What concepts are you going to learn, or skills are you going to develop?
How will you learn the content/ develop the skill?
What evidence will you add to the portfolio to demonstrate your learning?
How will you and I assess the evidence of your learning/skills?
(20%) Based on (C12) Works independently toward goals by contributing and meeting deadlines
Prepare for class discussions and outside reading Communicate with the class
Readings Drafts from group activities Annotations from articles my 10 Eportfolio
Attend and actively participate in at least 90% of class sessions Complete weekly work on time and answer questions fully Prepared for 90% of class sessions. Perform “Excellent” work according to the class
(20%) Based on (6B) Demonstrates sophisticated understanding of the complexity of elements essential to members of another culture in relation to history, values, politics, communication styles, economy, or beliefs and practices
Collaborate with the research group to develop a research question/ hypothesis Analyze various sources of evidence for the research report Work with SIUE resources to format references See all points of view before writing
Perform “Excellent” on the assignments for the research report (e.g., annotated bibliography) Show through work many views and understanding from all people
(20%) Based on (5A) Defines the scope of research questions effectively and selects information cogently to address them.
• Further research on a topic we are learning from, and better understand the information, and explain.
Biomes and food webs Scientist spotlight 2 10 research paper citations Draft outline
• Achieve a high understanding of the topic for the work and final project
(20%) Based on (3B) Recognizes multilayered ethical issues and the cross-relationships among them.
Class lectures and work to learn how to analyze data Analyze various sources of data for the research report
• I will use the assignments from speciation and biodiversity Jigsaw Experimental design draft Project
• I will show my understanding through the work that I write, which relates to each other.
(20%) Based on(1B) Connects and extends knowledge from academic study to civic engagement.
• I will learn from the teacher and work on the research that we do throughout the semester
Class participation Writing paper Jigsaw prep • reading reflections
• Show the evidence that I found and how I used it in an outside activity or program, and what I learned from it
Answer the following questions below for each of the 10 sources of evidence you gather.
Research Question:
Review Paper 1
Team member evaluation: Alexandra
Citation for the article
Ardoin, N. M., & Bowers, A. W. (2020). Early childhood environmental education: A systematic review of the research literature. Educational Research Review, 31, 100353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2020.100353
1-paragraph summary:
The article presents research on teaching young children aged 0-8, aiming to understand how it aids their environmental and natural knowledge. Through their study, they found that nature has a significant impact on kids’ lives when they spend time outside. They also found that different approaches to teaching in programs that are more fun and interactive help kids learn better and make it easier for teachers to manage the classroom. The organization conducted research across 66 studies to gain a deeper understanding of effective methods for teaching young children about environmental education. Overall, they conducted extensive research on classroom programs that were more teacher-led and student-focused. They found a positive impact from programs in many areas, such as environmental literacy, social and emotional growth, and physical development.
What information does this source contribute to your research question?
The program’s research revealed numerous benefits to early age education, including improved language and literacy skills, as well as more environmentally responsible behavior in the future.
How does the source relate to other sources in your bibliography?
Many of the sources I have found indicate a positive impact from incorporating environmental education in schools or after-school programs. They also highlight the benefits for the environment’s future and explain why teaching them at a young age can significantly impact the world’s well-being.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the source?
The article had excellent sources, but it had some limitations. Specifically, it focused more on certain aspects, which meant other topics were not explored as thoroughly. Additionally, some of the sources were of limited age. The article focuses on their research in the age range of 4-6, although it also discusses infants aged 8 years old.
How does the source fit into your research topic? Why is it useful?
This source fits into our research topic because it also looks into different ways in teaching young kids about the environment and why it has so many future impacts on their lives and all of the world, from building habits and growing their language and communication to problem-solving.
Review Paper 2
Team member evaluation: Payton
Citation for the article:
Kumar, Ashok. “Promoting Youth Involvement in Environmental Sustainability for a Sustainable Future.” Edumania-an International Multidisciplinary Journal, vol. 01, no. 03, 5 Oct. 2023, pp. 261–278, https://doi.org/10.59231/edumania/9012.
1-paragraph summary:
The purpose of this article is to examine how the youth can engage in their community regarding environmental sustainability. There are arguments made that challenge whether or not the youth is most engaged via empathy and critical thinking skills. The authors note many sources to back up their claim that the youth is our future and need to be educated on environmental sustainability. Social media is one way to promote education in this area. There are several action plans that the authors list. These include early education, raising awareness, finding solutions, reaching out to their community, leadership opportunities, and the barriers of their actions. They then encourage the youth to look into a set of activities that can promote further education. They conclude this review paper with the benefits that this gives the youth such as empowerment, energy, creativity, and passion.
What information does this source contribute to your research question?
This source contributes to our research question because it backs up our hypothesis that the youth needs environmental education to increase passion for urgent problems in their communities.
How does the source relate to other sources in your bibliography?
This source is related to other sources in our bibliography because it gathers many opinions, whereas some of the other sources focus on raw data and scores. We can incorporate both opinions and raw data to draw conclusions that ultimately support our hypothesis.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the source?
This source does a great job of outlining benefits and goals for the youth regarding environmental sustainability education however it lacks data. We want numbers to definitively establish that environmental education makes a difference. I feel empowered after just reading this source and it encourages programs such as the CODES program. I wish it would touch on how exactly to get the youth involved instead of outlining the benefits.
How does the source fit into your research topic? Why is it useful?
This source fits into our research topic because it credits many sources that agree with their claims. It is useful because we can gather all of these listed benefits as data. It supports our hypothesis.
Research Paper 1
Team member evaluation: Payton
Citation for the article:
Trott, Carlie D, et al. “Civic Science Education for Youth-Driven Water Security: A Behavioral Development Approach to Strengthening Climate Resilience.” International Journal of Behavioral Development, vol. 48, no. 2, 29 July 2023, pp. 145–155, https://doi.org/10.1177/01650254231188661.
1-paragraph summary:
Climate change along with poverty are big issues in Haiti. Studies have shown that young people are especially distressed about this issue. One group of students took an integrated art-science educational programming course, where students ages 8-18 “used water testing and digital photography to collect, analyze, and share local information on water quality, pollution, and deforestation, while advocating for change through community events and short documentary films to disseminate findings and raise community awareness (Trott et al., 2020a)”. After the program, interviews showed that this program empowered the kids. This program teaches kids how to be engaged in their community while learning about climate change.
What information does this source contribute to your research question?
This source contributes to our research question by showing that there are curricula that can help kids want to make a difference in their community. These students relate a wicked problem back to their community, like we are doing in the CODES program. In theory, this will raise the new generation to be passionate about activism and drive society in an exponential direction.
How does the source relate to other sources in your bibliography?
This source relates to other sources in our bibliography because it supports our hypothesis that if students receive environmental education from an early age, it will impact their involvement in their community.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the source?
This source is strong in data and methods. Their methods were clearly outlined and conclusions were clearly drawn. The weaknesses in this source for our use is the fact that this study took place in Haiti. We would need to alter their community issues to ones similar in our community.
How does the source fit into your research topic? Why is it useful?
This source fits into our research topic and is useful because it is very similar to what we are doing in the CODES program. Instead of CODES being introduced in college, kids ages 8-18 are exposed to this curriculum. They even share their results on digital platforms like we do.
Research Paper 2
Team member evaluation: Payton
Citation for the article:
Goldfeld, Sharon, et al. “Findings from the Kids in Communities Study (KiCS): A Mixed Methods Study Examining Community-Level Influences on Early Childhood Development.” PLOS ONE, vol. 16, no. 9, 1 Sept. 2021, p. e0256431, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256431.
1-paragraph summary:
This article talks about a curriculum: “Kids in Communities Study (KiCS)” where they interview, survey, and analyze the community. They talk about how different demographics of children can have different levels of involvement in their communities. They also examine how different communities contribute to the willingness to be involved in their communities. They conclude by addressing that early life experiences are essential to kids’ development.
What information does this source contribute to your research question?
This contributes to our research question because it shows how kids can engage in their community and ultimately make a difference. This supports our research question because it acknowledges that kids need to be taught how to be involved in their community rather than it being something they can just pick up.
How does the source relate to other sources in your bibliography?
This source relates to other sources in our bibliography because it analyses communities that are implementing community education in their youth.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the source?
This source is strong in their methods. They use mixed methods to get an overall feel of the question they were asking. Another strength of this article is their use of figures and tables. They present their data in a way that is easy for readers to digest. This source will need to be further analyzed because it takes place in Australia, so their sense of community is different from ours here. There is not conversation about environmental education in this article, but instead community education.
How does the source fit into your research topic? Why is it useful?
This source fits into our research topic and is useful because it measures the amount of community involvement children have and how it can improve. The whole point of introducing community education to the youth is so that they can connect what they learn back to their community and make a difference.
Research Paper 3
Team member evaluation: Tamiria Dixon
Citation for the article:Reckner, Michelle, et al. “Impact of Youth Education on Green Stormwater Infrastructure Recommendations to Increase Equity and Resilience in Marginalized Communities.” Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, vol. 150, no. 9, Sept. 2024, https://doi.org/10.1061/jwrmd5.wreng-6315.
1-paragraph summary:
Professors Reckner and Tien conduct a qualitative analysis on youth engagement regarding stormwater infrastructure planning. Specifically, professors investigate potential factors relating to the Youth Advocacy for Resilience to Disasters Program. It can be said that the purpose of this data is to critically understand youth perspectives when it comes to dealing with stormwater infrastructure problems. The program highlights that student advocacy has increased due to the program’s occurrence. Ultimately the professors argue that youth contribute to society based off pre-conceptions.
What information does this source contribute to your research question?
How does the source relate to other sources in your bibliography?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the source?
How does the source fit into your research topic? Why is it useful?
Research Paper 4
Team member evaluation: Alexandra
Citation for the article:
Kumari, S., & Nayak, M. (2024). Impact of educational interventions on early adolescents’ attitudes and behaviors toward water conservation: A systematic review. Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research, 11(12). https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2412467.pdf
1-paragraph summary:
This article explores research on education methods for teaching adolescents aged 10 through 14. They saw these age groups as a significant time in kids’ lives to start making environmental habits. From their research, they found that some methods work better. Some of them were interactive methods, and an urban focus. Kids have to use hands-on activities and learn about areas where water is more limited. The research revealed limitations, including long-term impacts related to behaviors. Through their research, they also found out that girls have a faster response than boys, and most often, a positive one too.
What information does this source contribute to your research question?
Some of the sources that contribute to our research were experiential learning or what we saw as interactive learning. They observed various teaching methods, ranging from classroom learning to community programs and interactive learning, similar to our research team’s findings.
How does the source relate to other sources in your bibliography?
The source relates to some of the research I looked at in urban areas and how teaching in areas where access to water is limited helps kids become connected to building sustainable practices.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the source?
This source focuses on older kids, which I haven’t seen before. The ages they research are 10-14-year-olds. They examined many studies, focusing on only 25, which is a good approach; however, I believe this represents a small sample of the 150 studies they reviewed.
How does the source fit into your research topic? Why is it useful?
Once again, they fit our research topic in a different way than the other as it is my first source to look into adolescents and shows good strength in their research in areas like practical implications and connection with educators, and trying to encourage community unity for greater impact.
In this article professors Praveena and Themudu, both strive to assess the knowledge of primary school students in Malaysia. Within this study associated examiners utilized a survey questionnaire to investigate the attitudes, knowledge, and beliefs with water conservation awareness. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that there are many misconceptions when it comes to the knowledge and beliefs of these practices. It’s also important to note that scientists correlate that demographic factors could also play a vital role when describing this phenomenon. In conclusion, professors, Pravenna and Themudu effectively, analyze the behaviors of primary school children while providing solutions for educators.
What information does this source contribute to your research question?
It provides a framework for the attitudes, beliefs and knowledge in a perspective that isn’t western.
How does the source relate to other sources in your bibliography?
It utilizes methodological approaches, similar to the other articles being examined. Also, this essay’s main focus is on primary and school children. With that, most of the findings are both quantitative and qualitative which demonstrate the mixed method approach.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the source?
There are many strengths and weaknesses of this source, generality, logical, critical, and lack of observation of behavior. More specifically, generality and lack of observation were some of the main weaknesses. I say this because both ultimately influenced the collection of results. With that being said, the generality of the experiment demonstrated that culture wasn’t a finding that was primarily focused on. Furthermore, it seems as if the professors could do a better job with incorporating an understanding of culture.
How does the source fit into your research topic? Why is it useful?
This fits into my research topic because it is relevant to what we are trying to investigate. Also, the pdf helps to further understand this question when it comes to other cultures.
Research Paper 6
What information does this source contribute to your research question?
This research paper contributes a civic engagement piece to our thesis.
How does the source relate to other sources in your bibliography?
This source relates to other sources in our bibliography because it shares the common theme of youth engagement. Both professors critically emphasize how youth engagement could result in finding solutions for the community.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the source?
There are both many strengths and weaknesses that come with this source, specifically, it provides both quantitative and qualitative data.
How does the source fit into your research topic? Why is it useful?
This source fits my research topic in many different ways regarding the way it is transcribed. The article is useful to me because it can be used to demonstrate the impact youth civic engagement has on students. With that also being said, it can promote the idea behind why local school districts should implement water education.
Science Communication Paper 1
Team member evaluation: Alexandra
Citation for the article
Miller, M. G., Davis, J. M., Boyd, W., & Danby, S. Learning about and Taking Action for the Environment: Child and Teacher Experiences in a Preschool Water Education Program. Children, Youth and Environments, 24(3), 43-57. https://doi.org/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.24.3.0043
1-paragraph summary:
This article focuses on the water education preschool. They had three different preschools in the project Water Aware Century Program. The program did many kinds of research with kids and teachers..
What information does this source contribute to your research question?
How does the source relate to other sources in your bibliography?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the source?
How does the source fit into your research topic? Why is it useful?`
Science Communication Paper 2
Team member evaluation: Alexandra
Citation for the article:
Alternative Development Initiatives. (2024, June 5). Youth engagement in water
Conservation: Educating and empowering the next generation. ADI Interternation.
This article focuses on the importance of educating kids at a young age to make a significant and better impact on the world, especially on the environment. As kids are young, full of the desire to learn, they have the greatest potential to empower change for the greater good of the well-being of the world.
What information does this source contribute to your research question?
The article gives many different approaches to educating children, from building programs and activities to telling us why it is essential to educate students at a young age.
How does the source relate to other sources in your bibliography?
The source relates to many sources which aim to address water challenges and environmental knowledge and the importance of sustainability in habits in kids at a young age.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the source?
Some of the weaknesses or challenges that the organization faces are funding and support from educators and the community..
How does the source fit into your research topic? Why is it useful?
This source aligns with my research as it is an organization with a goal similar to ours, and they, too, recognize the challenges associated with incorporating water conservation and sustainability into young children and schools. The article breaks down the concept into parts, making it easier to understand why it’s essential for young kids and the future. We, as a group, also see the potential of kids and sustainability to make a difference for our future.
Group #9 Name: Alexandra Guerrero, Tamiria Dixon, Payton Plummer
Project Idea Draft Title:
The effects of elementary environmental education on student retention and community involvement.
Research Question: (stated as a testable question)
How do the benefits of teaching environmental education from a young age improve sustainable practices in the kids’ home/community?
Hypotheses: (stated as mutually exclusive answers to your research question)
Alternative Hypothesis:
If children receive environmental education from a young age, then they will be more inclined to apply sustainable practices in their homes and communities, because early exposure increases awareness, information retention, and long-term habits.
Null Hypothesis:
Teaching environmental education from a young age has no effect on sustainability improvements in children’s homes or communities.
Prediction: (stated as a range of expected results will lead you to reject or accept the stated or null hypotheses)
Children who receive environmental education from an early age will express water conservation, deeper community involvement, and better recycling habits compared to the children who did not receive this education as well as eventually influencing communities in these practices.
Evidence: (Rationale of your hypotheses based on peer-reviewed scientific literature and science news on your topic)
Review Articles: (list the citation and what it says about your topic)
This article focuses on studies conducted over many years to examine the impact of educating children about the environment at a young age. They had many positive outcomes that relate to what we hope can happen when integrating interactive water conservation activities into JJKfan. They have teaching strategies that we are also interested in using, such as kids spending time outside with nature, engaging in creative art activities, and taking action and advocating for change.
Ardoin, N. M., & Bowers, A. W. (2020). Early childhood environmental education: A systematic review of the research literature. Educational Research Review, 31, 100353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2020.100353
Research Articles: (list the citation and what it says about your topic)
This research was done in a preschool. I found it interesting that the different methods they use to improve. We can use many of their examples to help our project. The methods are surveys on educators, specifically early childhood, interviews with program designers, talking to the kids from the program to see what they think, could really help our project. Teaching the kids through programs at an early age can help us better understand the behavior and actions of the kids and their possible future actions in water conservation.
Miller, M. G., Davis, J. M., Boyd, W., & Danby, S. Learning about and Taking Action for the Environment: Child and Teacher Experiences in a Preschool Water Education Program. Children, Youth and Environments, 24(3), 43-57. https://doi.org/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.24.3.0043
SciComm Articles: (list the citation and what it says about your topic)
This article highlights the significance of education in water conservation from a young age. It informs us of challenges that come with programs, such as a lack of mentorship, funding, and teaching methods and materials. They discuss its importance in interactive activities, which help make habits or practices, just like what we discuss in our project.
Alternative Development Initiatives. (2024, June 5). Youth engagement in water
Conservation: Educating and empowering the next generation. ADI Interternation.
Proposed Experiment: (Experimental Design of your research project)
Independent Variables: what treatment or comparison groups or what factors will you modify
– Received environmental education from an early age
– Did not receive environmental education from an early age
– Received environmental education in later years
Dependent Variable: what will you measure
– Environmental education retention (this could be test scores)
– Amount of involvement in the community
– Water conservation habits
Control Variables: what will hold constant between treatments
– Age (elementary to middle school children)
– Location (North America)
Procedures: what you will do, how, how much, how often, how long, when
A few months, once a week for about an hour long.
Constructed Figure(s): graphic representation of the proposed results of data that supports your proposed hypothesis/research question. (hint: it’s based on your Prediction Statement
1) What was most interesting to you in reviewing these resources?
What I found particularly interesting was the discovery that only 14 percent of songbirds maintain the same partner and reproduce. And the others have babies with more than one partner.
2) What did you learn from these resources about animal behavior?
There needs to be more research in animal behavior, and monogamy is very different in birds than we thought. Dr. Lee explains social monogamy in birds, which is not just because a couple of birds share and care for their babies, mains there are from the same father. There could be many reasons why the female bird has more than one partners, but it is still a question to see in detail why that happens.
3) What do these resources tell you about the types of people that do science?
Not every science does research the same way; some work outside directly with animals and others in labs, but having more exposure to what they study or research helps build a better understanding and direct records of your research. Changing the way you teach science and using music, such as in hip-hop, can be fun and help students better understand the information.
4) What new questions do you have about animal behavior after reviewing these resources?
Some of the questions I now have are, what really makes rodents different in surviving in various locations, and are there safe ways to help reduce their population without affecting other animals? And does their way of thinking change in rodents based on their exposure to different access to food?
Yolanda, G., Angel, M., & Alberto, C. (2022). Water Conservation Education in Elementary Schools: The Case of the Nenetzingo River Catchment, Mexico. Sustainability, 14(4), 2402. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14042402
Title: youth engagement in water conservation: educating and empowering the next generation
Kumari, S., & Nayak, M. (2024). Impact of educational interventions on early adolescents’ attitudes and behaviors toward water conservation: A systematic review. Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research, 11(12). https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2412467.pdf
Title:Does environmental education benefit environmental outcomes in children and adolescents? A meta analysis
Van de Wetering, J., Leijten, P., Spitzer, J., & Thomaes, S. (2022). Does environmental education benefit environmental outcomes in children and adolescents? A meta-analysis. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 81, 101782. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101782
Title: The strategic role of conservation education in efforts to improve biodiversity literacy: a systematic review
Fajri, S. R., Citrawathi, D. M., Adnyana, P. B., Arnyana, I. B. P., Sarnita, F., Fajri, N., & Fitriani, H. (2025). The strategic role of conservation education in efforts to improve biodiversity literacy: A systematic review. Turkish Journal of Education, 20(3), Article EJ1478575. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1478575.pdf
7. Title: Conservation and environment education: A narrative literature review
Miller, M. G., Davis, J. M., Boyd, W., & Danby, S. Learning about and Taking Action for the Environment: Child and Teacher Experiences in a Preschool Water Education Program. Children, Youth and Environments, 24(3), 43-57. https://doi.org/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.24.3.0043
10. Title: Early childhood environmental education: A systematic review of the research literature
Ardoin, N. M., & Bowers, A. W. (2020). Early childhood environmental education: A systematic review of the research literature. Educational Research Review, 31, 100353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2020.100353
Article Title: Biodiversity conservation as promising frontier for behavioral science
Name: Abril A Guerrero .
What is the purpose/goal of this study?
The article shows the biodiversity crisis made by humans and how that is heading us to our extension if we don’t change the ways we are.
The goal of this article is to inform the public about the biodiversity crisis. They want to help the public have a better understanding of behavior and human actions. They also look to find more connections or collaboration within scientists and the public like communities to help make changes, to save the world from an extension
Why is this issue significant/why do we care?
The issue is very concerning as it involves us and is going to affect our everyday life if we don’t take steps to change and put the planet first instead of us. Biodiversity is falling and it has to do with us human behavior as we are a big part of the cause. We do thing but don’t concede the after math is somethings are already unreversible.
What words/vocab do you need to know to make this make sense? Define them here.
Humankind – the human race
Biodiversity – is all the different life in the world and their habitat
Climate change – changes in the atmospheric carbon and patterns in our climate
Invasive species – to may of a species that make a negative impact in an environment
Human behavior – is the human’s behavior during their life that includes physical, mental and social.
What approach are they taking in this study (e.g., specific qualitative or quantitative methods)
Qualitive methods
Interpretive analysis – philosophical and sociological perspectives
Quantitative data – show percentages of, wetland, land altered, decline in vertebrate
Conceptual mapping – used in figure 1 break down how thing are connected and how our behavior can support positive outcomes.
What are the results of the study? If there are figures – write a sentence summarizing each figure/table.
In the first figure it talks about cattle pasture in the amazon. As a result of cattle ranching there has been a loss in forest. It can be said that by human decisions we could have made better choices and now there are consequences and changes to be made. Figure 2 is more in the classification of actors, and how some are affected more than others, but they are all in effect in some way at the end. Not all the actors hold the same power, but they all have way for improving and their behavior.
Does the data make sense based on your experiences?
After rereading the article and having a better look at the charts I have a better understanding have what they were trying to explain in them. I can see that in the charts and in the public eye we sometimes come and argue with companies about their actions and pollution to our world but from the charts it looks like we as citizens need to make a lot of changes in our everyday lives to for the better of the world.
How is this pushing the field forward and helping society?
This article punishes the public by seeing that we need to make changes now. We have ways to improve our human behavior and choice we made. That includes everything from community to government and individuals.
Group#9 Alexandra Guerrero, Payton Plummer, Tamiria Dixon
General Project Theme:
Water conservation education
Project Idea 1:
Our project idea is to incorporate water conservation in school education in a different way. Some ideas we have include experiments, lessons, or school habits related to water sustainability.
Proposed Research Question: (stated as a testable question)
How can schools develop water conservation programs that lead to improvement and
raise public awareness of environmental impacts?
What is the relationship between x and y
Proposed Hypotheses: (stated as mutually exclusive answers to your research question)
If school districts implement water conservation programs that aim to enhance learning for K-8 students, then students will gain a strong understanding of the principles of water sustainability while contributing to their communities.
Found Review Articles: (list the citation and what it says about your topic)
EL-Nasany, Rabab I, Ibrahim Maarouf, and Waled Abd el-Aal. “Water Management as a Vital Factor for a Sustainable School.” Alexandria engineering journal 58.1 (2019): 303–313. Web.
This article discusses the importance of water sustainability in schools. With that, they demonstrate that there are numerous benefits to water and the economy, including saving water and money, as well as additional opportunities for education. The information discussed in this article relates to our topic, illustrating how water conservation and sustainability benefit schools more than we might think.
Found Research Articles: (list the citation and what it says about your topic)
Melinda G. Miller, et al. “Learning about and Taking Action for the Environment: Child and Teacher Experiences in a Preschool Water Education Program.” Children, Youth and Environments, vol. 24, no. 3, 2014, pp. 43–57. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.24.3.0043. Accessed 6 Sept. 2025.
This article was more focused on our topic and research on taking action and determining what works when it comes to curriculum for kids that teachers, students, and parents can learn from. They saw that teaching students about conservation had a positive impact on adults because the kids showed their practices to adults.
Found SciComm Articles: (list the citation and what it says about your topic)
Bodas, A., Chlebuch, N., & Weisberg, D. S. (2025). Water woes: The effects of children’s science media on conservation knowledge, self-efficacy, and environmental worry in the United States of America. Journal of Children and Media, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2025.2472666
This article employs various methods that could aid us in our research topic of finding ways to create fun and educational experiences. Some of the techniques they use include interviews with teachers, observation of school facilities, small-group discussions, and tracking of student behavior. We could utilize this in our overall project to gain a better understanding of water conservation and education systems.
General Project Theme:
Water conservation education
Project Idea 2:
For our project idea
For our project idea, we want to find or modify education lessons on water conservation and why it’s essential for us to have knowledge on taking care of what we have, being grateful, and finding ways in our everyday lives to be sustainable.
Proposed Research Question: (stated as a testable question)
What are the benefits of teaching environmental education from a young age, and how does that improve sustainable practices in the kids’ homes?
Proposed Hypotheses: (stated as mutually exclusive answers to your research question)
If students are taught environmental education from a young age, then they will bring that knowledge into their community to make a difference.
Hove J, D’Ambruoso L, Mabetha D, Merwe MVD, Byass P, Kahn K, et al. ‘Water is life’: developing community participation for clean water in rural South Africa. BMJ Global Health. 2019;4:e001377. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2018-001377
This addresses the poor water quality and flooding that we can relate back to our community. In our research team, we are talking with Zach, an educator from JJK, who expresses the importance of community in youth education.
Found Research Articles: (list the citation and what it says about your topic)
Sarva Mangala Praveena (2022) Exploring Water Conservation Awareness Level Among Primary School Children From Melaka (Malaysia, Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/79571304/Exploring_Water_Conservation_Awareness_Level_Among_Primary_School_Children_From_Melaka_Malaysia (Accessed: 6 September 2025).
This tells us what topics could be integrated into schools to influence them to participate in better water practices.
Oana, I., Claudia, T., Panainte-Lehadus Mirela, Dana, C., Florin, N., Narcis, B., . . . Diana, M. (2025). Understanding primary school students’ knowledge and attitudes towards water management: Insights from environmental education. Societies, 15(4), 109. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/soc15040109
This article effectively explains the attitudes and knowledge that urban students in Romania have regarding water sustainability. It can be said that this experiment works to investigate the level of knowledge and behaviors of students as it pertains to water education. From reading the results, the professors used statistics to prove how much students improved after the implementation of the program. One of the main factors was curriculum changes,which were found through the research method of a survey. Surveys were a vital part of this research because they helped assess the student’s applications on concepts as far as understanding water sustainability practices.
In this article the state of California is working to implement a water education program through the North American Association for Environmental Education. Since California experiences many environmental disasters, such as droughts, educators believe that it’s imperative to provide students with knowledge regarding water sustainability. The program utilizes organizations such as the WestEd K-12 alliance to develop a system that involves STEM related activities. More specifically, the program’s duration will be divided up by 4-8 weeks as it provides students with the opportunity to engage in engineering and research oriented activities. Ultimately, it can be said this study demonstrates the impact of water sustainability education as it regards the environmental challenges that the state of California faces.
