Ann. Rep. Env. Edu. MUE. Vol.5 No.2, 2003

Environmental Education in Wisconsin:
A Teacher Education Approach
Randy Champeau* and Jennie Lane**Jennie Lane

Introduction
Thank you for the opportunity to visit your beautiful country. You are such a great nation. I am very
excited about visiting with your people and learning about environmental education in your country. There isso much in Japan to see and learn about.
In the United States (U.S.), I work in the Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education located at
UWSP in the College of Natural Resources is one of the oldest university natural resources programs in
the U.S.A. It is over 100 years old. Presently, 2000 students have major areas of study in ecology, wildlife,
forestry, soils, water resources, land use planning, and environmental education.
Dr. Randy Champeau, the director of the Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education, was invited toattend this symposium, but prior obligations restricted him from attending. He approached me and asked me
to present in his stead. I was very honored to be selected as Dr. Champeau’s substitute. I have been with the
WCEE since it began in 1990, I have a Master’s degree in Environmental Education, and I direct a program
within the Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education, called KEEP or the Wisconsin K-12 Energy
Education Program.
In this paper, I will provide an overview of the Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education andhow, through our teacher education approach, we see to improve and increase the environmental literacyof Wisconsin citizens. The Wisconsin program is considered to be one of the more advanced statewide
environmental education programs in the U.S.A.

I. History or Rationale for Establishing Environmental Education
The history or evolution of environmental education in Wisconsin is similar to other states and the
U.S.A. as a nation. In the 1600-1900s, most education or activity related to the environment was directed
at developing, harvesting, or extracting natural resources from the environment for human use. Natural
resources were viewed as abundant and even endless in supply. Our agriculture practices did not consider
how soil fertility could be depleted. We harvested wildlife and fish with no concern for the ability of these
species to reproduce. We dumped waste into the air, on to the lands, and into our lakes rivers, and streams* Director of the Wisconsin K-12 Energy Education Program Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education, U.S.A** Associate Dean of the College of Natural Resources at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, & Director of the Wisconsin Center for
Environmental Education, U.S.A－47 －without knowing these wastes would degrade the environment, kill other species, and ultimately, have anegative impact on human health and the quality of life.
In the late 1800’s and on to today, we began to see the impact of past approaches to resource use. Speciesof wildlife and fish were disappearing. Air and water resources were identified as polluted or unfit for humans
or other species. One major crisis, which swept across the U.S. in the 1930s, was the massive erosion of our
fertile soils by wind and water as a result of poor agricultural practices. Farmers were losing soil - the natural
resources that provided them with the basic needs to sustain their lives. This period of massive erosion is now
identified in our history books as the Dust Bowl Era. In addition to depleting our soils, we had over harvested
many of our forests. People were depleting the wealth of the land.
The general public was less aware of the large picture related to our declining natural resource base, butthere were scientists, politicians, and business people who had the foresight to understand that this abuse of
our natural environment could not continue because it would lead to a decline or even collapse of our economic
system. They understood that natural resources or the environment is the basis of any country’s economic
prosperity and it contributes directly to the physical and spiritual health of a nation.
A noted early U.S. philosopher was John Muir (late 1800s), who taught that the environment waspart of our spiritual well being. He ultimately founded the Sierra Club, which is very influential citizen
environmental organization in the U.S. Theodore Roosevelt, one of our early presidents (1901-1909) iscredited with establishing a national policy of “Environmental Conservation” meaning we must use ourresources “wisely” or conserve them so that present and future generations will have them to support their
quality of life.
Another influential scientist/philosopher/teacher in the mid 1900s was Aldo Leopold, a former professor
at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He proposed and taught a concept called the “Land Ethic,” whichstressed the fact that people are part of the environment and not separate from it. The following is a famous
quote from Leopold.
The question is, does the educated citizen know he is only a cog in an ecological mechanism?
That if he will work with that mechanism his mental wealth and his material wealth can
expand indefinitely? But that if he refuses to work with it, it will ultimately grind him todust? If education does not teach us these things, then what is education for? (p. 210)
The teachings and policy positions of these historical leaders and others like them ultimately led tothe acceptance by the public of the environment as an important part of public policy. In the 1970s, theU.S. experienced the passage, by our government, of many environmental laws and educational programs
aimed at protecting the environment. The passage of this environmental legislation is now recognized in our
history books as a major social movement. Today the debate does not question the need for protecting theenvironment, but rather to what degree do we protect it. Sustainability has become the goal of environmental－48 －Ann. Rep. Env. Edu. MUE. Vol.5 No.2, 2003

protection today in the U.S.A. That is, developing social systems that function while minimizing negative
impact on the environment and protecting it for the long term. By sustaining quality of the naturalenvironment, we will contribute to the long-term sustainability of our economy.

II. Development of EE in Wisconsin
Environmental education (EE) in Wisconsin’s schools clearly was established as a response to the growing
awareness of environmental problems. It grew out of and ultimately includes three earlier education efforts
or movements. The first approach in the schools to EE was nature study (1500-present). This focused on
studying the natural history of plants and animals out of interest appreciation and to determine utility forhuman use. The next contributor to EE is “Conservation Education” which developed in the early 1900s.
Classes in Wisconsin schools were developed to educate students about wise natural resource management
practices; for example, agriculture practices that minimize erosion of soil by wind and water. Conservation
was taught mostly in specific courses for students that might be interested in fields like agriculture orforestry. In the 1950s to present, ecology became an important area of study within our science classrooms.
Ecology is the study of how energy flows through and matter cycles within natural systems or ecosystems. In
other words, how ecosystems work.
The process of environmental education evolved to include the concepts of nature study, conservation
education, and ecology. However, it places an additional emphasis on involvement of each citizen inpreventing and solving environmental issues. Wisconsin’s definition of environmental education is as follows:“A lifelong learning process that leads to an informed and involved citizenry having
the creative problem-solving skills, scientific and social literacy, ethical awareness andsensitivity for the relationship between humans and the environment, and commitment
to engage in responsible individual and cooperative actions. By these actions,environmentally literate citizens will help ensure an ecologically and economicallysustainable environment.”

III. The Implementation of Environmental Education in Wisconsin Schools
Environmental education was formally established in Wisconsin through two pieces of legislation passedby the state government in 1985.
One piece of legislation or law requires that students studying to be teachers must receive formal
university course work in environmental education. The other piece of legislation requires that all 400 school
districts in Wisconsin develop curriculum for students that addresses environmental education. Each of theselaws is more fully explained below.

Teacher Training Requirement
To become a teacher in Wisconsin, a person must attend and graduate from a four-year university teacher
education program. After successful completion of the university program, they are then certified to teach－49 －in Wisconsin’s schools. Certification may involve teaching one or two age groups. A teacher can be certified
to teach 5-year old-13 year old students. This is called “elementary school certification.” These elementaryteachers teach multiple subjects such as reading, math, English, and social studies. The second area ofcertification is for teachers teaching 13-year-old students to 18-year-old students. This is called “secondary
certification.” Secondary certification involves teaching in specialty areas. At the secondary level, teachers
become specialists in teaching only math or only science and usually do not teach in multiple areas as theelementary teachers do.
The 1985 law required that all elementary teachers and secondary teachers in the areas of agriculture,science, economics, civics/government, and social studies receive university course work in the following
environmental areas.
a. Natural resources and their conservation;b. Ecological principles;c. Energy in both biological and physical systems;
d. People-environment interactions, including;a historical/philosophical review of such interactions,
implications of human population growth,
natural resource management,
the impact of technology on the environment,
the impact of the environment on physical and mental health;e. The use of affective education methods to teach about the environment; andf. The use of cognitive education methods to teach about the environment; andg. Methods of teaching citizen participation skills.
The above areas were collectively called environmental education training.
Wisconsin has thirty-one university and college teacher certification programs. All of these programs
are reviewed on a five-year cycle to confirm that these environmental education concepts are being covered intheir teacher certification programs. If they are not covered, the particular college or university in violation
could lose its clearance to have a teacher certification program.

School District Curriculum Requirement
The second piece of legislation or law that established environmental education in Wisconsin schools
required school districts to develop curriculum or educational plans for implementing environmental
education in the classrooms. The requirement reads as follows:
Every school district must develop and implement a written, sequential curriculum plan
incorporating instruction in environmental education into all subject area curriculum plans, with－50 －

Ann. Rep. Env. Edu. MUE. Vol.5 No.2, 2003

the greatest emphasis in plans for art, health, science, and social studies education.
There are 2,000 schools making up 400 school districts in Wisconsin. These districts are associatedwith particular urban or rural communities. There may be a few too many elementary and secondary schoolbuildings within a district. All of the school buildings within a district follow the district's classroom educationor curriculum plan. The Wisconsin State Department of Education provides guidelines, which strongly
suggest what should be included in the more detailed district educational plans. These state guidelines arecalled “Standards.” For example, there are standards for mathematics, reading, science, and all the other subject
areas taught in schools. Environmental education also has a set of standards (Wisconsin’s Model Academic
Standards for Environmental Education, 1998). If a school district does not follow the suggested standards,
they could potentially lose their state funding, which supports about 60 % of their operation. The other 40%
comes from local/community taxes.
There are too many standards to list here and I refer you to Wisconsin Model Academic Standards forEnvironmental Education, 1998 listed in the reference section of this paper. In general, the standards call forenvironmental education to be integrated into the elementary and secondary level within the areas of science,
agriculture, economics, civics, language arts, and social studies. All the standards can be summarized into thefollowing categories.
A. Awareness & Investigation of Environmental Issues
B. Ecological Knowledge and Knowledge of Resource Management Practices Leading to a Sustainable
Society
C. Knowledge of how citizens can participate in the prevention and resolution of environmental issues.

IV. Support for Building Environmental Education in the Schools
Legislators/politicians did not feel that requiring environmental education in teacher certification
programs and in district curriculum planning was enough to establish or nurture the long-term developmentof environmental education in Wisconsin. In 1990, the state government passed what might be called theEnvironmental Education Support Act. With this law, two statewide resources were established to help build
environmental education programs in the schools. A Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education wasestablished along with a statewide coordinating body called the Wisconsin Environmental Education Board.
The structure and functions of each of these institutions is explained below.

Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education
The Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education (www.uwsp.edu/keep) was established to directly
assist teachers in the development of environmental education, and it was placed within the state University
System.
The goals of the Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education are as follows:－51 －To develop, offer and evaluate graduate and undergraduate credit courses in environmental
education.
To collaborate and develop partnerships with agencies, organizations and institutions on thedevelopment, implementation, evaluation and recognition of environmental education programs tobenefit the state of Wisconsin.
To develop and conduct environmental education needs assessments and program evaluations.
To develop and conduct environmental literacy assessments of Wisconsin’s students and teachers.
To maintain an environmental education resources center or library for use by educators.
To meet these goals, the WCEE has a staff of eleven full-time faculty/staff and 15 part-time faculty/staff.
A brief overview of programs that help meet the goals of the WCEE is provided below.
An EE Masters Degree in Environmental Education Leadership for Teachers. This involves two
years of advanced study beyond the four years required for teacher certification.
An EE Resources Library was established for teachers. It contains hundreds of EE curriculum andactivity guides, children’s books, reference books, videos and other information that assist teachers
in developing their classroom activities. It is one of the largest EE curriculum collections in thenation.
Enrichment EE courses are offered around the state for certified teachers. Over 80 courses areoffered and about 1,200 teachers participate each year. Teachers in Wisconsin are particularlyinterested in taking university courses because they must have an additional 125 hours of university
instruction every five years to maintain their certification.
On an annual basis, the WCEE facilitates a high school conference on the environment. Up to 300
high school students (16-18 year olds) meet at a central location to discuss and present papers on
environmental topics.
Special Topic Programs are another area addressed by the WCEE. Programs in energy, wildlife,
waters resources, and forestry are available or are being developed. Generally, these curricula
follow a similar structure. They contain activities that can be taught by elementary and secondary
teachers. Activities relate to four areas: human need for the natural resource, developing theresource, effects of developing the resource, and managing the development of the natural resource
in a sustainable way. The energy program, the Wisconsin K-12 Energy Education Program (KEEP)
started in 1995 and is described further below. A K-12 forestry education program (LEAF - Learning
Experiences and Activities in Forestry) started in 2001 and is modeled after KEEP.
Wisconsin K-12 Energy Education Program
The Wisconsin K-12 Energy Education Program (KEEP) is a comprehensive teacher education programthat aims to increase and improve energy literacy in Wisconsin. It accomplishes these objectives by helping
teachers integrate hands-on, standards-based, energy education into classrooms. The cohesive KEEP
package-Conceptual Guide, Activity Guide, and inservice course-takes teachers from “What is energy?” to“How can we manage today’s energy use for tomorrow?” Nearly 1,800 K-12 teachers have participated in the
KEEP inservice. In addition, KEEP provides networking, student involvement, and funding opportunities.
－52 －Ann. Rep. Env. Edu. MUE. Vol.5 No.2, 2003

KEEP is funded through Focus on Energy and administered through the Wisconsin Center for Environmental
Education.
KEEP offers professional development opportunities, such as our introductory energy education course
and an online course that covers fundamental energy concepts. KEEP is developing follow up courses that
focus on specific topics such as renewable energy and school energy efficiency. KEEP provides teachers withresources, including the KEEP Activity Guide and energy education trunks will be available to teachers soon.
Through the website (www.uwsp.edu/keep) and newsletter, teachers receive updates on energy happenings
and events. KEEP is partnering with the Wisconsin Environmental Education Board to offer nearly $200,000
in energy education grants. Finally, KEEP involves students in energy education through a CFL fundraiser
and works with the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (www.the-mrea.org) to coordinate statewide
events for students.

V. Other Environmental Education Efforts in Wisconsin
Several Organizations have contributed to the development of environmental education in Wisconsin.
These are the Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education and the Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources.
The Wisconsin Environmental Education Board was established in the 1990 legislation as the second
major support mechanism for coordinating the development of EE in Wisconsin. Members of the Board
represent various sectors of Wisconsin’s society. The Board has two primary activities it pursues to address
its goals. It facilitates a $450,000 annual grants program, and it has developed a statewide strategicplan for advancing environmental education in all community sectors across the state. The second major
pursuit of the WEEB is the development of a Statewide Strategic EE Plan. This strategic plan consists of aseries of recommendations for improving EE in all sectors of Wisconsin’s society. The WEEB disseminates
these recommendations and then uses its grant program as an incentive to encourage pursuit of therecommendations by various education programs in the state.
The Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education (WAEE) is described as a nonprofit
professional organization set up and run by the volunteer efforts of its membership. Membership dues or
payments serve as the primary funding base. The organization develops its own board of directors from its
membership. Members include professional environmental educators, agency personnel, schoolteachers
and nature center educators. The goal of the Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education is toprovide networking/sharing opportunities for environmental education professionals. The WCEE sponsors
annual statewide conferences for environmental educators where papers are presented on ways to develop
and improve EE in the state. Often WAEE leaders sit on other influential boards such as the Wisconsin
Environmental Education Board. Also, members of this organization are sometimes effective at influencing
government and public policy. This organization was, in large part, responsible for promoting the legislationthat created the Wisconsin Environmental Education Board and the Wisconsin Center for Environmental
Education.
－53 －The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is the state governmental organization responsible
for managing natural resources and enforcing environmental laws in Wisconsin. They have a Division ofInformation and Education, which places educators at natural areas and parks around the state. They
are a primary source for information or publications about the status or quality of Wisconsin’s naturalenvironmental. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources often cooperates on various EE efforts with
the Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education, Wisconsin Environmental Education Board, and the
Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education.
The Global Environmental Management (GEM) Education Center at UW - Stevens Point is a unifying
concept, program, and facility at the College of Natural Resources (CNR). GEM provides intercontinental
learning bridges to build a sustainable future. It will serve as an international model for training leaders
who think globally and act locally to make a world of difference in communities in America and abroad in the
21st century. The Education Center intersects CNR’s teaching, outreach, and research components. GEM
programs focus on many critical environmental issues including watershed management, smart growth land
use planning, sustainable forestry, and sustainable energy systems. For more information visit the GEM
website at http://gem.uwsp.edu.

VI. Evaluation of Environmental Education and Summary
The Wisconsin Department of Education cooperates with the Wisconsin Environmental Education
Board to periodically evaluate the level of environmental literacy of the state’s students. This is done bytesting student’s knowledge about the environment and their attitude towards it. The Environmental
Education Academic Standards are used as a guide for the development of test questions. In general, student
environmental test scores have improved and the feeling across the state is that all the efforts to improve EE
are resulting in a more environmentally concerned public. The hope is that the public will continue to build
this concern for the environment into their day-to-day lifestyles.

Summary
Environmental education in Wisconsin has developed in response to the awareness that the naturalenvironment was and is being degraded and polluted by human activities. Yet, humans are dependent upon
the natural environment for a strong economy and for their quality of life. Wisconsin requires environmental
education in teacher training programs and in school curriculum or educational plans. These requirements
have been in place for close to fifteen years in Wisconsin. To support the required EE in the schools, thestate has provided resources in the form of a Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education, a Wisconsin
Environmental Education Board, and its environmental grants program.
As a result of these laws and resources, environmental education is becoming a basic part of Wisconsin’s
educational system. The students’ environmental literacy is increasing and we hope this will result in
improved environmental conditions for the short and long term. The goal of a sustainable society is becoming
more and more a part of public policy.

－54 －Ann. Rep. Env. Edu. MUE. Vol.5 No.2, 2003

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