Teachers Connecting Urban Students to their Environment

This chapter provides an overview of a graduate course, Science Beyond the Classroom, which provides K-12 teachers experiences designed to increase urban, low-SES middle school students engagement in learning environmental science concepts. Teachers participate as leaders of a 10-day Hands-on, Minds-on Summer Science Camp in organizing teaching and learning experiences for urban youth that primarily focus on site visits to community-based venues. These site visits (e.g., water treatment facility, sewage treatment facility, power plant, forest and arboretum, cave system, and zoo) showcase environmental science issues addressed on a daily basis. From analysis of course goals, the K-12 teachers gain an enduring awareness of the impact that they can have on the environment. Teachers use their newly acquired knowledge in discussing some of the concepts from these community sites in their classrooms with their students. The data support that the teachers move along the environmental education continuum from “awareness and sensitivity to the total environment” to “knowledge gained via experiences” (i.e. supporting learning of camp participants before and after through community tours).