The Development of an Environmental Education Program Involving Students Teaching Students in the Ellsworth Community School District

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to determine to what extent involving Ellsworth High School sophomore biology students in a citizen action experience where they teach Hillcrest Elementary School and St. Francis Elementary School students at the Ellsworth Community School District school forest would influence the environmental knowledge and citizen action skills of the sophomore biology students. This project included several components; developing and implementing a school forest plan; utilizing a school forest to develop and execute environmental education lessons taught by sophomore biology students to elementary students; developing a pre- and post-test to measure changes in sophomore biology students' environmental knowledge and citizen action skills; and assessing sophomore biology students and analyzing their scores on pre- and post-tests to measure changes in their environmental knowledge and citizen action skills. A portion of the pre- and post-test asked students to rate to what extent they take part in recreational activities, they feel it is their and others' responsibility to take environmental action in their community, and they are willing to work alone or with others to find a solution to an environmental issue in their community. This portion of the test saw responses decrease by 6.4% after participating in the citizen action experience of teaching EE lessons to elementary students. Students' knowledge of and ability to use citizen action strategies showed no significant change in either the control group or experimental group, even though citizen action skills were taught to all students prior to the citizen action experience. This confirmed that participation in a citizen action experience does not necessarily increase students' knowledge of and ability to use citizen action skills. Students' knowledge of ecology and environmental science in both the control group and experimental group increased significantly, although there was little difference between the two groups. This suggests that participation in a citizen action experience where EE lessons were taught to elementary students does not necessarily lead to better environmental knowledge.