I'm responding to the righteously angry teacher in the 'burbs: WAY TO GO--you made someone angry. That's how you know you're getting through. It may be demoralizing to take people's venom, but that's a pretty fair barometer for how effective you're being!! Sara in Houston >From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mon Feb 20 19:18:34 MST 1995 Date: Mon, 20 Feb 95 21:18 EST From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Ruth Kraut) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: environmental education Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Two comments about some of the environemntal education issues that have come out on this list: 1. There are lots of environmental educqation materials out there (Project Wild and PLT only being two of many), and lots of them have corporate sponsors (i.e., Dow, McDonalds). Generally the corporately-funded ones have more money to be distributed. Still, sometimes they have good information in some activities. It's ikmportant to help teachers understand the assumptions that the curriculum is starting with--for instance, a utility company might put out a curriculum with perfectly good energy conservation activities; and then have an activity that focusses on how nuclear power plants are "clean", never mentioning that there's the problem of radioactive waste. . . 2. I've been doing environmental education for several years now, and I think its important not to be didactic in your presentation but to help students think through issues. For instance (back to nuclear energy), to explain *why* power companies call nuclear power "clean," (as compared to coal, what are the problems with coal), BUT there's this major problem with nuclear power--radioactivity--how would they solve this waste problem? What's the best solution? With a little help, they'll come up with energy conservation themselves and will "own it" as THEIR solution. 3. I'd like to highly recommend a book by a woman called Barbara Lewis, "The Kids' Guide to Social Action," with is a great tool for using with clubs, classes, etc. on all kinds of social issues, not just environmental--show students how to write a press release, make phone calls, get a senator to sponsor legislation. . . really empowering!! Ruth Kraut
