Teaching Sustainability Through Science:
One Method’s Class Experience and Journey

by Mary Barr Goral, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Bellarmine University, Louisville, Kentucky 

            The other day while shopping at our natural/organic food market, I was offered a sample yogurt drink.  After pouring my organic beverage, the store’s employee promptly tossed the plastic container into the trash can.  As an avid recycler, I questioned whether or not the store had a recycling bin.  Her answer surprised me.  She told me that they were too busy to recycle.  How can a nationally recognized organic market be too busy to recycle?  The disconnect between what the store sold and how they managed their waste was disturbing.

            Not long after the grocery store experience, I was swimming at the health club in our neighborhood.  On my way out, I asked the person at the front desk if she could recycle my water bottle for me.  She said she would take it home to recycle, as the health club had no recycling plan.  Again, I was amazed that an organization designed to promote the health and well being of community members did not have a recycling plan in place.

            Perhaps the most disturbing example of all is my daily struggle at the school of education where I teach.  Three years ago our science methods classes set up a recycling program in the building.  Students secured the recycling bins and set up a schedule where they took turns emptying them on a weekly basis.  This year the university actually picks up our recycling.  Awareness is growing, however I routinely go to each classroom and take plastic, aluminum, and glass from the garbage cans and place these items into the immediately adjacent recycling bins.  For an institute of higher learning, I find this lack of consciousness mind boggling. 

            Each of the above disturbing vignettes share a common theme.  Lack of awareness seems to stem from a disconnect between the health of our minds and bodies with the health of our planet.  What this seeming lack of awareness points out is the possibility of an undeveloped or underdeveloped sustainable worldview.  In other words, those with a worldview that has at its cornerstone the concept of sustainability, know our resources are limited and that it is our responsibility to conserve, recycle and reuse.    Those who do not hold to this philosophy think the opposite or don’t think at all.  How can we begin to educate our communities on the importance of living sustainably?  Perhaps one way is to start in our schools.  Young children are naturally empathetic with nature and are eager to do what is right for plants and animals.  By integrating the concept of sustainability into our science classes, it is possible to educate children into becoming caring and aware adults.  However, before this can happen, the teachers themselves need to be introduced to what sustainability means. 

With this in mind, I redesigned my undergraduate course on teaching science methods to incorporate the concept of sustainability.   After pondering for several months what this might look like, I finally settled on five themes of teaching science for a sustainable future.   My intention was to introduce each of the themes individually, then weave the themes seamlessly into each class period.  The five themes include:

• Building Community

• Teaching Reverence and Respect

• Integrating the Arts

• “Doing” Sustainability

• Using Inquiry to Think Critically

Identifying Prior Knowledge          

            Finding out what our students already know is a common best practice.  In order to see what my junior methods students knew about sustainability, I distributed a survey on the first day of class (See Figure 1).  Results, although not surprising, were somewhat discouraging.  92% of the students strongly disagreed or disagreed when asked if they had a working knowledge about the concept of sustainability.  8% were neutral.  When asked if they had a good idea about how to bring the concepts of sustainability to young students, 57% disagreed or strongly disagreed while 42% were neutral.  A number of students wrote on their survey “I have no clue what sustainability is.” Students were also given a more qualitative survey.  In their narrative responses, 50% of students answered “I don’t know,” when asked “What does sustainability mean in the context of science and science education?”, while 15% believed it had something to do with retaining knowledge and 12% thought it meant the topic stayed the same.  23% of the students knew sustainability referred to the environment.  Only one student wrote that sustainability in the context of science and science education means “Maintaining the earth and the environment”. 

            I had predicted the outcome of the initial survey/questionnaire to turn out as it did and had thus, as previously mentioned, designed the entire class around teaching science through five themes of sustainability.  The following paragraphs describe how each of these themes relate to sustainability and how they were used in the context of a science methods class to teach the concept of sustainability.

Building Community

            How can community building help develop a sustainable worldview? Tavalin (2004) believes that “A sense of community develops when people get together to try and accomplish something” (p. 21).  When groups of people work together toward a common cause, this collaboration, this participatory democracy, as Freire (1993) would call it, creates meeting points where people can come together.  According to Lievegoed (1987) “The self is only content when it relates to other selves” (p. 140).  When students feel a part of something greater than themselves, they are more likely to want to give back.  

            There exist any number of ideas to build community in a classroom, from the use of cooperative groups to service projects.  Because young children often need to first build their cooperative group skills, starting your day with a circle (a technique borrowed from Waldorf schools), can develop these collaborative skills.  A circle includes movement, poetry, games, and songs all within a context of children working together in a circle (thus the name).  The circle can be subject specific.  In our science methods class, students participated in a science circle, where they recited poems and sang songs about nature.  The poems and songs included movements to accompany the words.  Several of the movements in the songs and poems were dependent upon participants working together, paying attention, and engaging with one another. Once students are able to work together successfully in the circle, they can move on to other collaborative activities, such as service projects and cooperative groups.

Reverence and Respect for the Natural World     

            A second theme of teaching sustainability through science is one of reverence and respect for the natural world.  According to Steiner (1994), practicing reverence in our daily lives – with ourselves, with one another, and with all living things, builds trust and nurtures respect. Arnold (2000) believes that irreverence is a power that kills life.  Given the rampant disrespect and irreverence that we encounter on a daily basis, it is imperative to instill in our students a sense of reverence and respect for themselves, one another and for the planet. 

            One of the most important things we can do for our students is to get them out into nature on a regular basis.  In today’s environment of high stakes testing and accountability, taking children outside is often looked upon as a waste of time and a luxury that teachers cannot afford.  “More and more, we drive a wedge between our children and the tangible beauty of the real world” (Sobel, 2004, p. 5). Sobel (1995) also reports that most adults who have a strong connection with the natural world were guided by a caring adult who spent countless hours in nature with them. 

            Another excellent way to nurture reverence and respect in our children is through ritual.  Ritual can be used to instill a deep meaning for students in their feeling life.  Furthermore, rituals allow students to feel safe and held.  Repeating the same beautiful verse or singing the same song each day gives children a sense of belonging.  Rituals teach a reverence and respect that technical teaching cannot.

            Understanding that both the above ideas build reverence and respect, students in my science methods course began each class by reciting the following verse from the Terma Collective.

May my feet rest firmly on the ground.

May my head touch the sky

May I see clearly.

May I have the capacity to listen.

May I be free to touch

May my words be true.

May my heart and mind be open.

May my hands be empty to fill the need.

May my arms be open to others.

May my gifts be revealed to me,

So I may return that which has been given

Completing the great circle.

We also spent a number of classes outside, including four days at our local zoo.  Students visited the nature center where they hiked and spent time in the bird blind.  They also planted spring bulbs outside the school of education.

Integrating the Arts 

            Integrating the arts into the teaching of science might seem as if it has nothing to do with the concept of sustainability.  Yet according to Jensen (2001) the arts promote social harmony, cultural exposure and aesthetic awareness.  Jensen continues by stating that

We need less trivia and more in-depth learning about the things that really matter the most in our world: order, integrity, thinking skills, a sense of wonder, truth, flexibility, fairness, dignity, contribution, justice, creativity, and cooperation…[The arts] can do more of that than any other discipline. (p. 10)

All of the above attributes are needed to promote a sustainable world view.  Furthermore, students connect better with one another when using an arts-based approach, helping to build community and foster respect. 

            In order to integrate the arts into the science methods course, I chose to take the traditional science journal and turn it into an illustrated science sketchbook journal.  (See figure 2)  Students sketched scenes from the zoo and from our nature walks and illustrated science experiments.  Students were required to use color and to make their journals aesthetically beautiful.  The class also learned a number of songs and poems about specific science concepts, including a song about the phases of the moon, and a poem about the seasons. 

“Doing Sustainability”

            The National Science Education Standards (NSES) call for a more ‘hands-on’ approach to teaching and learning science.  According to Zemelman, Daniels, and Hyde (1998), “Science study should involve doing science, i.e. questioning and discovering, not just covering material” (p. 95). This is also appropriate for teaching students about sustainability.  It is much easier to grasp a difficult concept if it is actually experienced.  Students can participate in myriad projects intended to help better the planet.  From recycling projects to beautifying school grounds, children of all ages feel proud and connected to their community when engaging in such activities.  However, young children should not be exposed to environmental problems that are beyond their developmental level.  Sobel (1995) believes children must be taught to love the earth before being asked to save it. 

            As previously mentioned, students in the science methods class planted spring bulbs on the grounds outside the school of education.  They also helped maintain the recycling program in the building, which was implemented by another science methods class a few years prior.  Talk was initiated about taking up another service project, but unfortunately, this did not happen.

Using Inquiry to Think Critically

            Teaching science using inquiry is considered best practice in schools today.  Inquiry is no doubt a methodology designed to help children think at higher levels.  However, the inquiry method can be taken a step further and used to help students think critically.  Critical thinking is crucial when dealing with sustainability.  If students do not think critically, for example, about the chemicals used to grow our food and how those chemicals are then leached into our ground water and ultimately into our drinking water, then they cannot be proactive when advocating for a safer and healthier planet.  Zemelman, et al. (1998) believe that the meaningful study of science will help to develop problem solving, attitudes of curiosity, thinking skills, and a healthy skepticism.

            Students were asked to read and reflect on a number of controversial essays during the semester.  Beyond Ecophobia by David Sobel (1999), and two essays from McDaniel’s (2005), Wisdom for a Livable Planet were read in order to promote discussion and critical thinking.  Each of these articles introduced students to new ideas as well as real world events, all linked with the concept of sustainability.  Students were also asked to reflect and write about significant questions throughout the semester, such as “Can learning about the night sky instill a reverence and respect for nature?”  and “How can field trips to the zoo help promote a desire in children to take care of our planet?”

Findings and Future Plans       

            As the semester drew to a close, I wanted to find out if any of my passion for educating students about sustainability had had any impact.  Students were given the same survey and questionnaire they had filled out the first day of class.  When responding to the statement “I have a lot of knowledge about the concept of sustainability”, 92% answered that they agreed or strongly agreed and 8% were neutral.  The statement “I have a good idea about how to bring the concept of sustainability to young people” brought forth the same results.  Narrative answers on the questionnaire proved a bit more informative.  When asked “What does sustainability mean in the context of science education?” all but two students responded that it had something to do with taking care of the environment for ourselves and for future generations.  The question “How might you bring the concept of sustainability to young children?” brought about some thoughtful responses, such as “By teaching them to love the environment and protect it” as well as more specific answers like “Doing things such as recycling in my classroom, letting them plant trees and pick up litter, and by raising money to help animals.”  It was somewhat disconcerting, however, when the majority of the responses to the question “Where do you most often hear the term ‘sustainability’?” turned out to be “In this class”.  Furthermore, several students parroted the five themes of sustainability learned in the class when answering the questionnaire.

            Although students’ awareness level regarding sustainability was obviously raised, I will definitely teach the class differently next time.  I still plan to teach the five themes of sustainability, as I believe these are viable options to use in a classroom, especially if students are unable to take on a larger project. However, I intend to find several projects that students could actively become engaged in, such as cleaning up the stream that runs by our education building, conducting research on sustainable school buildings, or designing a plan to help conserve energy on campus.  I then intend to give students a choice as to what project most interests them.  It is possible that they may come up with a project completely different from those suggested, and if that is the case, we will explore it together.   According to Cirillo (2004), “… a key skill in creating an equitable, environmentally healthy and economically viable future is the ability to make decisions together and to respect the multiple perspectives of all stakeholders” (p. 33).   If students are stakeholders in a particular project to better their local community, they are more likely to adopt a sustainable worldview as their own, rather than one that they heard about in a class. 

Bibliography

Arnold, J. (2000). Endangered: Your child in a hostile world. Farmington, PA: Plough Publishing House.

Cirillo, J. (2004). Educating for sustainability. Community Works Journal, 7 (1), 4, 33.

Community Works Journal (2004). An interview with Fern Tavalin, 7 (1), 20-21, 30.

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Lievegoed, B. (1987). Phases of childhood. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophic Press.

Jensen, E. (2001). Arts with the brain in mind. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

McDaniel, C. (2005). Wisdom for a livable planet. San Antonio, TX: Trinity Univeristy Press.

Sobel, D. (1995, Fall). Beyond ecophobia. Orion.  Retrieved September 14, 2004 from Academic Search Premier database. 

Sobel, D. (2004). Place-based education: Connecting classrooms & communities. Great Barrington, ME: The Orion Society.

Steiner, R. (1994). How to know higher worlds. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophic Press.

Zemelman, S., Daniels, H., and Hyde, A. (1998). Best practice: New standards for teaching and learning in America’s schools (2^nd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.