Throw Away Your Old Environmental Education Trunks and Surf Into the Future

Traveling Environmental Education (EE) trunks have been one method used for improving environmental literacy; especially in rural areas where nature centers and museums are absent. In this absence, traveling trunks provide a set of tangible tools for students focusing on problems as well as developing potential solutions for addressing environmental issues. While EE trunks have been successful in providing teachers with resources and tools, significant increases in shipping costs, labor and storage costs, as well as disappearing federal agency funding, have prompted some agencies to seek alternative methods for providing educational services. Over the years, school teachers have become increasingly dependant on the Internet as a source of information. Determined to change how EE interfaces with the public, River Park North (RPN), a nature center located in Greenville, NC, collaborated with East Carolina University researchers to develop online EE lesson plans. A curriculum on Pond Ecosystems was developed to offer teachers a set of activities that their students could engage in prior to visiting the nature center. Lesson plans were evaluated by a pool of local educators prior to implementation. RPN managers believe that the more attainable EE information is for students prior to visiting the center, a higher EE literacy will be achieved and students will arrive at RPN asking informed questions.