Garden Club
Federation of Pennsylvania
National Garden
Club’s Environmental Studies School
Outline of Course
Requirements and Instructor Criteria
The Mission
Statement for the Environmental Studies School:
The Environmental Studies Schools
offer National Garden Clubs, Inc. members the opportunity to learn more about
all the facets of our physical world known as the environment. This encompasses land conservation, land
trust, water conservation, ground water protection, air quality, energy
awareness, waste awareness, litter, and recycling, among the many subject
matters and includes legislative issues relative to the environment. The quality of life is threatened by negative
forces of mankind and it is necessary to teach all humans the necessity of
maintaining the quality of our environment as we pass on the care of our world
to our children and grandchildren. We
touch many lives as we share this knowledge and influence those around us.
School
Description
The Living Earth Environmental Studies School is composed of
a minimum of 40 hours of study of specific units divided into four
courses. Each course must contain a
minimum of eight different lectures and a related two hour minimum field trip. The first course is an overview, while the
next courses investigate AIR, LAND, and WATER.
Non-NGC attendees are welcome. To
obtain NGC certification, a participant must attend all coursework including
the field trips, pass a written exam on course materials, and be a member of a
NGC club.
Course I – The Living Earth required topics: Ecology, Plants
– Biodiversity, Urban Forestry, Environmental Science, Backyard Wildlife
Habitat, Networking and Outreach, Historic Environmental Actions and Leaders,
Earth Stewardship, Nature Discovery field trip.
Course II – The Living Earth – Land and Relate Issues
required topics: Ecology(Land), Plants (Agriculture), Source Reduction of
Pollutants, Toxins and Materials, Coastal Zone Management, Environmental
Science (Resources), Wildlife – Misunderstood Animals, Earth Stewardship (Gardening
with Nature), one supplemental subject, Nature Discovery field trip emphasizing
land issues.
Course III – The Living Earth – Air and Related Issues
required topics: Ecology (Air), Plants
(the Rain Forest), Environmental Ethics, Environmental Science (Pollution),
Wildlife (Endangered Plants and Wildlife), Initiating School Programs, Earth
Stewardship (Material Sources and Citizen Education Programs), one supplemental
subject, Nature Discovery field trip emphasizing air issues.
Course IV – The Living Earth – Water and Related Issues:
Ecology, Plants (Aquatic Plants), Wetlands, Environmental Science,
(Sustainability), Wildlife (Aquatic Animals), Youth Programs in Environmental
Education, Earth Stewardship (Effective Citizenship), one supplemental subject,
Nature Discovery field trip emphasizing water issues.
Each Course
must be registered with NGC at least three months in advance and must follow
the specified curriculum in the interest of uniformity and maintaining
standards of quality. Each instructor
prepares five multiple choice (No essay or true/false) questions from material
presented and also contained in the lecture outline which is given to each
student. Each Course must have at least
two different instructors and trained environmental educations
facilitators. All instructors’
credentials must be submitted to NGC for approval prior to registering the
Course. Each instructor must meet one or
more of the following criteria:
A)
Hold a degree in Environmental Studies or an
environmentally related field
B)
Be actively participating in the teaching of
environmental subjects
C) Hold academic rank at an
accredited college or university
D)
Be employed by a recognized nature center, conservation organization or
state, county or city department of natural resources, ecology, environmental
quality or related agency
E)
The units of Ecology and Environmental Science should be taught by
members of the teaching profession
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