In an earlier paper (Skamp, Boyes, & Stanisstreet, 2009b), students' beliefs and willingness to act in relation to 16 specific actions related to global warming were compared across the primary secondary interface. More primary students believed in the effectiveness of most actions to reduce global warming and were willing to take those…

The University of Michigan (U-M) has an award-winning history of sustainability initiatives, including research and student activism as well as campus facilities-related efforts. Environmental conservation programs on campus include alternative transportation, energy audits of and improvements to campus buildings, green purchasing, use of…

Global and local climate change has become an important topic in the last few years. Concerns regarding the impact of climate changes on ecosystems in general, resources used by humans (e.g., water, energy, crops), and the intensity and frequency of natural disasters are driving the interest. Phenology is one way researchers are studying historic…

The Centre for Environment Education (CEE) added an Industry Initiative to its portfolio of more traditional environmental education programs in 1993. This article documents the start-up and evolution of that program and the ways that businesses and CEE have worked together for a sustainable future. A specific 18-month project, in which CEE and an…

Honeybees, butterflies, and ladybugs all have fascinating mutually beneficial relationships with plants and play important ecosystem roles. Children also love these creatures. But how do we teach children about these symbiotic interactions and help them appreciate their vital roles in our environment? One must is to give children direct experience…

This article starts by presenting five scenarios, each represents a significant type of grassroots change that is occurring at colleges and universities across the country. Those who are instigating these changes have little formal authority. The authors recently conducted a study to document and better understand these kinds of changes and the…

In this paper, we use the case of tequila to examine the potential for geographical indications (GIs) to contribute to socioeconomic and environmental sustainability. GIs are place-based names (e.g., Champagne, Roquefort) that convey the geographical origin, as well as the cultural and historical identity, of agricultural products. The GI for…

While niche colleges and universities have upheld principles of environmental sustainability for several decades, mainstream institutions of higher learning only more recently have begun to embrace a "green ethos" on campus. The exact nature of these initiatives may vary but tends to fall into four categories: (a) a general infusion of…

How people respond to questions involving the environment depends partly on individual characteristics. Characteristics such as age, gender, education, and ideology constitute the well-studied "social bases of environmental concern," which have been explained in terms of cohort effects or of cognitive and cultural factors related to social…

Recently, marine ecologists and economists have made the world aware of some alarming news about the ocean's bounty. According to researchers, populations of edible sea life are falling worldwide, and if the pattern were to continue, we would have no ocean fish left to harvest by midcentury. However, critics believe that this projection relies on…

Biodiversity and the conservation of biodiversity have received increased attention during the last few decades and these topics have been implemented into many G7-12 science curricula. This work presents an exercise that may be used in middle and high school classrooms to help students better understand spatial aspects of biodiversity. The…

Green procedure is used to create solvent-free alternatives for conventional Wittig reactions, which are widely used to install a double bond in a highly selective manner. Solvent-free reactions reduce health and environmental risks and provide a basis for an inquiry-based discussion of the stereochemistry of the Wittig reaction and the factors…

Today it is necessary to approach environmental topics with students in an interdisciplinary manner to mitigate the environmental damages that the Earth is suffering. In this paper we report an action-research and innovation study aimed at sensitizing students with respect to the care and preservation of the environment through the writing of…

"Alabama Education News" is published monthly except for June, July, and December by the Alabama Department of Education. This publication, authorized by Section 16-2-4 of the "Code of Alabama", as recompiled in 1975, is a public service of the Alabama Department of Education designed to inform citizens and educators about…

For nearly 20 years, the Connecticut Sea Grant College Program (CTSG) has worked to foster the wise use and conservation of coastal and marine resources of the Long Island Sound (LIS) estuary, as well as working regionally, nationally and globally. The strategy for success of any individual Sea Grant College Program must be consistent with the…