Creating An Engaging And Ecocritical Project Based Curriculum For High School Environmental Science

The research question that inspired this curriculum project was: How can educators create an engaging and ecocritical project based curriculum for high school environmental science? This curriculum utilizes a project based learning framework, based on A Framework for High Quality Project Based Learning, in order to create an engaging curriculum for students in a high school environmental science class. Additionally, this curriculum incorporates themes of critical ecology. Critical ecology is a way of studying the environment that asks us to consider how our perceptions and attitudes toward the environment can perpetuate the environmental and social injustices we are facing in our world. This curriculum is meant to be implemented in the first semester of a high school Life Science class. It provides students with opportunities to practice authentic project management skills as well as develop knowledge and understanding about how they can make positive contributions to their communities. The hope is that this project can serve as an example of how science educators could utilize a project based learning approach to engage students in learning and help them build critical understanding of their environment