PA Institute Environment and Ecology Educators

In July of 2000, the Pennsylvania State Department of Education announced its intention to adopt Academic Standards in Environment and Ecology. Although the Proposed Standards should not be considered a mandatory statewide curriculum, they are sequential in nature, and keyed to specific grade levels.

The Standards define important interdisciplinary themes for instruction and specific competencies expected of all Pennsylvania students. Every Pennsylvania public school is required to comply with the Standards once they are accepted. They consistently emphasize the following themes:

Human activities take place within a broad range of Pennsylvania ecosystems. Every school and community exists within an ecosystem.
The health and quality of life of each Pennsylvanian is linked to the well-being of the ecosystems in which they live.
Human activities have impact upon the living and non-living components of ecosystems.
Ecosystems are complex, and decisions regarding them involve learning, evaluation, problem-solving, and compromise.
Essential decision-making and problem-solving skills are best learned through real world experience; educators are responsible to provide meaningful learning experiences within the school’s community and ecosystem.

graphic: binders

The Proposed Academic Standards are 24 pages in length, and available in the Adobe PDF file format. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader software installed on your computer to access them. Acrobat Reader may be downloaded free of charge from the Adobe website.

Click on the link below to review the proposed Pennsylvania Standards for Environment and Ecology:

graphic: Adobe Acrobat Proposed Academic Standards (PDF)

Environment and Ecology:

An area of study concerned with the interrelationships among components of the natural and human-made world.

These components incorporate the disciplines of ecology, resource management, agriculture diversity, government, and the impact of human actions on natural systems.

This interaction leads to the study of watersheds, threatened and endangered species, pest management, and the development of laws and regulations that protect, control, and manage the environment to meet societal needs for long-term sustainability.