On this section of the Environment and Ecology Website you will find a variety of lesson plans and integrated units of study. Lesson plans and units of study from the Governor’s Institutes, Using the Environment as a Context for Learning (the EIC) Model districts and Exemplary School Districts work can be found here. Lesson plans will continually be added as new projects accord under the direction of the Office of Environment and Ecology, Bureau of Teaching and Learning Support are undertaken.

The academic field of environment and ecology could be your link to integration between multiple disciplines. Real life experiences, connections to everyday life and an understanding of why the learning s important could be the key to success for students.

As in “Dimensions of Learning” there are two different kinds of learning. “Procedural knowledge requires a student to perform a process or to demonstrate a skill. In contrast, declarative knowledge is information for information’s sake. It does not require the learner to perform a series of steps with the mind or body.”

These lessons and units of study have been developed placing the standards at the forefront. These standards give you the critical or essential knowledge you need to present in your classrooms. Students make direct connections to their learning through local community involvement and place-based education. The anchors for both reading and mathematics further define the tie between procedural and declarative knowledge. Reading is part of the teaching and not an isolated function when learning the content. As each school district aligns their curriculum to the standards and they connect to the anchors, they need to ensure that their lesson plans and units of study follow that alignment.

As standards and anchors dominate the curriculum, we much constantly ask ourselves if what we are expecting students to know is the most essential understanding that can be achieved through the content. Priorities for school district curriculum are set using the standards as a filter to insure that critical knowledge is taught and the anchors are used to reinforcement that learning.

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