and improper exploitation
problems: food and water scarcity, pollution, outbreak of epidemics and natural
disasters, erosion and desert encroachment. And of course how to prevent them.
while less developed countries totally depend on agriculture, forestry and the
should be useful both to the government and the local people. Such policies include
the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), The IMF loan, Debt servicing etc.
women and children. These form a substantial percentage in the utilization of natural
7. Environmental education is very essential for the lack of it. Environmental education
8. The natural resources and cultural heritage need to be protected for the current and
future generations.
3. To enlighten them about the changes in the environment in the last decade and the
4. To alert them about the consequences of human actions on the environment both
acquire knowledge about the environment and its problems and propagate such
Objectives
and practices.
(b) Law - Land use, land reclamation and land and soil conservation.
etc.
(e) Conservation - Causes of wildlife, plant, soil, water and conservation of other non-
renewable natural beauty
(f) Pollution - Pollution of water, air and soil, noise pollution, pollution by insecticide
(g) Health and Hygiene - Individual, family county and social health and hygiene,
(h) Humans and Nature - Other compounds of atmosphere, environmental quality and
future on earth.
reference materials.
Various strategies have been proposed for the introduction of environmental education into
school curricula and into non-formal education. These include the following:
education.
4. The re-evaluation and re-structuring of the entire contents of various subjects to
5. Integration of the contents of the various subjects within the framework that relate
Consider the environment in its totality, natural and built technological and social structures
(c) Examine major environmental issues from local, national and international point of
view.
(e) Promote the values and necessity of local, national and international cooperation in
(f) Explicitly consider environmental aspects of plan for development and growth.
(g) Enhance the position of learners in making decision concerning their environment
(h) Enable learners discover symptoms and real and potential causes of environmental
problems.
(i) Enhance the learners’ ability to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills.