Program Contact:
Earthed@colorado.edu

Program Website:
CU Environmental Center

Program Overview:
Earth Education is a volunteer and intern program founded and coordinated by the University of Colorado’s Environmental Center. We provide free environmental education programs to local public and private schools in the greater Boulder community. 

Each semester we have a group of motivated CU undergraduate interns and volunteers who want to build a relationship with a local classroom by teaching environmental education to schools in the greater Boulder area.

Our programs are not only free, but they are organized, innovative, active and follow state standards.  We believe that building a child’s personal connection to the natural world will help us work toward building a community with a greater environmental awareness and literacy. Earth Education is over 15 years old and has successfully matched undergraduate volunteers with local teachers who are interested in implementing environmental and natural science education into their classroom. We have been working with over 20 schools in the Boulder area and have extended our programs to after school “eco-clubs” that focus on sustainability activities for youth.

The focus of each class varies with the teacher’s current curriculum and special requests. Two or more Earth Education volunteers facilitate a 45-120 minute session pertaining to a wide variety of subjects including science, reading and writing, math, social studies, and art. Units of exploration may include endangered species, letter-writing, deforestation, trash-art, pollution, earth day, water, ecosystems, population growth, eco-literature, organic farming, composting and recycling, cultural variance in resource use, papermaking, nature walks and many other opportunities.

BVSD audience:
We offer sustainability and environmental education classes to all grades, although we do not have a thorough high school program. Most of our programs are offered to students in grades 1-6.
We can offer 1 time programs, or a program for 10-weeks with 1 hour each week depending on what specific teachers would like.

History:
Earth Education started in the mid-70s and has been a successful arm of CU’s Environmental Center.

How do you advertise your program?:
We send letters, flyers, and emails to BVSD schools. Our program has also spread through word of mouth over the years.

Is your program available upon request?:
Yes, our program starts with each new semester, but teachers can request the program anytime.

How do schools express interest? Who should they contact?
Anyone can email us with inquiries.

How much does your program cost schools? How is your program funded?:
Our program is free to all and any interested schools. It is funded through CU’s Environmental Center.

Standards met by your program?:
We follow state standards with our lesson plans, and work closely with teachers to assure that our lessons compliment their needs in various subjects.