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The Education and the Environment Initiative (EEI) Curriculum integrates education about the environment into core subjects already taught in our K-12 school system - Science and History-Social Science. Through engagement with EEI, your students' mastery of the academic content standards will go hand-in-hand with increased environmental literacy.

The high educational quality of the EEI Curriculum is ensured through:

Alignment of the EEI Curriculum and the foundational Environmental Principles & Concepts to California's academic content standards.

Review by technical experts and education professionals.

Field and pilot testing in California schools.

Approval by the State Board of Education.

Coordination and collaboration between the California Environmental Protection Agency, the California Department of Education, the State Board of Education, and the California Natural Resources Agency.

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Why Teach EEI - California Education and the Environment Initiative (EEI)

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The Education and the Environment Initiative (EEI) Curriculum integrates education about the environment into core subjects already taught in our K-12 school system - Science and History-Social Science. Through engagement with EEI, your students' mastery of the academic content standards will go hand-in-hand with increased environmental literacy.

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Learn about the world's many landscapes.

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Principle 1- People Depend on Natural Systems
Principle 2- People Influence Natural Systems
Principle 3- Natural systems change in ways that people benefit from that can influence
Principle 4- There are no permanent or impermeable boundaries that prevent matter from flowing between systems
Principle 5- Decisions affecting resources and natural systems are complex and involve many factors

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California's Environmental Principles and Concepts (EP&Cs) highlight the deep relationship between humans and the natural world.

Students and teachers need not memorize the five environmental principles and fifteen supporting concepts. Rather, they are "big ideas" intended to inform standards-based instruction and fuel student inquiry. Teachers can support environmental literacy by helping students to understand and apply the EP&Cs across academic disciplines and in the real world.

By law, the EP&Cs must be addressed in future California textbooks and instructional materials adopted by the state. In 2016, the EP&Cs were integrated into the revised California History-Social Science and the new California Science framework. As a result, subsequent state textbook adoptions will incorporate the EP&Cs.

Principle 1 - People Depend on Natural Systems

The continuation and health of individual human lives and of human communities and societies depend on the health of the natural systems that provide essential goods and ecosystem services.

Concept A. The goods produced by natural systems are essential to human life and to the functioning of our economies and cultures.
Concept B. The ecosystem services provided by natural systems are essential to human life and to the functioning of our economies and cultures.
Concept C. That the quality, quantity, and reliability of the goods and ecosystem services provided by natural systems are directly affected by the health of those systems.

Principle 2 - People Influence Natural Systems

The long-term functioning and health of terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems are influenced by their relationships with human societies.

Concept A. Direct and indirect changes to natural systems due to the growth of human populations and their consumption rates influence the geographic extent, composition, biological diversity, and viability of natural systems.
Concept B. Methods used to extract, harvest, transport, and consume natural resources influence the geographic extent, composition, biological diversity, and viability of natural systems.
Concept C. The expansion and operation of human communities influences the geographic extent, composition, biological diversity, and viability of natural systems.
Concept D. The legal, economic, and political systems that govern the use and management of natural systems directly influence the geographic extent, composition, biological diversity, and viability of natural systems.

Principle 3 - Natural Systems Change in Ways that People Benefit From and Can Influence

Natural systems proceed through cycles that humans depend upon, benefit from, and can alter.

Concept A. Natural systems proceed through cycles and processes that are required for their functioning.
Concept B. Human practices depend upon and benefit from the cycles and processes that operate within natural systems.
Concept C. Human practices can alter the cycles and processes that operate within natural systems.

Principle 4 - There are no Permanent or Impermeable Boundaries that Prevent Matter from Flowing Between Systems

The exchange of matter between natural systems and human societies affects the long-term functioning of both.

Concept A. The effects of human activities on natural systems are directly related to the quantities of resources consumed and to the quantity and characteristics of the resulting byproducts.
Concept B. The byproducts of human activity are not readily prevented from entering natural systems and may be beneficial, neutral, or detrimental in their effect.
Concept C. The capacity of natural systems to adjust to human-caused alterations depends on the nature of the system as well as the scope, scale, and duration of the activity and the nature of its byproducts.

Principle 5 - Decisions Affecting Resources and Natural Systems are Complex and Involve Many Factors

Decisions affecting resources and natural systems are based on a wide range of considerations and decision-making processes.

Concept A. There is a spectrum of what is considered in making decisions about resources and natural systems and how those factors influence decisions.
Concept B. The process of making decisions about resources and natural systems, and how the assessment of social, economic, political, and environmental factors has changed over time.

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Environmental Principles & Concepts - California Education and the Environment Initiative (EEI)

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California's Environmental Principles and Concepts (EP&Cs) highlight the deep relationship between humans and the natural world. Students and teachers need not memorize the five environmental principles and fifteen supporting concepts. Rather, they are "big ideas" intended to inform standards-based instruction and fuel student inquiry.

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BEING SAFE CAN HELP US:

Prevent accidents and injuries that may occur during science activities and experiments;

Teach your students that safety is an important part of science;

Gain awareness of the potential hazards that exist in an elementary science classroom; and

Identify safe lab practices that

students should know and follow.

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Unpacking- the process of interpreting or clarifying what the standards really mean.

Why to unpack- There is so much more meaning packed into the foundation boxes. The bullets can be interred by thinking about them and examining support documents such as the Framework.

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“Teachers are doing the work to unpack NGSS Performance Expectations used in science instruction to be clear about each of the Practices, Disciplinary Core Ideas, and Crosscutting Concepts.”

Excerpt From: CalStateTEACH. “Module 9: STREAM.” CalStateTEACH, 2018. iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/module-9-stream/id1414618915?mt=11

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Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 3-5 builds on K-2 experiences and progresses to the use of evidence in constructing explanations that specify variables that describe and predict phenomena and in designing multiple solutions to design problems.

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“WORD GAMES
Traditional games can be adapted to help students experience the language of science. For advanced students, making their own games using science vocabulary promotes in-depth understanding of words and their meanings.
Hangman
Odd One Out
Charades
Bingo
Scrabble
Trivial Pursuit
Pictionary
Dingbats
Twenty questions, Who am I?
Breaking words down into smaller words. For example:
invertebrate — in, brat, tea, tear, rate, vertebrae…
photosynthesis — sit, sin, thesis, photos…
temperature — rate, temper, rut, tear, ate…”

Excerpt From: CalStateTEACH. “Module 9: STREAM.” CalStateTEACH, 2018. iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/module-9-stream/id1414618915?mt=11

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Hands on, meaningful investigations engage students and teachers in real learning.
- Asking questions
- Adding real life applications
- Reading and writing investigations used to learn more
- Record in journal- writing
- Active investigators
- Hands on discoveries generate questions that prompt reading and writing
- Drives literacy
- Clues in informational text to drive investigation and answering questions

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COASTER/ENERGY LESSON

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In this Mystery, students will explore how energy can be stored as height. In the activity, they will investigate how hills give roller coasters energy by experimenting with a model "bumper coaster."