The Purpose of this Project was to Develop, Implement, and Evaluate a Curriculum for an Environmental Science Summer Camp for Middle School Students

Abstract

Teachers at J.R.G. Middle School in Kimberly, Wisconsin, were provided with an environmental education curriculum guide and numerous EE resources to aid in their teaching of environmental topics. However, most teachers have not utilized these resources to their full potential. This project was designed to go beyond traditional classroom situations and supply students with an extra opportunity to experience nature first-hand. The project aimed to develop a weeklong summer school camp for middle school students and evaluate the effectiveness of the camp in raising environmental awareness and knowledge. The project included the development of curriculum focusing on three ecosystems: prairie, forest, and wetlands. One day was spent on each of the three ecosystems and an overnight camping trip ended the week. Activities were mostly hands-on and utilized local resources as living examples of the three ecosystems. Short answer response pretests and posttests were given to students to determine the effectiveness of the camp.