UNIT-1

Environmental Education

1.1 Introduction
Our mounting concern with the environment is not just for ourselves, but for
the entire mankind now existing and the generations to follow. This agreed that
children are nation’s greatest resource and that the future of civilization depends
on them. There has been sudden increase in the activities for Environmental
Education (E.E) during the last two decades. This has resulted in the development
of different kinds of curricula, out of school activities and literature. The purpose
is to regenerate man’s interest in preservation, conservation and improvement of
the environment before it is too late and reaches the point of no return. EE has
been perceived differently by various Educationalist and thinkers.
They differ in its objectives, the kinds of activities that are used to achieve the
objectives and resources to attain these ends. It is the vastness and variety of the area
of E.E. that necessitates taking a holistic view of the various aspects of E.E. This will
help us to see its strength and weakness and draw conclusions for the future. The
purpose is to make a review of the situation in this context and examine different
roles Played by E.E. at school level and see how these are achieved. Moreover, it
is of interest to see how E.E. is molded in different circumstances such as those
present in the wide spectrum of developing and developed countries. It is common
to use the term ‘environmental education’ for different meanings. For the sake of
clarity and to avoid ambiguity it is necessary to state, at least in brief, the meanings
of EE in our context. This will be done here first.

1.2 Concept and Meaning of Environment

The term and meanig environment refers to our surrounding which includes
physical, biological and socio-cultural aspects. The nonliving things like air,

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water, land, etc. Come under physical aspects and plants and trees comes under
biological aspects and the man-made aspect like culture, religion, customs, etc.
come under socio cultural aspects. There is a harmonious relationship among
the components of the environment. The status of soil, water and other elements
determines the biodiversity because different animals and plants have special
adaptability cyclic relationship. Environmental condition determines our health
also.

Meaning of Environment
Man is a unique and dominant species that has been interfering with the
environment in various ways, such as, clearing forests, breaking grasslands,
digging, drilling, mining minerals etc. Although, in the beginning, the environment
of early men consisted of only physical aspects of the planet earth, with the
advancement of society men extended their environment through social, economic
and political functions. Of late, humans’ have exploited some of the valuable
natural resources like mineral oil, natural gas, coal etc. Man’s interference with
environment has often led to extinction of certain animal species, disturbing the
ecological balance in nature. The term environment includes all those external
forces that have influenced the conditions which affect life, nature, behaviour
and growth, development and maturity of living organisms. It consists of the sum
total of the stimulation that an individual receives from conception to death. Thus,
environment is an inseparable whole and is constituted by the interacting systems
of physical, biological, and cultural elements which are inter-related to each other.
Education is an independent field of study or discipline which is concerned
with the process of development, i.e., teaching-learning, training and instruction.
It aims at the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development of the
child. The chief concern of all educationists is with the environment of men. But
humans cannot exist or live in isolation from the other forms of life and also
from plant life. So, the educationists should be concerned with the environment
of all types of biological population. Environmental education is that branch
of education which provides sufficient knowledge and understanding about the
problems of environment. It contributes towards solving them, and also develops
attitude and values conducive to environmental protection and understanding of
interdependence of nature and people.
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Environmental education aims at generating widespread awareness of
environmental problems. It not only educates the world population about the
natural environment and its problems, but also aims at developing knowledge,
attitude and skills necessary to protect the natural balance in environment. For
this, men must learn to distinguish between renewable and exhaustible resources
and their relevance for the continuity of the human civilization.
It is a fact that a man cannot live and prosper by being constantly at war with
nature. On the other hand, he must learns to live in peace and harmony with nature.
It is possible only when he learns the laws of nature, its secrets and mysteries.
Environmental education is nothing but educating a man how to interact with
the surrounding world so as to improve his or her own world. It enables one
to maintain his or her life. This in turn helps in the preservation of the human
race. It scrutinizes men towards the diminishing natural resources, environmental
pollution, and the problem of population explosion.
It is clear from the above discussion that environmental education is a
process of providing learning experiences to obtain knowledge, understanding,
skills and awareness with desirable attitudinal changes about man’s relationship
with his natural and man-made surroundings. Thus, environmental education is
a new area of study which has evolved under the discipline of education to meet
the challenges of environmental crisis. Thus, environmental education should be
seen as a continuous life-long process, beginning at the pre-school stage level and
continuing through all formal and non-formal stages. It should also be treated as an
interdisciplinary discipline that would help in teaching environmental education
from a holistic and balanced perspective. In a broader sense, environmental
education means education for the environment, about the environment and
through the environment.

1.3 Components of Environment

The atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere make up the
majority of the environment. However, it may be separated into two categories
named,  microenvironments and macro environments. The immediate local
surroundings of an organism are known as the microenvironment whereas
all the components including the biotic and abiotic factors make up the macro
environment of an organism. The biotic component constitutes all the living things
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of environments, like microbe population, plants, and animals. Abiotic factors
include temperature, light, rainfall, soil, minerals. It is sometimes referred to as
the physical environment. It is made up of three layers: atmosphere, lithosphere,
and hydrosphere.

ATMOSPHERE: -
AAthe thick gaseous layer surrounding the earth.
AAIt spreads up to 300 km. above the earth’s surface.
AAApart from gases there are water vapor, industrial gases, dust and smoke
particles in suspended state, microorganism etc.

LITHOSPHERE: -
AAThe Core which is around 7000 kilometers in diameter (3500 kilometers in
radius) and is situated at the Earth’s center.
AAThe Mantle which environs the core and has a thickness of 2900 kilometers.
AA The Crust floats on top of the mantle and is composed of basalt rich oceanic
crust and granitic rich continental crust

HYDROSPHERE: -
AAThe hydrosphere includes all water on or near earth surface and includes
oceans, lakes, rivers, wetlands, icecaps, clouds, soils, rock layers beneath
surface etc.
AAwater exist in all three states: solid (ice), liquid (water), and gas (water vapor)
AA71%of planet surface is covered with water
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AAFreshwater- 2.53%
AAFreshwater in glaciers-1.74% • Water as water vapour in atmosphere-12,900
km3
AAliving organism contain- 1100 km3 Since the environment includes both
physical and biological concept, it embraces both the abiotic (non-living) and
biotic (living) components of planet earth. Thus, on account of basic structure
the components of environment may be classified into two basic types:

1.4 Types of Environment

The classification of the environment broadly divides it into two categories
– geographical and manmade environment, both the subsets are described below

QQGeographical Environment
Geographical environment is the terrestrial environment that is a creation of
complex natural and environmental conditions. Although it arose independently
of humankind, it is the complement of direct interaction between nature and
human society. The geographical environment revolves around the subjects of
climatology, geology, biogeography, etc. They are direct aspects of how human
society conceptualizes the geography of the earth.
A geographical environment is also called a natural environment as it interacts
with nature. The earth’s surface, rivers, mountains, deserts, land, water, oceans,
volcanoes, etc. come under the natural environment examples.  

QQMan-Made Environment
Man cannot directly live in the geographical environment, so he creates some
of his environmental conditions to adjust to it. This is a man-made or human-
made environment, a human creation. A man-made environment is also called a
social environment. It has two types which are described here.

QQThe Inner Environment

The inner environment is the social environment that endures as long as
society cherishes. The inner environment has a profound impact on human lives.
The inner environment is often called the ‘social heritage’ as it is an important
factor for humankind to exist, live and arise. It is entirely dependent on human
social influence.
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QQThe Outer Environment
The outer environment is the physical environment that man has created on
his own with the evolving technology and science. It is the modification of the
physical environment that has helped cope with the progress of mankind and the
development of the environment. It includes city infrastructures, houses, various
amenities provided at the social and individual level, transport and communication,
and much more. It can be said that the outer environment changes more rapidly
than the inner one because it is in the hand of man and his evolving technology. 

1.5 ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS

The rationale for environmental awareness can be summarized as the
following:
1. A major goal of environmental education in India as entrenched in National
policy on Education is the provision of the expertise that can utilize scientific
knowledge towards the preservation and solution of environmental problems.
Knowledge about the changes that have altered the environment -land, water,
weather, and vegetation; social, cultural and political environment are essential
components of environmental education. Consequently, the general populace
should be equipped with all these to be able to solve the problems of the
environment.
2. India’s socio-economic development (like any other less developed country) is
firmly rooted on the exploitation of the natural resources in our environment.
Land, water, forest and other mineral resources utilization is the dominant
feature of rural economy with agriculture the driving force. Uncontrolled and
improper exploitation of these resources have implications on the environment
causing disruption in the living standard, starvation, displacement and human
suffering. Environmental Education is therefore necessary to create awareness
of the causes and effects of these problems viz: food and water scarcity,
pollution, outbreak of epidemics and natural disaster such as flood, erosion and
desert encroachment, and of course how to prevent them.
3. Environmental education is needed to foster international co-operation and
understanding. The developed countries rely on the high technology for the
exploitation of natural resources while developing countries like India totally
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depend on agriculture, forestry and the mineral resources thereby leading to
intensive and over-exploitation of the natural resources and these have serious
implications on the resources.
4. Public enlightenment on the impact of government policies on local environment
should be useful both to the government and the local people.
5. Awareness of such global environmental issues is an essential component of
environmental education which ordinary citizen should be aware of.
6. Environmental education for the over-all social and economic emancipation of
women and children. These form a substantial percentage in the utilization of
natural resources especially at the rural setting.
7. Environmental education is very essential for the lack of it. Environmental
Education is virtually a new thing in this part of the world.
8. Environment education is also very essential for our survival on earth. The
natural resources and cultural heritage need to be protected not only for this
generation but for future generation.

1.5.1. Objectives of Environmental Awareness

The general objectives of environmental education include the following:
1. To enlighten the people on the physical components of the environment
2. To inform them about their dependence on the environmental resources
3. To enlighten them about the changes in the environment in the last decade and
the consequences of their present actions.
4. To alert them about the consequences of human actions on the environment
both on man himself and other forms of life
5. To create concern for environmental quality and conservation and to foster
understanding of man’s relationship and interactions with the ecosphere
6. To develop personal, community and national sanitation and conservation ethics
7. To kindle a sense of responsibility that will motivate ordinary citizen to seek and
acquire more knowledge about the environment and its problems and propagate
such knowledge to others in the community 8. To awaken appreciation of the
aesthetic quality of nature in order to encourage its uses for recreation.
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1.5.3 Strategies for Environmental Awareness
Various strategies have been proposed for the introduction of environmental
education into school curricula and into non-formal education. These include the
following:
1. Introduction of environmental studies as a distinct and special subject, taught
by specially trained teachers.
2. Introduction of environmental issues into the various traditional subjects
3. The re-orientation of the subject matter in the traditional schools to be in
accord with the scope, aims, objectives, strategies and guiding principles of
environmental education.
4. The re-evaluation and re-structuring of the entire contents of various subjects to
incorporate environmental education
5. Integration of the contents of the various subjects within the framework that
relate to the major environmental problems.

1.6 Environmental Attitude

Attitude
G.W. Allport considered attitude as a neural or mental state of readiness
(Murchison, 1935), implying that an attitude cannot be directly observed, but must
be inferred from overt behaviour. Behaviour is seen as a response to some form
of stimulus, and an attitude was conceptualized as a construct, an inferred state
occurring between a stimulus and a response. As an alternative approach, Berkowitz
(1975) describes an attitude in terms of the favourableness or unfavourableness
of feelings towards an object or issue. Feelings, or affect, contribute to the
determination of the degree of favourableness or unfavourableness.

1.6.1 Environmental Attitude

Environmental Attitude refers to “collection of beliefs, affect, and behavioral
intentions a person holds regarding environmentally related activities or issues”
(Schultz et al., 2005, 458).
The beliefs and values of individuals or societies with respect to nature,
ecology, or environmental issues.
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1.6.2 Importance of Environmental Attitude

WHO (2016) estimated and predicted that between 2030 and 2050, the
climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per
year from malnutrition, diarrhea and heat stress. Understanding the root cause of
the problem is necessary for us to apply the correct solution to the environmental
problem.
Some countries understand and feel the importance of reducing the climate
change particularly the developed countries and some countries do not see and feel
the importance of reducing global warming in the case of developing countries.
They are after industrialization and elevation of poverty.
Solution of climate change problems starts from understanding the root
cause of the problem. It is a fact that environmental problem is caused by human
behaviors. Human behavior is caused by attitude or views toward certain object. If
the person sees the object negatively or positively, it will affect the way how she/he
relates to that object. Therefore, there can be several kinds of behaviors toward a
certain object depending on the attitudes or views of the person toward that object.
Those behaviors can be: respect, love, care or dominate, control or destroy. Going
along with such argument, it is necessary that in order to solve environmental
problems a positive human attitude towards environment is important.

1.6.3 Different Environmental Attitudes

Development, preservation, and conservation are different attitudes toward
nature. These attitudes reflect a person’s ethical commitments.
Because ethical commitments pull in different directions at different times, it
is often easier to talk in terms of environmental attitudes or approaches. The three
most common attitudes/approaches are:
i) Development approach
ii) Preservation approach
iii) Conservation approach

Development approach
This approach is the most anthropocentric.It assumes the human race is, and
should be, master of nature. It assumes that the Earth and its resources exist solely
for our benefit and pleasure. This approach is reinforced by the capitalist work
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ethic. This approach thinks highly of human creativity and holds that continual
economic growth is a moral ideal for society.

Preservation approach
This approach is the most ecocentric.It holds that nature has intrinsic value
apart from human uses. Preservationists such as John Muir, Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman all viewed nature as a refuge from
economic activity, not as a resource for it. Some preservationists wish to keep
large parts of nature intact for aesthetic or recreational reasons (anthropocentric
principles).

Conservation approach
This approach finds a balance between unrestrained development and
preservationism. Conservationism promotes human well-being but considers
a wider range of long-term human goods in its decisions about environmental
management. Many of the ideas in conservationism have been incorporated into
an approach known as sustainable development.

1.7. ECOLOGICAL INTELLIGENCE

1.7.1 Meaning of Ecology
Ecology is a branch of science, including human science, population,
community, ecosystem and biosphere. Ecology is the study of organisms, the
environment and how the organisms interact with each other and their environment.
It is studied at various levels, such as organism, population, community, biosphere
and ecosystem.
An ecologist’s primary goal is to improve their understanding of life
processes, adaptations and habitats, interactions and biodiversity of organisms.
Ecology is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including
humans, and their physical environment; it seeks to understand the vital
connections between plants and animals and the world around them. Ecology also
provides information about the benefits of ecosystems and how we can use Earth’s
resources in ways that leave the environment healthy for future generations.
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Fig. showing the relationships between living organisms and their physical
environment

Fig. Showing the Energy transfer in Ecological system

1.7.2 Biotic and Abiotic Factors

The main aim of ecology is to understand the distribution of biotic and abiotic
factors of living things in the environment. The biotic and abiotic factors include
the living and non-living factors and their interaction with the environment.
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Biotic components are living factors of an ecosystem. A few examples of
biotic components include bacteria, animals, birds,  fungi, plants, etc.
Abiotic components are non-living chemical and physical factors of an
ecosystem. These components could be acquired from the atmosphere, lithosphere
and hydrosphere. A few examples of abiotic components include sunlight, soil,
air, moisture minerals and more.
Living organisms are grouped into biotic components, whereas non-living
components like sunlight, water, topography are listed under abiotic components.

Fig. showing the biotic and abiotic components

1.7.3 Importance of Ecology
The following reasons explain the importance of ecology:
i). Conservation of Environment: Ecology helps us to understand how our
actions affect the environment. It shows the individuals the extent of damage
we cause to the environment. Lack of understanding of ecology has led to the
degradation of land and the environment. It has also led to the extinction and
endangerment of certain species. For eg., dinosaurs, white shark, mammoths,
etc. Thus, the study of the environment and organisms helps us to protect
them from any damage and danger.
ii). Resource Allocation: With the knowledge of ecology, we are able to know
which resources are necessary for the survival of different organisms. Lack of
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ecological knowledge has led to scarcity and deprivation of these resources,
leading to competition.
iii). Energy Conservation: All organisms require energy for their growth and
development. Lack of ecological understanding leads to the over-exploitation
of energy resources such as light, nutrition and radiation, leading to its
depletion.
Proper knowledge of ecological requirements prevents the unnecessary
wastage of energy resources, thereby, conserving energy for future purposes.
iv). Eco-Friendliness
Ecology encourages harmonious living within the species and the adoption
of a lifestyle that protects the ecology of life.

1.7.4 Types of Ecology

Ecology can be classified into different types. The different types of ecology
are given below:

1. Global Ecology
It deals with interactions among earth’s ecosystems, land, atmosphere and
oceans. It helps to understand the large-scale interactions and their influence on
the planet.

2. Landscape Ecology
It deals with the exchange of energy, materials, organisms and other products
of ecosystems. Landscape ecology throws light on the role of human impacts on
the landscape structures and functions.

3. Ecosystem Ecology
It deals with the entire ecosystem, including the study of living and non-living
components and their relationship with the environment. This science researches
how ecosystems work, their interactions, etc.

4. Community Ecology
It deals with how community structure is modified by interactions among
living organisms. Ecology community is made up of two or more populations of
different species living in a particular geographic area.
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5. Population Ecology
It deals with factors that alter and impact the genetic composition and the
size of the population of organisms. Ecologists are interested in fluctuations in the
size of a population, the growth of a population and any other interactions with
the population.
In biology, a population can be defined as a set of individuals of the same
species living in a given place at a given time. Births and immigration are the
main factors that increase the population and death and emigration are the main
factors that decrease the population.
Population ecology examines the population distribution and density.
Population density is the number of individuals in a given volume or area. This
helps in determining whether a particular species is in endanger or its number is
to be controlled and resources to be replenished.

6. Organismal Ecology
Organismal ecology is the study of an individual organism’s behaviour,
morphology, physiology, etc. in response to environmental challenges. Ecologists
research how organisms are adapted to these non-living and living components of
their surroundings.
Individual species are related to various adaptations like physiological
adaptation,  morphological adaptation, and behavioural adaptation.
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Fig. showing the types of Ecology

1.7.5 Ecological intelligence

Ecological intelligence refers to our collective ability to understand the
human impact on ecosystems and to act in ways that improve them.
Goleman (2009) defines Ecological Intelligenceas individuals’ ability to
apply what they learn about their impact on the environment to make changes
in their behaviour and live more sustainably. He further argued that Ecological
Intelligence is a concept that has wide implications in the field of education
also. Because it examines topics at the intersection of environmental studies,
economics, business, and psychology, and would enhance courses of study in
any of these disciplines and provide a real-world, everyday context for exploring
them. Ecological Intelligence examines the profound environmental, social, and
health consequences of our everyday choices.
Ecological intelligence allows us to comprehend systems in all their
complexity, as well as the interplay between the natural and man-made worlds.
In conceptualizing Ecological Intelligence, Goleman (2009) combines
intelligence (the capacity to learn from experience and deal effectively with our
environment) with ecology (an understanding of organisms and their ecosystems).
Ecological Intelligence is a witness to one of today’s major issues, which is
the basic disconnect between the human population and the natural environment.

The main aims of ecological intelligence are

i). To develop social and environmental responsibility (Shumba, 2011; Sterling,
2009) and awareness to think critically (Bowers, 2010; Capra, 2005),
ii). To pursue cooperative learning (Sterling, 2009), and to bring about
behavioural change in the long term (Bowers, 2010).
Thus, ultimately this leads to reduce ecological unbalance and biodiversity
issues of the mother planet.
Global warming is an obvious case in this point. That’s only one example in
a huge span of problems that are building and have been building probably since
the start of the Industrial Revolution. Development over the last two centuries has
produced huge material benefit for us all but without any regard for the impact
on nature. At the macro level there are global biogeochemical cycles, like that for
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the flow of carbon, where shifts in the ratios of elements can be measured not just
over the years but over centuries and geologic ages. The ecosystem of a forest
balances the entwined interplay of plant, animal, and insect species, down to the
bacteria in soil, each finding an ecological niche to exploit, their genes evolving
together. At the micro level cycles run their course on a scale of millimeters or
microns, in just seconds.

1.8. Ecological Sensitivity

Ecological sensitivity refers to the ability to detect covariations in the social
environment. Ecological sensitivity can be broadly defined as the ability to
perceive and interpret accurately how individuals, groups, and the environments
they occupy interact with and influence one another. It is conceivable that different
individuals might have varying degrees of ecological sensitivity for these different
types of covariation relationships. 
The ecological sensitivity concept subsumes some commonly used definitions
of interpersonal sensitivity, for example the ability to infer the emotional meanings
of facial expressions, because the latter can be conceptualized as covariation
between expression and meaning. As implied by the term ecological, however,
ecological sensitivity includes a broader array of covariations that might be
present in the social environment. The social knowledge can be conceptualized as
the product of ecological sensitivity. The ability to detect to what degree qualities
of individuals, groups, and environments (both physical and social) are associated
or covary with one another may provide a great deal of information about why a
given social encounter is progressing in a particular manner and what the people
in it are experiencing. Of course, one’s beliefs about social covariations may not
be correct, as research on stereotyping has often revealed.

1.8.1 Ecological imbalance

The following points highlight the five main factors responsible for ecological
imbalance in India. The factors are:
1. Degradation of Land and Soil Erosion
2. Deforestation
3. Faulty Utilisation of Water Resources
4. Environmental Problems from Faulty Mining Practices
5. Industrial and Atmospheric Pollution.
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Factor 1:
Degradation of Land and Soil Erosion:
The Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India has
reported about the serious problem of land degradation and
soil erosion as given in below table:

The above table reveals that about 174 million hectares (i.e., 53 per cent of the
total land area) of land in India is facing the serious problem of land degradation
out of which a 144 million hectares is subjected to soil erosion through water and
wind and the rest 30 million hectares is subjected to other problems.

Moreover, heavy population pressure has led to conversion of forest and

permanent pastures into crop lands leading to indiscriminate grazing.

Factor 2:
Deforestation:

Large scale deforestation has been continuing since independence due to

over- exploitation and mismanagement of forest resources. During the first two
decades of planning (i.e., from 1951 to 1972) India lost about 3.4 million hectares
of forestland out of which about 70 per cent of that area was lost to river valley
projects, roads and communications and industries.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India has reported about the
serious problem of land degradation and soil erosion as given in the above Table

Deforestation is still continuing at a rapid scale and the problem has reached
to such a proportion that it has totally disturbed the ecological balance of the
country.
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The National Committee on Environmental Planning has remarked that total
land surface having adequate tree cover is not more than 12 per cent of the total
geographical area of the country, although the official statistics show it as 22 per
cent of the total geographical area.
The degree of deforestation in Himalayan ranges from Kashmir to North-
East India is very high. All these have led to an ecological collapse in the country.

Factor 3:
Faulty Utilisation of Water Resources:
Being one of the wettest country of the world India is still suffering from flood
and droughts due to faulty utilisation of water resources. Since independence, too
much importance was laid on the development of big dams.
But these Gigantic dams have displaced crores of tribal people, drowned
million hectares of rich forest areas, failed to prevent and control floods and often
created destructive flash flood in the downstream valley.
As per one recent estimate, it is found that area affected by floods in
India has increased from 20 million hectares in 1971 to 40 million hectares at
present. Moreover, these huge dams and multi-purpose projects have created an
environmental impact in the form of degradation of soil in the command areas due
to continuous water logging and increasing soil salinity.
The major portion of increasing salinity affected areas lies in the Indo-
Gangetic plains of U.P., Punjab and Haryana.

Factor 4:
Environmental Problems from Faulty Mining Practices:
In India large scale extraction of minerals are creating serious environmental
problems, ruining the country’s land, water, forest and air. Large scale mining has
resulted in conversion of agricultural and forest land into stockyards townships,
roads, railway lines etc. and removed vegetation and top soil.
The disposal of mining waste, mineral dust from mines are constantly
polluting air and also reducing agricultural productivity. Underground mines are
often creating subsidence of land due to it’s over exploitation. Mining activity is
also polluting water resources as the rain waters, passing through mineral wastes,
are flowing into rivers and streams.
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Mining operation has also resulted large scale deforestation, soil erosion
and is also responsible for various health hazards to human beings in the form
of respiratory problem and other illness. Thus in the new Mineral Policy, 1993,
attempts have been made to check this environmental pollution arising out of
mining operations and to follow some reclamation measures.

Factor 5:
Industrial and Atmospheric Pollution:
In India, unplanned and uncontrolled growth of industries and ill-maintained
automobiles are creating huge atmospheric pollution regularly leading to huge
environmental problems. The main atmospheric pollutants include carbon
dioxide, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, sulphur dioxide, hydrocarbon and
metallic traces.
Besides some specific pollutants are also being mixed with atmosphere
which include lead from automobile emission, urea dust from fertilizer factory,
cement and lime dust from cement factories, increasing radiation of nuclear power
stations etc.
Moreover, industrial wastes coming out of fertiliser factories, paper mills,
leather factories are constantly being discharged in rivers, lakes and seas, creating
huge health hazards for the population of the country.
Thus under this present situation, environmental problems of India are being
added in increasing proportion. Thus it is high time that planners and policy makers
of the country should take necessary steps to reduce the degree of environmental
pollution in the country and should preserve proper environment at any cost.

1.8.2 Environmental Education

Concept of Environment Education
The term ‘Environmental Education’ consists of two words. One is
‘environment’ and the other is ‘education’. Let us first discuss the meaning of
the word ‘environment’. The dictionary meaning of the word ‘environment’ is
surrounding or condition under which a person, animal or a plant lives or operates.
It is the aggregate of all external conditions that affect our life. Environment as a
whole consists of two basic elements- physical or natural environment and man-
made or cultural environment. The physical environment consists of both biotic and
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abiotic elements. Plants and animals are examples of biotic environment, whereas
land water, air, climate phenomena etc are examples of the abiotic environment.
Eco-system comprises the physical environment and all the organisms which
live on this earth. In a particular territory, a large number of plant and animal
species grow together and develop a chain of interaction and interdependence.
Any change in any of the species, disturb the life of other species which is called
disturbance in ecological balance

1.8.2.1 Definition of Environmental Education

The term ‘Environmental Education’ has been discussed in various national
and international seminars and has been defined in different ways. Some of the
definitions have been provided here to understand its nature and concept. The
International Union for the Conservation for Nature and Natural Resources
Commission of Education in the International Working Meeting on Environmental
Education in the School Curriculum held under the auspices of UNESCO in Paris
in 1970 remarked. “Environmental Education is the
1.8.3 Focal aspects of Environmental Education
Environmental education is a process that allows individuals to explore
Environmental issues energy in problem solving and take action to action to
improve the environment. As Z result individuals develop a deeper understanding
of environmental issues and have the skills to make informed and responsible
decisions.
a) Focal points of Environmental Education
Concern for reality by exposing students to the real life world, nature social
environment in which they live. Enable students to analysis, evaluate and draw
inferences about problems and issues related to environment. Enable students
understand environment issues and take positive environmental action. Develop
skills of environmental actions among students in order of facilitate the journey
of mankind towards sustainability.

1.9. Goals, Objectives and Aims of Environmental Education

The main goal of environmental education is to develop concern and awareness
among world population about the total environment and its associated problems.
This requires a commitment to work individually and collectively towards solution
of current problems and necessary prevention. The Goals of Environmental
 Environmental Education 21
Education The main goal of environmental education is to develop concern and
awareness among world population about the total environment and its associated
problems. The specific goals of environmental education are as follows
1. To improve the quality of environment
2. To create awareness among the people on environmental problems and
conservation
3. To create an atmosphere so that people participate in decision-making and
develop the capabilities to evaluate the developmental programs.

EE has two main aims

AAThe first aim is to provide different groups of people in a variety of
professional fields with the knowledge needed to develop a sense of
responsibility towards the environment and the rational utilization of its
resources. International Journal of Current Research and Modern Education
(IJCRME)
AAThe second aim is to make use of these knowledge and skills to preserve,
conserve and utilize the environment in a sustainable manner for the benefit
of present and future generations.

1.10 OBJECTIVES OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

The Objectives of Environmental Education
1. Awareness: to help social groups and individuals acquire an awareness of and
sensitivity to the total environment and its allied problems.
2. Knowledge: to ‘help social groups and individuals gain a variety of experiences
and acquire a basic understanding of the environment and its associated
problems.
3. Attitudes: to help social groups and individuals acquire a set of values and feeling
of concern for the environment and the motivation for actively participating in
environmental improvement and protection.
4. Skills: to help social groups and individuals acquire the skills for identifying
and solving environmental problems.
5. Participation: to provide social groups and individuals with an opportunity to be
actively involved at all levels working towards the resolution of environmental
problems. Aims of Environmental Education:
22 Sri Manakula Vinayagar Publications
AA i. Objectives of Environmental Education at Primary Level
AA(a) To know and understand true aspects of the environment in general.
AA(b) To know and understand the interaction between mammals, between
human and their
AAenvironment and interaction between the various elements and components of
the environment.
AA(c) Build understanding, awareness and sensitivity towards causes and efforts
of the class that
AAcontinuously take place in society the world around us.
AA(d) To build and develop skills in thinking, reasoning, enquiring, evaluating
and making
AAdecisions concerning human and the world around them.
AA(e) Inculcate the attitude in using the knowledge and skills towards solving
problem and issues
AArelated to individuals, society and the environment.
AA(f) To build the values and attitudes towards the need and necessity to live
together in harmony
AAin the context of the heterogeneous society.

Focus
AA1. Human, animal and plants undergo a number of life-processes.
AA2. Human, animals and plants are continuously adapting themselves to the
environment.
AA3. Human alters and modifies the environment with great caution and came in
order to fulfill
AAnumerous living needs.
AA4. Identification between human and nature and between environmental
elements giving rise to various phenomena which affect them.
AA5. Society would take active steps to conserve the environment and the
balance of nature through careful plans and processing.
 Environmental Education 23

ii. Objectives of Environmental Education at Secondary Level

AAEnvironmental education to be taught as integrated science in which
environmental education
AAconcepts are included.

Objectives
1. To emphasize the relevance of science to daily life.
2. To develop a scientific attitude in student.
3. To create an environmental conducive to greater reliance on the use of
principles and practices of science.
4. To acquaint the student’s with various natural phenomena.
5. To develop an outlook which emphasizes the method employed in different
disciplines of science.

iii Aspects of Environmental Education Emphasized at

Higher Secondary Level
(a) Population - growth, arises and problems of unplanned population.
(b) Law - Land use, land reclamation and land and soil conservation.
(c) Resources - resource uses, conservation, recycling.
(d) Food and Nutrition - Food production, food adulteration and preservation,
balance diet etc.
(e) Conservation - Causes of wildlife, plant, soil, water and conservation of
other non-renewable natural beauty.
(f) Pollution - Pollution of water, air and soil, noise pollution, pollution by
insecticide and other chemicals and waste disposals.
(g) Health and Hygiene - Individual, family, country and social health and
hygiene, health hazards etc.
(h) Humans and Nature - Other compounds of atmosphere, environmental
quality and future on earth.

Constraints to Implementing Environmental Education

1. Rigid Specialization.
2. Complexity of inter-disciplinary value of Environmental education.
3. High pupil - teacher ratio for organizing pupil participation programs.
24 Sri Manakula Vinayagar Publications
4. Paucity of qualified trained environmental educator.
5. Lack of proper resources in terms of equipment, supplementary materials
and reference materials.
6. Tendency to resist changes.

1.11 The Scope Environmental Education

Population education has got a board scope with comprehensive subject
matter as it is directly related with each and every human activity. Scope of
population education varies according to the situation and need of the country.
Consequently, its subject matters vary according to social, economic and political
condition of country. `The scope of environment education is also called the
content or subject matter of environment education. There are different aspects
and components in the environment. Among them, the biological, physical, social
and cultural aspects are important.
The scope of environmental education can be divided into biological,
physical and sociological aspects. They are described below:
1. Biological Aspect: Biological aspects are one of the most important aspects of
environmental education. Human being, animals, birds, insects, microorganism,
plants are some of the examples of biological aspects.
2. Physical aspect: It can be further divided into natural aspects and human- made
aspects. Air, water, land, climate etc are included in natural physical aspects.
Likewise, Human made physical aspects cover all human made things such as
roads, buildings, bridges, houses etc.
3. Socio- cultural aspect: Socio- cultural aspects are man-made social practices,
rules and laws, and other religious places etc. Human beings have created them
with their effort. Thus, the environmental education is related with science,
economics, geography, technology, population and health education, etc. It helps
to develop integrated knowledge and feeling of co-operation in the students.
As a result environment education becomes practical and contextual.
Environment education can be implemented through formal and non-formal
educational means. The basic concepts of ecology, natural resources, population
environmental health etc are some of the subject matters in this subject. The
environment education helps students to develop integrated knowledge and
attitude which will be more effective to the society.
 Environmental Education 25
1. Demography: It is the study of population and deals with the measurement and
analysis of birth rate, death rate, migration rate, etc. Birth, death and migration
are the major elements of demography. Population change is a biological
process. Demography includes birth rate, death rate, sex ratio, dependency
ratio, and age- sex pyramid and population growth rate.
2. Determines of population change: Population change in a places takes place
due to birth, death and migration. It also comprises biological, social and
cultural aspects which directly affect the elements of population change. It also
analyzes the factors like poverty, practices which influences population change.
3. Consequences of population growth: Rapid population grow directly affects
economic, social and environmental aspects of a place. The adverse effects of
population growth on people’s health are important parts of population education.
It also deals with analysis of population growth and its consequences in daily life.
4. Human sexuality and reproductive system: It includes the fundamental aspects
of human sexual and reproduction process like sexual behaviors, development
of human reproductive system and associated problems. This scope of
population education helps to develop a positive attitude towards reproductive
health.
5. Planning for the future: It includes various aspects of population management
like appropriate age at marriage and first conception birth spacing, family
planning, family welfare and use of contraceptives. Thus, population education
is important for us to maintain sustainable environment. Population education
helps and enables us to be aware of the process and consequence of population
growth on the quality of our lives and the environment. The child gets an
opportunity to investigate and explore the interaction between the population
and their environments, population characteristics, the meaning, the nature of
process. Population education helps to lift up our quality of life.

1.12 Sum Up
AAThe term environment refers to our surrounding which includes physical,
biological and socio-cultural aspects. The nonliving things like air, water,
land, etc. Come under physical aspects and plants and trees comes under
biological aspects and the man-made aspect like culture, religion, customs,
etc. come under socio cultural aspects.
26 Sri Manakula Vinayagar Publications
AAEnvironmental education is a new area of study which has evolved under the
discipline of education to meet the challenges of environmental crisis. Thus,
environmental education should be seen as a continuous life-long process,
beginning at the pre-school stage level and continuing through all formal and
non-formal stages.
AAEnvironmental Education is the process of recognizing values and clarifying
concepts in order to develop skills and attitudes necessary to understand and
appreciate the inter-relatedness among man, his culture and his biophysical
surroundings. It also entails practice in decision making and self-formulation
of a code of behaviour about problems and issues concerning environmental
quality.
AAEnvironmental Attitude refers to “collection of beliefs, affect, and behavioral
intentions a person holds regarding environmentally related activities or
issues" (Schultz et al., 2005, 458). The beliefs and values of individuals or
societies with respect to nature, ecology, or environmental issues.
AAEcology is a branch of science, including human science, population,
community, ecosystem and biosphere. Ecology is the study of organisms,
the environment and how the organisms interact with each other and their
environment. It is studied at various levels, such as organism, population,
community, biosphere and ecosystem.
AAEcology is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including
humans, and their physical environment; it seeks to understand the vital
connections between plants and animals and the world around them. Ecology
also provides information about the benefits of ecosystems and how we can
use Earth’s resources in ways that leave the environment healthy for future
generations.
AAThe different types of ecology are
1) Global Ecology
2) Landscape Ecology
3) Ecosystem Ecology
4) Community Ecology
5) Population Ecology and
6) Organismal Ecology
 Environmental Education 27
AAEcological intelligence refers to our collective ability to understand the human
impact on ecosystems and to act in ways that improve them. Ecological
Intelligence is a witness to one of today's major issues, which is the basic
disconnect between the human population and the natural environment.
AAEcological sensitivity refers to the ability to detect covariations in the
social environment. Ecological sensitivity can be broadly defined as the
ability to perceive and interpret accurately how individuals, groups, and the
environments they occupy interact with and influence one another.
The following points highlight the five main factors responsible for ecological
imbalance in India. The factors are:
1. Degradation of Land and Soil Erosion
2. Deforestation
3. Faulty Utilisation of Water Resources
4. Environmental Problems from Faulty Mining Practices
5. Industrial and Atmospheric Pollution
AAThe scope of environmental education can be divided into biological,
physical and sociological aspects.

Questions
1. what is the Concept of environment and environment education
2. Explain types of environments
3. Describe about environment awareness and environment attitude
4. Explain ecological intelligence and ecological senstivitiy
5. Discuss about the Focal aspects of environment education
6. Write a short notes on goals of environment education
7. What are the objectivies of environment education?
8. Explain need and importance of environment education
9. what is the scope of environments education? explain it