Background: The ongoing transformation of the interplay between human beings and nature calls for new ways of learning. Although established educational practices merging sciences and arts have been studied before, the focus has been mainly on science or technology-discipline-orientated aspects. More research is needed on the characteristics of…

Learners are more disconnected from the natural environment than ever before. Science education occurs predominantly in classrooms and laboratories, settings that rationalize and deconstruct the natural world in a Cartesian-Newtonian paradigm. This often negates humans' relationality and interdependence with other life phenomena and furthermore…

An examination of artifacts provides insights into the goals, practices, and orientations of the persons and cultures who created them. Here, we analyze storybook texts, artifacts that are a part of many children's lives. We examine the stories in books targeted for 4-8-year-old children, contrasting the texts generated by Native American…

In this conceptual paper, we draw upon the insights of Feminist Science Studies, in particular Karen Barad's concept of agential realism, as a critical analytical tool to re-think nature and culture binaries in dominant science knowledge-making practices and explanatory accounts, and their possible implications for science education in the context…

Science education has a central role to play in preparing a scientifically literate citizenry that is capable of understanding complex environmental challenges facing human societies and making well-informed and evidence-based decisions that help resolve these challenges. However, evidence suggests that most Americans are poorly equipped with the…

The human relation to things in the world is at stake in the so-called post-humanist era where the distinction between human and non-human is blurred, as indicated in a term like 'the nano-self'. How should we understand the nature of our relation to things in this era? Or how can we describe an "educationally" meaningful relation we as…

Ecosystem services (ES) are the benefits people obtain from nature contributing to our well-being. Although this concept has high didactic potential, its presence in education literature is scarce. This article presents the ES framework as a new teaching principle that, taught together with the biodiversity concept, may help students develop…

Provides a comprehensive course syllabus for a semester course in environmental history which investigates human attitudes toward nature and the response they evoke to environmental issues. Includes weekly topics, reading assignments, course format and requirements, and essay topics. (Author/DC)

Only about half of Americans are convinced that human activity is the major cause of climate change. This statistic highlights the increased need for high-quality climate science education but also highlights the fact that lessons on this subject are often complicated as denial argumentation abounds in classrooms. In order to achieve greater…

This article describes how preservice elementary teachers learn about the nature of science and develop scientific literacy through a collaborative project that prepares them to design meaningful learning experiences for students. The Life's Replica Project was an effort between a college professor and an elementary school teacher to facilitate…

As products of the Anthropocene, the epoch of human ecological impact, models of environmental and social sustainability have been rooted in humanism, centering human agency and taking humanity as the prime reference point in understanding the world. Discourses around sustainability pose questions of how we are trying to sustain our world and our…

This study presents a content analysis of 30 ecology-themed children's picture books published in English and Spanish from 1994 to the present. Books were analyzed for the following aspects: 1) Nature appreciation, 2) Interrelatedness of Nature, 3) Realistic ecology problem, 4) Differing perspectives, 5) Hope for a solution, 6) Reflection and…

Today's high school students and biology teachers alike face challenges arising from constantly-changing environments. From global warming to species reduction to energy policy, the issues the students will face will have immediate and long-lasting implications. At the same time, biology teachers are charged with achieving legislated standards,…

Through a critical textual analysis of the content and structure of the new Australian science curriculum, in this paper I identify the values it encourages and those that are absent. I investigate whether the Australian science curriculum is likely to promote the attitudes needed to educate generations of children who act more responsibly with…

A non-anthropocentric view of humankind's relationship with nature is addressed in these essays which are a part of an ongoing series of working papers on technology. The first essay, "Extremist Conceptions of Man and Nature" by Eric Katz critiques three popular philosophies regarding nature and the environment that are believed to be…