When taught well, environmental education can be informative and absorbing. It can bring to life the scientific principles and information that underlie ecology, for example. Children can learn about how plants grow and how different kinds of vegetation foster different ecological communities. And making children aware of environmental problems can encourage them to think critically and creatively. Too often, however, environmental education skips the basics, pushing students into complex and controversial topics such as endangered species and global warming without establishing a scientific basis of knowledge.
Education can play second fiddle to emotionalism and political activism.
One way is to expand the information they receive. Not Fear contains the facts that are not covered in textbooks and the scientific controversies that are not explained. Simply learning that reputable scientists often disagree with the claims of imminent catastrophe will keep children from blindly fearing the future. Such information will also help them see that environmental science is a discipline that reflects scientific uncertainty and is open to continual discovery. Students can learn about environmental issues and develop their critical thinking skills at the same time.