Discussions

Your Name and Title:

Miguel Fuentes, Curriculum and Evaluation Director

School or Organization Name:

Ecology Project International

Co-Presenter Name(s):

Area of the World from Which You Will Present:

Costa Rica

Language in Which You Will Present:

English

Target Audience(s):

High School Teachers/Administrators 

Short Session Description (one line):

Inquiry Approaches to Integrating Environmental Literacy and 21st Century Skills

Full Session Description (as long as you would like):
This presentation will explain how Ecology Project International (EPI) engages high school students in a semester long experience helping create future conservation leaders in Costa Rican society. EPI has developed a curriculum that combines Next Generation Science Standards, the Environmental Literacy Framework, 21st Century Skills, and best-practices in experiential education. 

Students participate in an inspiring four-day inquiry-based field course that uses sea turtle monitoring as the integrating context for learning. While on-course, students develop new skills and create new meaning about critical scientific concepts while participating in an applied conservation research project. Students access professional biologists through an on-line network once they return to their classrooms, and over several months, students work with the advisors to improve research projects initiated in the field. Results of their research improvements are presented at an annual student science symposium that serves as an opportunity to apply relevant skills, develop a network of conservation practitioners in Costa Rica, and continue to help students develop knowledge, skills, and dispositions related to environmental literacy.

We will explore how this theory translates into actions and how we evaluate our actions based on best practices from around the world.  We will show you how we create our evaluation indicators and what tools and instruments we use to measure them.

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session:

www.ecologyproject.org

www.epicr.org (Spanish)