Motivated by research showing how the outdoors can aid in learning, the Los Angeles Unified School District is investing over  to transform heat-absorbing asphalt at every Los Angeles early education center into  that reconnect students with nature. 

The district has completed 23 of these makeovers, which are being used by 2,800 pre-k students. 

Earlier this month, parents, community members and LAUSD officials attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony at  where officials unveiled a new outdoor classroom designed to immerse young students in nature-based learning.

The $1.9 million makeover provided students with a colorful jungle gym, sprouting plants, musical instruments, and educational toys. It鈥檚 a classroom that feels like a park 鈥�  and it鈥檚 making parents even more excited to send their children to school.  

鈥淚鈥檓 terrified because I don鈥檛 like bugs, and they like to pick up rocks, so they鈥檙e gonna pick up rocks and they鈥檙e gonna bring it home, and they鈥檙e gonna bring little caterpillars and bugs,鈥� said LaDeja McIntyre about her three year old daughter. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 excited too, because she gets to explore her mind鈥utside of the classroom and (in the) outdoors.鈥� 

Construction at the Normandie Avenue center took about 16 months. District officials say it will take several more years to meet their goal of building outdoor classrooms at every early education center. Thirteen are currently under construction.

The classrooms are designed in collaboration with , a nonprofit working to incorporate nature into every child鈥檚 education. The group has partnered with LAUSD for 14 years and is currently designing more than 20 new outdoor classrooms. 

According to the , outdoor learning can improve children鈥檚 mental health, foster responsibility and stimulate imagination.   

Nature Explore educational consultant Kirsten Haugen and her colleague Jill Primak, an architect, are part of the team that brings the classrooms to life.

鈥淪eeing children enter these spaces and spend their days in these spaces, they are a wonderful mixture of excitement and calm鈥hey have a sense of purpose and a sense of efficacy that you don鈥檛 see when they鈥檙e in more chaotic spaces,鈥� Haugen said. 鈥淭eachers feel better in these spaces so when we can set the stage for people to be their best selves, what could be better than that?鈥�

For three years, LAUSD superintendent Alberto Carvalho, has been part of efforts to provide teachers and students with the stage to be their best selves. In 2024, voters approved Measure US, a $9 billion facilities fund, some of which is being used to build these outdoor classrooms. 

At the ribbon cutting ceremony for Normandie Avenue, Carvalho said the district is committed to expanding these classrooms to every early education center.

Even though Measure US is providing the district with bonds, Carvalho鈥檚 recent visit to Washington D.C. has made him concerned about the future of programs meant to improve student wellbeing, such as the outdoor classrooms. 

鈥淭here are actions that could significantly undermine the quality, not just of education, but the quality of life of people in our community,鈥� Carvalho said. 鈥淪o in as much as we celebrate the greatness of our investments, we need to be mindful of the threats that could derail everything we have worked so hard to do.鈥� 

According to a report by the , Los Angeles has less park space than most major U.S. cities. The city offers just 3.3 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents, compared to a 6.8-acre median in other metro areas. 

Normandie Avenue principal Rhonda Granados said access to the outdoor space has changed the way students are learning. After the ribbon cutting ceremony, she played with a few students who were building ramps to slide balls down into a bed of wood chips. 

鈥淲hat鈥檚 really rewarding is that they don鈥檛 know that they hadn鈥檛 been in nature because we had all asphalt,鈥� Granados said. 鈥淲hen they come out here, they鈥檙e touching the leaves and the plants, and they鈥檙e asking questions about, how come this one鈥檚 green, but this one鈥檚 yellow, so it鈥檚 really rewarding to see their mind starting to ask questions and investigate and really want to know how things work.鈥� 

This article is part of a collaboration between 蜜桃影视 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

After landing a spot in a nationally-competitive fellowship program for high school students run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last summer, Keila Silva got to work investigating a local ice cream plant in Suffield.

The plant, operated by dairy company HP Hood, had over its handling of potentially-hazardous ammonia chemicals 鈥� just down the road from one of Suffield’s only federally-assisted housing developments.

Silva, a 17-year-old senior at Suffield High School, wanted to know what impact the plant was having on her community, so she spent this school year combing through a trove of online records dating back to the 1990s.

She was putting the final touches on a report summarizing her findings last month when she got an email from a fellowship supervisor inviting her to an “emergency” meeting on Feb. 18. The purpose of that meeting, Silva soon learned, was to discuss the Trump administration’s related to “diversity, equity and inclusion” 鈥� a term broadly used to describe policies aimed at combating discrimination and civil rights violations and promoting diversity.

The message of the meeting was blunt: The federal government would no longer be supporting the projects she and her peers had spent months working on.

“It was heartbreaking to hear,” Silva said in a recent interview. “I had a feeling that it was going to happen, and I had personally been preparing myself for that reality, only because just seeing the news, it seemed like it was going to be inevitable, and unfortunately that ended up being true.”

While much of the focus on President Donald Trump’s massive revamping of the federal government has been on its impact to thousands of government workers, Silva’s story and others show how even high school students are getting caught up in the tumult. Last week, WSHU reported that a New Haven charter school was from a “green jobs” workforce development program after its federal funding was cut off.

In a statement Friday, Conservation Law Foundation staff attorney Rachel Briggs condemned the administration’s treatment of young people working on federally-backed climate and environmental policy programs. (Briggs is one of several local environmental advocates who have signed a letter of support for Silva’s work.)

“President Trump is dismantling vital agencies like NOAA and the [Environmental Protection Agency], laying off dedicated public servants and eliminating opportunities for young people committed to making their neighborhoods safer and healthier,鈥� Briggs said. 鈥淲e should be encouraging these young people who are driven to make a difference in the world and ensure that every community has clean water to drink and clean air to breathe. They are a model for all of us, particularly for those in the highest levels of our federal government.鈥�

The Young Changemakers Fellowship began in 2023 as a joint effort between NOAA and the North American Association for Environmental Education, “dedicated to collaborating with and empowering the next generation of ocean and environmental leaders,” according announcing the program’s continuation last year. The NAAEE, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., provided operational support for the program in cooperation with the federal agency.

Silva was part of the second cohort of fellows, which she said included students from ten other states, as well as Guam and American Samoa.

A notice now posted atop the states that fellowship will not run in the upcoming school year, but it doesn’t give an explanation.

The president’s , which preceded the fellowship’s discontinuation called on officials to “coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.”

A spokesman for NOAA declined to comment on any changes made to the program as a result of Trump’s executive orders, citing a “long-standing practice” of not discussing internal personnel or management matters.

“NOAA remains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research, and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation鈥檚 environmental and economic resilience,” the spokesman, Scott Smullen, said in an email.

Stacie Pierpoint, a spokeswoman for NAAEE, said the decision to discontinue the program was made by federal authorities, and she declined to speculate on whether it might resume.

“We hope it comes back in the future,” Pierpoint said in an email. “We need more programs that build leadership and civic engagement skills and help protect people and the planet.”

Silva said she first became interested in environmental justice after participating in a for teenagers at the University of Connecticut during her sophomore year of high school. In that program, Silva said she used an EPA database to compare how people living in low-income and minority neighborhoods were being disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change.

“I have always been more of a social justice person” Silva said. “I didn’t go into environmental work really liking the science-y part of it.”

But as she dug into the data, Silva said she began to see connections between environmental conditions and social movements she’d previously expressed an interest in. Then one day when perusing the , she noticed the Hood ice cream plant near her home had been identified as a hazardous waste site.

“Being one of the people who do live within this one-mile radius of the facility, it made me concerned, because I had no idea this was happening,” Silva said. “I had asked my family about that, because we lived in our home for about 40 years, and they had no idea about it.”

After she was accepted into the Young Changemakers Fellowship last year, Silva said she and her peers were told to explore questions of equity as part of the projects they’d be working on throughout the year. Because Suffield 鈥� a relatively affluent and mostly white town 鈥� has few places that are affordable for low-income residents, Silva said she decided to make the plant the subject of her project.

Silva focused on the plant’s proximity to a local housing development, Brook Hill Village, which town officials identified as one of the only developments utilizing government assistance for affordable family housing in a . Residents of the census tract containing the development, she also noted, are more likely to be racial or ethnic minorities than in other areas of town.

Through her research, Silva identified 24 instances in which the Hood plant reported spills or chemical releases to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Those incidents involved ammonia, diesel fuel, wastewater and, , 2,000 gallons of chocolate ice cream mix that that seeped out of a container into the plant.

While Silva’s report did not identify any specific instances in which Brook Hill Village residents suffered harmful health effects from the plants’ releases, she argued that its operations contributed to the area’s “moderate-high” environmental burden 鈥� a designation laid out in the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s .

(The database was one of several federal public health websites that a judge in February after the Trump administration sought to pull them offline, citing to other outlets that the data did not conform with presidential executive orders related to diversity and gender identity. A notice now posted atop the ATSDR states, “This page does not reflect biological reality and therefore the Administration and this Department rejects it.”)

Before she could publish her findings, however, Silva said she and her peers were told by a fellowship supervisor at NOAA that if they chose continue with their projects they would have to remove any mention of their affiliation with the agency, its fellowship or the NAAEE, the nonprofit association supporting the fellowship.

Fortunately, Silva had already completed most of the work on her project and was able to quickly pivot to getting support from the Conservation Law Foundation as well as the Sierra Club and the Nonprofit Accountability Group, an advocacy organization based in Hartford. Representatives from each of those groups agreed to sign a cover letter endorsing Silva’s project, which she said lent credence to findings after it lost backing from NOAA.

Silva said that some of her peers in the program have found it more difficult to continue their work, particularly those whose projects relied on government-licensed GIS mapping software.

“They’re just devastated, but also angry,” Silva said. “We have our own group chat and everyone was blowing up like, ‘Oh my god, I didn’t expect this.'”

Ultimately, Silva published her findings earlier this month in a report that was sent to local officials in Suffield as well as Hood. She included a list of several recommendations for the company, including the installation of new chemical sensors to monitor releases, distributing fact sheets and engaging in community outreach with residents of the surrounding area.

Hood did not respond to requests for comment about Silva’s findings.

“Keila has done amazing research in her community to address an important pollution issue,” said Samantha Dynowski, the Connecticut state director for the Sierra Club. “The arbitrary decision of the Trump administration to cut off resources for this kind of work was unneeded and shouldn’t have been done.”

Since the meeting on Feb. 18, Silva said she and her peers have received emails from federal staffers working with the fellowship soliciting ideas for future meetings between now and the program’s end date in June. In addition, she said they’ve offered to provide advice for professional development and future careers, which for Silva means becoming an environmental justice attorney.

Silva said she’s planning to put the $750 honorarium she received as part of the fellowship towards college, and is waiting to hear back on applications to “around 20” schools where she is considering studying anthropology, sociology or public policy starting in the fall.

“It’s just kind of matter of making things fit, and adapting,” she said.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

For a handful of minutes, the skies will darken Monday in a total solar eclipse where the sun鈥檚 rays will be completely blocked by the moon鈥檚 orbit 鈥� something Hoosiers can only view with special glasses, but more on that later.

Our sister outlet, the Kansas Reflector, compiled its own , which we鈥檝e tweaked to fit our Hoosier audience. Our Kansas neighbors aren鈥檛 in the path of totality like Indiana but provided some great context before the big event.

Wait! There鈥檚 going to be a solar eclipse?

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Yes! On Monday, April 8, 2024, to be precise. Portions of the state will be completely dark for just over four minutes, as detailed by the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. While the skies will start to darken as early as 1:50 p.m., complete darkness will occur in Indianapolis between 3:06 and 3:09 before the skies lighten again at 4:23. Other parts of the state will roughly follow that same timeline but may be off by a few minutes.

What鈥檚 a solar eclipse again?

According to our : 鈥淎 total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun. The sky will darken as if it were dawn or dusk.鈥�

Just imagine that you鈥檙e watching an important TV program and your beloved spouse passes in front of the set. They instantly become much less beloved.

Now, let鈥檚 equate your TV set with the sun and your spouse with the moon. It鈥檚 just like that.

Who will get to see it?

All of Indiana will experience some portion of the eclipse but a portion of the state will be in the 鈥淧ath of Totality,鈥� where the moon will completely block the sun. This band, stretching from Bluffton to Evansville, has attracted for the rare event.

How rare? While partial solar eclipses happen two or three times each year somewhere on earth 鈥� and there are roughly two total solar eclipses every three years 鈥� Indiana won鈥檛 experience another until .

Any advice on watching it?

Don鈥檛 look at the eclipse with your naked eyes. Let me repeat that, in italics: Don鈥檛 look at the eclipse with your naked eyes.

The sun is usually so bright that we can鈥檛 physically stand to look at it. An eclipse cuts down on the brightness, but doesn鈥檛 stop solar radiation that can cause . This happens to people. It literally scars their retinas. They see a phantom image of the sun for the rest of their lives.

But I can still sneak a peek, right?

Please don鈥檛 do that. If you don鈥檛 believe me, listen to Shannon Schmoll, the director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 ever, ever want to look directly at the sun. It will harm our eyes and can cause permanent damage,鈥� she told journalists during a . 鈥淪o to look at this, you need to use either eclipse glasses or some sort of eclipse viewers.鈥�

So where do I find those solar viewers?

The American Astronomical Society of reputable manufacturers and retailers. For the record, they do not recommend going to your prominent online retailer of choice and searching for 鈥渃heap eclipse glasses.鈥� You can do better. For goodness鈥� sake, think of your eyes.

Some public libraries are distributing glasses and the Department of Natural Resources has .

Could I just use a camera instead?

Nope. An unfiltered look at the eclipse will leave your fancy digital camera . You need a specialized to take photos of the event with a standalone or phone camera.

Okay, okay. Let鈥檚 get glasses and filters aplenty. But does this mean the world is about to end?

No. Millennia of eclipses have come and gone, and , for better or worse.

People are handling this totally normally and rationally online, right?

Haha. Of course they aren鈥檛!

A bonkers story from online technology website some of the wilder claims circulating online. Among them: The eclipse will bring down electrical grids and cellphone service, it will disrupt the 鈥溾�� in which we all live, and assorted Biblical nonsense.

Will animals act all weird?

Take a read through the . In short, we know that birds and insects quiet down during an eclipse, but they don鈥檛 freak out or anything.

鈥淭he eclipse is strong enough to suppress that daytime diurnal activity 鈥� of day-flying insects and birds going to roost 鈥� but it鈥檚 not strong enough to initiate the kind of typical nocturnal behaviors we see at sunset,鈥� said Andrew Farnsworth of the Center for Avian Population Studies at the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology.

For their part, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources if they have trouble with leashes but note that animals, generally, don鈥檛 look directly at the sun.

What is the state government doing?

In anticipation, Gov. Eric Holcomb has  letting Indiana call on a nationwide aid compact should the upcoming eclipse stress the state鈥檚 emergency response systems. Due to the number of people, officials expect a 鈥渨idespread and significant impact鈥� on Indiana鈥檚 鈥渃ritical infrastructure systems,鈥� including for communication, emergency response and transportation, according to the order.

Alcohol regulators are even getting in on the fun and will be able to .

If you might be driving, be prepared for potential slowdowns and traffic disruptions. Pack plenty of water, food and fuel along with chargers, maps and emergency kits. The Indiana Destination Development Corporation (IDDC) has for safe viewing.

And, perhaps our favorite thing, First Lady Janet Holcomb made 鈥楶ath of Totality鈥� deviled eggs.

Any events in Indiana I should know about?

Tons! The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, for example, was selected as a National Air and Space Administration (NASA) broadcast location. Now it鈥檚 got a packed schedule  multiple astronauts, IndyCar drivers, NASA officials and Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb. The brickyard will also host technical and family-friendly educational programming.

Speaking of the IDDC, they鈥檝e compiled a of all the other festivities around the state.

Indiana Capital Chronicle Reporter Leslie Bonilla Mu帽iz contributed to this story.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com. Follow Indiana Capital Chronicle on and .

 is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.

Title of course:

Environmental Issues in National Parks

What prompted the idea for the course?

The University of Tennessee is a natural fit for this course, with the and all the learning opportunities it offers being only a one-hour drive away.

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Although I did not create this course, I jumped at the opportunity to serve as an instructor for it. Growing up as a Boy Scout, and later a merit badge counselor, I found a love for place-based education. I have always valued using the outdoors to teach about the theoretical concepts shared in the classroom.

What does the course explore?

Each week of the semester we discuss an ongoing environmental issue and then dive into an applied case study in a different national park. For example, in one week students learn about fire regimes, or patterns of wildfires over time. Then, in the next class, we discuss how the fire regimes in in California naturally of the sequoia groves there.

The highlight of the semester is an in-person field trip to Look Rock in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Here, my students and I meet a park ranger who teaches them about how trees sequester carbon from the atmosphere and how to measure it. The group also enjoys a hike to to learn more about the local area and see awesome views all around.

Why is this course relevant now?

Visitation numbers at national parks . Most of my students have been to at least one or two national parks and are exposed to their .

If this course was just titled Environmental Issues, I do not believe it would have the same kind of draw it has now. Typically, the course fills to capacity early on every semester.

Using the parks as teaching tools not only keeps students engaged and entertained in the class but also gives them real-life lessons about environmental issues. They get front-row seats in learning about how landscapes change and the physical factors that affect them, like climate, topography and vegetation.

What鈥檚 a critical lesson from the course?

I tell my students up front and repeatedly that the world is not black and white. Environmental issues are complex and difficult to solve.

For example, the bald eagle population in the U.S. fell drastically after World War II, and eventually they were . This was a result of being poisoned by the insecticide DDT.

Upon quick reflection, it seems that in the U.S. in 1972 was the obvious solution to save the bald eagle. Since then, there have also been across the world for environmental reasons. But this leaves out the context that DDT kills mosquitoes, which spread the deadly disease malaria. In other parts of the world, DDT had saved an from malaria by the 1970s.

This example shows the nuance that鈥檚 required when thinking about environmental issues and solutions. Sometimes there is not an obvious right answer, and students visibly struggle to address ethical questions like these.

What materials does the course feature?

I do not use a central textbook or provide specific assigned readings. Instead, students participate in group activities, enjoy illustrated lecture slideshows and YouTube videos and work with online resources.

One assignment has students use Google Earth to create a guided tour of a national park of their choice. They play the role of a park ranger through their written descriptions of tour stops. Students enjoy getting to choose which national park they would like to explore and highlight for visitors.

What will the course prepare students to do?

Upon completing the course, I want students to become critical visitors of national parks and protected areas. I want them to be aware of the role they play in what happens in those spaces and of the complexities of the issues there. Examples could include the of national parks, the from these lands or the .

Whether grappling with strictly environmental issues or the larger political and social struggles related to the national parks, I want students to open their minds to new perspectives. In a way, this course is an intervention for students to understand that they can make a difference and help shape an ever-changing world.

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

鈥淚 know, I know,鈥� says research associate Alison Bowers with a laugh. Bowers and Stanford associate professor conducted the in-depth review of literature on early childhood environmental education (EE), , in partnership with the (NAAEE). 鈥淚t took coffee both to understand the material and sometimes just to get through it. Some of the papers can be a bit 诲谤测.鈥�

Anyone in the early childhood field looking for affirmation of what they鈥檝e known all along 鈥� namely that environmental education improves learning outcomes broadly, not limited to 鈥渢he environment鈥� 鈥� will thank the researchers for their service. For evidence-based appeals to funders, administrators and politicians, the exhaustive review is worth whatever caffeine jitters the researchers might have experienced.

The review details environmental education鈥檚 many benefits to young learners, from social and emotional learning and improved physical development to improvements in math, science, language and literacy, in addition to more direct improvements to outcomes in environmental literacy. The mission of environmental literacy is to grow children鈥檚 knowledge and awareness while building the attitudes and skills to help them become adults who are vested in the future and in taking care of the earth.

It鈥檚 hard to ask people to help save the planet if 鈥渢he planet鈥� is an abstract concept. Observing the unfurling of a fiddlehead fern or a chick pecking its way through its shell, grounds children in a direct relationship with the natural world. The study used a broad definition of early childhood environmental education (ECEE) to encompass various aspects of children鈥檚 knowledge of the natural world. In all, the researchers鈥� analysis of the 66 studies found more than 150 pedagogical practices associated with effective ECEE programs that the team coded into nine categories including time in nature; free play; social interaction; observing nature; and having time to reflect, think and observe, among others. A range of types of engagement was included, from hiking outdoors and playing with natural materials, planting trees and recycling, to creating drawings and participating in guided in-class discussions.

鈥淏efore we started the review, we had done the preliminary searching and didn鈥檛 turn up a ton of research,鈥� Bowers says. 鈥淪o, we thought, 鈥極h, this is going to be a very small review.鈥� Then the more we got into it, the more we realized that a lot of people are really looking into this, not just at environmental education, but examining it for myriad other benefits. We were impressed to see this, especially the connection to emotional and affective development.

鈥淲hat always amazes me is the diversity in environmental education programs. It鈥檚 not some cookie-cutter program of just teaching children the basics of ecology. Even with these little children we鈥檝e seen how much you can talk about acting on behalf of the environment without being scary or causing anxiety. The children are capable at a really early age of understanding and taking action.鈥�

The early childhood review is one of four research areas 鈥� with three more on the way 鈥� produced by NAAEE鈥檚 eeWORKS program, a project created to demonstrate evidence-based outcomes of environmental education. NAAEE has partnered with Stanford University, the University of California Davis, and the University of Florida to conduct comprehensive research reviews for areas identified by educators, environmental organizations, policymakers and funders, and found in published literature. The two interest areas that emerged early in the research were one focused on and another looking at the effect of environmental education on . Each required analysis of more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, searching for terms like 鈥渃onservation education,鈥� 鈥済ardening,鈥� 鈥渄ay care,鈥� 鈥渆arly childhood,鈥� 鈥渇orest kindergarten,鈥� and dozens of other important terms for all seven research areas.

That鈥檚 a lot of keyword searches.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 tell you how many searches,鈥� Bowers says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 both an art and a science to come up with the right keywords. For early childhood, we worked with librarians and a subject specialist to help us understand young children. Because we researched on an international scale, we needed to know the terms to look for in other countries.

鈥淭he medical field has been doing systematic reviews like this since the early 1900s. Pre-internet? I can鈥檛 imagine.鈥�

According to Drew Burnett, a senior advisor under contract with NAAEE, environmental education has been generating increasing interest since the 1993 launch of NAAEE鈥檚 , an initiative focused on setting standards for high-quality programing. The project, sponsored by the Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, established guidelines for developing balanced, scientifically accurate, comprehensive programs to help develop 鈥渁n environmentally literate citizenry鈥� able to compete in the global economy and make well-informed choices as responsible members of a community.

鈥淧ractitioners can use six different sets of guidelines to support their EE programming to demonstrate what research says about the impacts of environmental ed,鈥� Burnett says. A group of educational organizations, nonprofits and governmental agencies convened in 2016 to identify 鈥渙utcome areas,鈥� the specific areas addressed and collaborations taking place around EE.

Out of that convocation, was born under the rubric, 鈥淔rom Anecdotes to Evidence: Diving into the Research Review Process鈥� to systematically research priorities and 鈥� better yet 鈥� produce communication tools that translate the academese into useful language for educators and advocates needing evidence-based backup. The field is full of powerful anecdotes about EE鈥檚 value: These systematic reviews provide the empirical evidence to back them up. The areas are:

• Coming Soon: Community and Citizen Science, Civic Engagement, Positive Youth Development

The full executive summary and key findings for each area are available on the eeWorks area of the NAAEE website and available to any educator or advocate wanting to use them.

Burnett points out that polling by NAAEE, the and others, consistently finds that people are interested in environmental education and think it should be taught more. It鈥檚 an issue that enjoys bipartisan support but one that has unfortunately been politicized in recent years. Some of the research finds that framing the issue as conservation or natural resources or other terminology can take the finger off the hot button.

鈥淭he next phase of the project is to drill down to specific groups within each of these outcome areas and begin informing these sectors about the field of environmental education and how it can help them achieve their outcomes,鈥� Burnett says. 鈥淔or example, for conservation we鈥檒l be hitting up big land management agencies and private sector funding groups that are interested in conservation, like the World Wildlife Fund or the National Wildlife Federation.

鈥淲e want to help influence the way they鈥檙e directing policy development and funding decisions so that environmental ed can get more attention.鈥�

Time to brew a few more pots of coffee.

This green revolution will require an army of well-trained workers 鈥� yet federal investments in job training have focused mostly on adults. To build a healthy pipeline of skilled labor, policymakers should apply lessons from a robust body of evidence about successful career and technical education programs for high school students to create pathways for careers in the green economy. 

More than high school students are enrolled in CTE; high-quality CTE programs have been shown to high school graduation, college enrollment and earnings. With curricula organized around specific career themes, they offer internships and other work-based learning experiences, and provide opportunities to earn industry-recognized credentials and college credits while still in high school. CTE programs also appear to work particularly well for students who have lagged in educational attainment, including and . 

CTE programs have been successful across fields of study, suggesting that similar models focused on green jobs and careers may have similar effects. In fact, promising green CTE programs are cropping up all over the country. In Malta, New York, the , a model school, offers learning experiences in clean energy, business and solar installation, opportunities to earn certificates in photovoltaics and a pathway to associate鈥檚 degrees in electrical construction and maintenance. The on Governors Island in New York City provides programs in fields related to marine health, including aquaculture and marine systems technology, and offers instruction in professional diving and vessel operation, as well as paid internships. 

In Kansas, at Olathe West High School is a four-year program with pathways in both renewable energy and sustainable agriculture. in Mississippi trains students in aquaculture through a program that allows them to continue their studies at a local community college, and the Bright Solar Futures program at in Philadelphia provides training and industry-recognized certificates in solar energy installation and energy conservation, preparing students for entry-level solar jobs. 

As innovative as these programs are, however, they tend to be one-off efforts. To prepare students for the future green economy, a more coordinated effort will be necessary to align labor market needs with CTE programs nationwide. 

The Aspen Institute鈥檚 recent recommends developing new CTE opportunities that prepare students for jobs in the clean energy economy and creating curricula that supports knowledge of environmental sustainability across all career pathways. This could be done in a coordinated way by leveraging funds through the federal , which provides states with more than $1 billion annually to support CTE education. For example, electricians and HVAC technicians now need to understand new technology used for renewably powered homes and buildings. Other fields that are staples of current CTE programming are being transformed by efforts to address climate change, including buildings and architecture, transportation and logistics, and agriculture and natural resources. 

Perkins already requires school districts to conduct needs assessments of local labor markets. States could use that funding to support schools to make explicit connections with green employers to learn what skills students need and create opportunities for internships, apprenticeships and work-based learning experiences. 

Other funding streams should be developed to support green CTE, such as money to purchase training equipment like solar panels, wind turbine parts and greenhouses. Funding for research to understand how schools and districts can best align their educational offerings with rapidly accelerating changes in the labor market should also be a policy priority.

Developing a talent pipeline of students ready to enter the workforce as the clean energy transition accelerates would ensure a robust, skilled pool of workers prepared to meet the challenge of reducing carbon emissions at the scale and speed that science demands. Doing so would be a win for students, employers and the environment.  

Rachel Rosen is a senior associate and co-director of MDRC鈥檚 . 

Governors Island is awash in ideas for a new climate research hub on the New York Harbor haven 鈥� including from influential former deputy mayor Dan Doctoroff and several major universities.

Doctoroff, who served as development czar under Mike Bloomberg, is among 37 individuals and groups who delivered 12 separate proposals to the Trust for Governors Island. The Trust, which issued for ideas to anchor a climate center on the 172-acre strip of land, announced the list on Wednesday.

The proposed science center is among in the works for Governors Island, as THE CITY reported last November. The City Council approved major land use changes for the isle .

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Both men are co-founders of Sidewalk Labs, the urban technology company backed by Google鈥檚 parent company, Alphabet which served as a technical advisor on the proposal, a spokesperson for Doctoroff said. But the pair say they are pursuing the Governors Island venture independently from Sidewalk.

Doctoroff, who was responsible for Hudson Yards and other megaprojects, has long been directly involved in the planning and stewardship of Governors Island.

He oversaw its early redevelopment begun in the late 2000s, after the U.S. Coast Guard handed the land and its historic buildings to the city.

Doctoroff served as vice chair of the now-defunct Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation, the precursor to the current day Trust, which was formed in 2010.

The Trust is currently chaired by former deputy mayor Alicia Glen, who served in the development czar role under Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Casting a World-Wide Net

The Trust declined to provide more details about the 12 proposals it received for the climate hub. But THE CITY spoke to backers of three of those dozen, including a team from Stony Brook University.

The Long Island institution is collaborating with Oxford, Yale, Stanford and Columbia universities as well as the energy research center at Brookhaven National Laboratory to create the 鈥淣ew York Climate Exchange,鈥� says. The project will be a 鈥渓iving laboratory鈥� on the island with labs, classrooms, exhibits, greenhouses and housing, the document reads.

Stony Brook promises it can bring in up to $100 million in philanthropic support to fund the project, adding to $150 million the Trust and city have already committed toward the climate hub.

A coalition dubbed Renewable Nations L3C submitted a that brings together design and development experts with 15 universities to create a new academic institution on the island.

Academic institutions from Boise, Idaho, to Okinawa, Japan, have signed on, and Goldman Sachs is a financial backer, according to Lesley Braxton, a principal at Trahan Architects and one of the main strategists behind the plan.

She said utilizing the island鈥檚 existing 19th and 20th century-era structures is a priority for the group, which plans to work with Cross Street Partners, a development company that specializes in adaptive reuse.

鈥淭he most sustainable building is the one you don鈥檛 have to build,鈥� she noted.

The not-yet-built climate hub is expected to use about a fifth, or 33 acres, of Governors Island鈥檚 land mass.

Amy Chester, the managing director of Rebuild By Design, a city-based nonprofit that focuses on sustainable and resilient architecture but is not involved with any of climate center proposals, was impressed with the list of respondents.

She cited the 鈥渄eep expertise鈥� of Deltares, a top water-engineering firm from the Netherlands that has done resiliency work in New York and globally.

Attracting Intelligence

As with Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island, Chester said 鈥渃reating excitement around an academic center is good for New York City.鈥�

鈥淚t attracts businesses here. It attracts jobs. It creates new educational opportunities and homegrown expertise, which the government and New Yorkers can tap into,鈥� she said.

Still, she has her doubts about how the project will fare on a low-lying island in New York Harbor, especially as many parts of the city struggle with preparing for more extreme weather.

鈥淲hat the city is going to need to do is invest a lot of money in the infrastructure to make this happen, and to do it in a way that鈥檚 going to think about future climate events,鈥�  Chester said.

鈥淭he city is going to be tugged in many different directions to address the immediate needs like what we saw during Hurricane Ida. But a real plan is one that takes a step back and really thinks comprehensively.鈥�

Braxton said the Governors Island project 鈥渋s not to detract鈥� from any of efforts to make New York resilient, but to 鈥渉elp with the how.鈥�

鈥淲e have to fix the infrastructure of our cities. But can we do that smarter? And we鈥檙e here to figure out how we can do that,鈥� she said.

The timeline and feasibility of the climate center is still up in the air. The concept will need the backing of New York鈥檚 next mayor. Both the Democratic and Republican mayoral candidates have said little about the climate center idea on the campaign trail.

Representatives of Eric Adams and Curtis Sliwa did not respond to inquiries from THE CITY Wednesday.

It鈥檚 unclear when a winning proposal will be chosen. A spokesperson from the Trust for Governors Island said only that the group will evaluate the climate center propositions in the coming weeks with the Mayor鈥檚 Office of Climate and Sustainability as well as the Mayor鈥檚 Office of Resiliency and the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

鈥淭hese applicants all bring unique qualifications and specialties to the table, and we look forward to finding the perfect fit for this bold step to tackle the climate crisis,鈥� de Blasio said In a statement announcing the proposals Wednesday.

THE CITY is an independent, nonprofit news outlet dedicated to hard-hitting reporting that serves the people of New York.

Winter is coming鈥nd so is adventure.

The in Islip, New York, is a conservation organization with popular outdoor education offerings that Long Island families rely on for connection and inspiration. The pandemic鈥檚 sudden arrival forced a quick reassessment of how to stay connected to the children and families.

Starting with the premise that many families might not have easy access to even ordinary items like binoculars or magnifying glasses, the team created a series of daily nature challenges. Their venture 鈥� and the enthusiastic responses it provoked 鈥� can create a template for any of us seeking to keep adventure alive even as winter approaches.

For those wishing to create mini field trips to nurture their children鈥檚 connection with nature, Seatuck鈥檚 Education Director Peter Walsh advises to start small and close at hand.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really just about exploring and it can be something as simple as, 鈥楪o watch the sunset. Tonight, try to see it from your yard or window or somewhere safe, and take a picture of it or draw it. Don鈥檛 do anything else: just enjoy a sunset.鈥欌��

The operating principle in these mini adventures is wonder, he says, and wonder doesn鈥檛 require anything except presence. Just be there and notice what鈥檚 there to be noticed. Some examples:

• Observe different kinds of birds, then draw a picture of them (adults, too: pick up those colored pencils and give it a go!) or have a conversation while describing the birds in as much detail as each of you can remember: the size of the bird, its colors, the shape of the feathers, beaks and feet.
• If you have any leftover color swatches from the paint store, let the children take them along on their walk and see if they can find those colors in nature.
• Find an anthill and, from a respectful distance, sit back and watch them work. If that doesn鈥檛 provoke at least a little wonder, well, pay closer attention.
• Listen to the sound of your sneakers walking over crisp fallen leaves.
• How would you describe the smell of freshly mown grass?

Don鈥檛 make the adventure a test (鈥淟et鈥檚 see how much you remember, Jenny鈥�), an opportunity for a lecture or a chore. The second it becomes a 鈥渉ave to,鈥� is the moment it quits being an adventure. Children don鈥檛 need to be instructed every moment they鈥檙e outdoors to 鈥済et them to learn.鈥� When they鈥檙e outdoors and they鈥檙e looking, they鈥檙e learning. Maybe synthesize some of that when you get back to the house, but don鈥檛 let your drive to pack education into every moment keep them (and you) from actually being in the moment.

Remember that adventures can be had in all kinds of weather. There鈥檚 an old joke from the Midwest, where people play hockey, curling, go ice fishing, cross-country skiing and ice caving in the worst weather: 鈥淭here鈥檚 no bad weather, only bad clothes.鈥� So dress your kiddos well and take them out year-round. Kids love holding their wee faces up to the rain, letting snowflakes hit the tongue, splashing in puddles, building snow forts, and sledding or tubing down snowy hills. Do you remember that you used to love that, too?

The Seatuck team鈥檚 challenges frequently center around becoming aware of the beauty that surrounds all of us, every day.

鈥淥ne of the experiments is, 鈥業t鈥檚 going to be clear tonight, so watch the sky at sunset and notice how many different colors you can see in 10 minutes,鈥欌�� he says. 鈥淲hen we did it, we found five different shades of blue.鈥�

If you鈥檙e really observing and not just passing by, nature presents an abundance of beautiful objets d鈥檃rt. Make a frame from an old box or paper; create an artwork by placing the frame around that incredible rock or shiny bug your preschooler found, then take a picture. Maybe no one had noticed before how gorgeous those beetle鈥檚 wings are, but once a child really sees them, they will never forget that iridescence.

Quests fuel many adventures, and the quest can be for something as mundane as 鈥淔ind five different shades of green,鈥� or 鈥淔ind three different kinds of bugs,鈥� or 鈥淐an we find two different kinds of pinecones today?鈥� 鈥淔ind five kinds of leaves. Look how different they are from each other.鈥�

If you find an abundance of green leaves, let the kids gather some up and smush them with a mortar and pestle (or DIY equivalent, such as a big rock and a little rock), then add water and let the children paint with the chlorophyll. The paint will have the color and consistency of watercolor, so don鈥檛 expect vibrant pigment. But it will be cool.

Add a community element by creating a scavenger hunt that the children design themselves. Leave the things where you and the kids spotted them, then give the list to your neighbors or other family members and see how many they can find. (Then celebrate the win no matter how small. As any Greek hero would tell us, a victory isn鈥檛 a victory without some festivity.)

Save your toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls because those things are adventurer treasure. One alone becomes a telescope, two taped together make binoculars (鈥淭he kids will swear it makes everything closer,鈥� Walsh says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 OK. It鈥檚 all about getting them to focus on an object and really look at that one specific thing.鈥�). A single paper towel roll becomes a 鈥渢oot-da-doo!鈥� because who can resist holding one up and toodling triumphantly? Several being 鈥減layed鈥� at once becomes a cacophony and sometimes, a little cacophony is good for the soul.

When you head out, remember to take a paper bag or backpack to schlep items for the collection 鈥� because nine times out of ten, there will be a collection. Practically every kid everywhere will want to collect something 鈥� rocks, bug carcasses, sticks, shells, feathers, bark, acorns, pinecones, leaves 鈥� and you want to make sure the artifacts end up in the bag and not in your pockets (though, tell the truth: Can you go on a hike or visit the beach without coming back with rocks in your pockets?).

For those with very little children, Walsh and his team recommend the 30-foot hike.

鈥淲ith the 18-months to 3-year-old group, just let the kids lead the walk,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e in charge of the hike. You make sure they鈥檙e safe, but you follow their lead and help them explore the things they鈥檙e touching and looking at. You don鈥檛 have to go anywhere big or far. Just let them lead.鈥�

British adventurer and author Alastair Humphreys coined the term 鈥渕icroadventure鈥� to describe these small-scale outings. In his book, 鈥淢icroadventures: Local Discoveries for Great Escapes,鈥� he laid out the elements of a great adventure for children.

鈥淚f it involves food, getting wet or muddy, fire or breaking the rules, the kids will love it. 鈥� Involve kids in the planning and talk to them when you鈥檙e doing it. Point out things that even you take for granted and point out to the children what鈥檚 safe and what isn鈥檛. They take in way more than you think. What鈥檚 the worst that could happen? Plan accordingly and pack a change of clothes.鈥�

To which Walsh adds, 鈥淎nd a towel!鈥�

Walsh stresses that there is no right or wrong way to create a mini adventure 鈥� the point is just to get outside and to feel connected to other people in the world by sharing their experiences and discoveries. The important thing is to interact with the environment, not to just passively sit in it. Especially don鈥檛 sit in the environment and scroll on your device. This is mutual discovery, not nature as babysitter.

鈥淲e see so much of that,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 this real passive thing of not investigating, not playing with their environment, just walking past it. I think a lot of it is that the younger parents grew up as part of this generation that just didn鈥檛 go out and explore outdoor spaces with free, unstructured time. So, when they go somewhere, they don鈥檛 really know how to interact with the physical world.

鈥淚t鈥檚 true with some of the younger teachers as well 鈥� the idea of exploring is really foreign to them. We say, 鈥楾ry to find five different kinds of rocks,鈥� and teachers come back and say, 鈥楧o you really think we鈥檒l be able to find five different kinds of rocks?鈥� and then they鈥檙e amazed that they found 10.

鈥淲e want to keep the idea of these nature challenges really open-ended. If we give them a worksheet or tell them, 鈥楾ry to identify these five kinds of clouds,鈥� they will spend all their time trying to answer the question correctly and then feel that they weren鈥檛 successful if they didn鈥檛 find exactly those things.

鈥淪o, keep it about wonder and fun,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f the kids really love it, they鈥檒l want more.鈥�

As long as you stay focused on those two things 鈥� wonder and fun 鈥� neither you nor the kids will feel inadequate or unprepared. Just by being there, you have everything you need.

Though you might want to bring your toot-da-doo.