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Guest Editorial

Editor's Note November-December 2024

With environmental issues and awareness rising globally, our connection to the natural world is clearly critical, but education that teaches children how to relate to local plants and animals is seemingly lacking in elementary curriculum. For an undergraduate honor’s thesis, an environmental education program was created utilizing the 5E instructional model. This program, focusing on species identification and nature journaling, was developed for third and fifth graders and implemented at a local elementary school. During the program, students distinguished between groups of plants and animals, learned to look closely at local flora and fauna, explored the importance of recording the world around them, and spent time outside on the school’s nature trail. Overall, the students were eager to learn about local plants and animals and enjoyed utilizing scientific resources such as field guides and nature journals. Additionally, the children were highly motivated by the interactive indoor and outdoor activities, implementing problem solving and creativity throughout. Using the outdoor space at the school’s facility was a very effective and fun way for students to connect with the flora and fauna around them. This kind of education can be implemented widely across school facilities, leading future generations towards environmental stewardship.