Steve Prorak recently set out to find a good textbook to use in his environmental science classes at Elk Grove High School.
“The only ones I saw were college-level books,” he said. “There really aren’t good ones out there for high school students, especially the lower-level (freshman and sophomore) students. In a lot of cases, the books are out of date too.”
So Prorak continues to rely largely on reprints from magazines-among them Sierra and Audubon-to teach his students. He also uses a series of case-study pamphlets on environmental issues.
His experience is not unusual among Chicago-area teachers of environmental science at the elementary and high school levels. In the absence of up-to-date, comprehensive textbooks, most depend on videos, periodicals, teacher resource guides and class projects to convey environmental lessons to students.
“We have no specific textbook,” said Amy Weiss Narea, principal of La Salle Language Academy on Chicago’s North Side, where the environment is taught as part of an interdisciplinary curriculum to kindergarten through 8th-grade pupils.
“We have materials (furnished by) the board of education, including a teacher resource guide called `50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth.’ We also use periodicals like Weekly Reader and Scholastic Magazine. Like many schools, we’re moving away from textbooks to more current materials.”
At Winkelman School for kindergarten through 5th grades in Glenview, science coordinator Mike McTague has given priority to introducing more environmental science into the curriculum. Although “there are good materials available,” he believes science-including environmental science-should be taught with a hands-on emphasis.
“The textbook should be secondary to the experience,” McTague said, adding that he favors the use of environmental science packages put out by educational-materials producers.
“Some of these packages will include textbooks, some will have reprints, some will have supplies or materials that encourage students to have a hands-on science experience.”
Carol Promisel, who teaches environmental science at Stagg High School in Palos Hills, also places minimal emphasis on textbooks. She prefers alternative teaching tools.
For example, she recently used the video of a PBS television show on hazardous-waste dumping.
“PBS sent me a packet of material, which included the video,” she said. “The packet included a curriculum guide with background information for teachers, a pre-test that could be given to students to open the lesson, and an inventory that kids could use to look at their garage or shed for toxic trash.
“This inventory led to a class brainstorming session on how to dispose of the trash they found. One of the ideas was donating old paint to charitable organizations.”
In examining educational materials, however, some teachers have noted a bias.
Promisel cites the video of a recent television show about the destruction of the South American rain forests. “Like most of the materials I’ve seen, it was biased toward environmental interests. After I showed my students the video, they asked, `Why can’t (the United States) go in and stop them from burning the rain forests?’
“It was up to me to give the other viewpoint, to explain the crowding and other reasons people are burning the rain forests.”
McTague receives free educational materials several times a year from environmental groups and corporations, which often have opposing interests. The materials clearly show those interests, he said.
Prorak also has seen a bias in some of the materials he has introduced to students, including the magazines of some environmental organizations. “That makes it hard for students to get an in-depth look at the issues,” he said.
“One magazine that is good is Audubon. They often hire writers from both sides of the fence and provide both viewpoints.
“An example is a recent piece they did on the forests of California, Oregon and Washington. They looked at the (logging) controversy from both the perspectives of the loggers and those wanting to protect the northern spotted owl.”
While the scientific accuracy of his lessons is important to him, teaching facts is only one goal. Like most teachers of environmental science, he is trying to change values and attitudes, he said.
“One of the things that’s frustrating is that I don’t see students changing their lifestyles enough. For example, students say they recycle, but there’s evidence around school that they don’t.”
The state mandates only that every public school teach preservation of natural resources, said Kim Knauer, a spokeswoman for the Illinois State Board of Education.
Nevertheless, environmental courses are becoming more popular, educators said. Prorak said that the number of classes in environmental science at Elk Grove have been increased to four from two this year. One of the reasons for the increase is the popularity of the classes.
“The class isn’t a college-prep class, it’s an elective class,” said junior Karen Shallcross, 16, who is president of Green Grens, the school’s environmental club. “A lot of students interested in taking electives have that class on their lists.”
Joe Di Silvio, 17, a senior at Elk Grove, likes the class because it takes environmental studies beyond recycling. “We’re learning about endangered species, for example. Most people who take the class really like it.”
Narea also reports high interest in environmental topics, particularly among junior high pupils. “Interest in the environment is something of a hallmark of today’s junior high students. It cuts across gender, racial and economic boundaries.”
At Stagg, where environmental science also is an elective course, interest keeps growing. Promisel said the class is so popular that this fall there was a list of about 25 students waiting to take it. Another class will be added second semester.
Promisel believes she understands the appeal: “I encourage students to voice their opinions and give factual reasons for those opinions. The issues we talk about don’t have one correct answer. The kids love that.”
One of those students is Kelly Mahoney, 16, a junior. “I like learning more about the environment and how to keep it from being ruined. Right now we’re learning about saving the rain forests. We also learned about toxic wastes.
“Reports are a big part of the class. Students are asked to look up articles on the environment in periodicals and write up reports.”
In some Chicago elementary schools, environmental science has been given a boost by a program called Ecological Citizenship, which was developed by the Chicago Academy of Sciences and funded last year by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
The program’s objectives were to make teachers more knowledgeable and thereby increase students’ knowledge and promote their responsible environmental behavior, said Mary Pat Mauro, an academy spokeswoman.
Popularly known as Eco-Cit, the program sent teams of teachers employed by the academy into several schools in a given community. The program was introduced last year into five Near West Side elementary schools, Mauro said.
The team worked first with teachers, giving them an introductory workshop on the curriculum and furnishing materials and supplies that they would require for the year. The teachers then taught classes on the environment, with one lesson in each unit taught by the Eco-Cit team.
“At the same time, the Eco-Cit team worked with the principals, local school councils and parents,” Mauro said. “We had parent workshops that showed parents how to work with their kids on science fair projects. Getting the parents on board was important in getting the community involved.”
The program is seeking funding to work this year with schools feeding into Amundsen High School on the North Side.
“The long-term goal is to not only deliver the service to Chicago, but nationally,” Mauro said. “Through Eco-Cit, we want to create environmentally-responsible citizens.”
