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Earth System Environmental Literacy

Sustainability Education: Challenges of Integrating Virtual Versus Real Nature in Science Education

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Earth System Monitoring

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Abstract

If every citizen could read the above quote and understand its underlying ecological concepts, economic challenges, social services, and spiritual heritage, then it is likely that sustainability education would be achieved. The notion of a tree and its ecosystem services illustrate sustainability in the simplest yet most robust sense. To plant and grow a tree, economists struggle with volatile currencies; ecologists juggle development and conservation; religious leaders advocate stewardship; and social scientists examine equity in a world of declining resources. Sustainability education requires an integrated approach between ecology, risk analyses, economics, social sciences, biological sciences, political sciences, languages, biotechnology, physical sciences, health sciences, and religion. All these practitioners (and many others) contribute to sustainability education, an emerging discipline that requires an interdisciplinary synthesis of knowledge, translated into practice, to insure the future of life on Earth.

This chapter was originally published as part of the Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology edited by Robert A. Meyers. DOI:10.1007/978-1-4419-0851-3

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Abbreviations

Ecosystem services:

Benefits provided by natural systems that do not necessarily require significant financial maintenance, including water purification, clean air, pollination, soil decomposition, biodiversity, and many others. In accounting, balance sheets often overlook these free services provided by Mother Nature.

Finite resources:

In sustainability education, this involves those natural resources on planet Earth that require careful allocation into the future, such as fresh water, oil, and many others.

NEON:

Acronym for a long-term environmental monitoring program funded by Congress and mandated to include both research and education components, entitled “National Ecological Observatory Network.”

Pedagogy:

The art, science, or profession of teaching and indirectly, the process of implementing assessments or outcomes as part of educational research in order to improve teaching.

STEM:

Acronym describing the major science subjects for education advancement, which include “science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.”

Sustainability:

When a system functions indefinitely with regard to present and future needs, such as when human and natural systems operate indefinitely through careful resource allocation.

Virtual versus real:

In sustainability education, there is an underlying controversy between the importance of tools of teaching: newer techniques involve virtual tools (computers, handheld devices, simulated games, virtual field trips, and videos), whereas more conventional tools include real nature such as field trips, taxonomic collections, and hands-on natural science activities. Ideally, both virtual and real approaches contribute to effective learning.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nature Research Center, NC Museum of Natural Sciences and Professor, North Carolina State University, 11 W. Jones Street, Raleigh, NC, 27601, USA

    Margaret Lowman

  2. TREE Foundation, Sarasota, FL, USA

    Margaret Lowman

Authors
  1. Margaret Lowman
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Scripps Insitution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, Gilman Drive 9500, La Jolla, 92093, California, USA

    John Orcutt

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Lowman, M. (2013). Earth System Environmental Literacy. In: Orcutt, J. (eds) Earth System Monitoring. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5684-1_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5684-1_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-5683-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-5684-1

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