ECOLOGY IN CLASSROOMS AND OUTDOORS NORTHWEST
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Mission Statement
Ecology in Classrooms and Outdoors (ECO) inspires students to care for nature and their local communities through hands-on science education and climate action.
About This Cause
ECO engages K-12th grade students across Oregon in the classroom, online, and in local natural areas all through a JEDI lens, where they live and attend school. Our curriculum focuses on experiential lessons and activities that help youth connect to and learn about nature, and their relationship with ecosystems in their local community. Since 2005, ECO has delivered more than 5,000 natural science lessons, aligned to science standards, to 36,870 students and more than 1,200 teachers across Oregon. In the current school year, ECO is engaging students at 14 schools in Corbett, Beaverton, North Clackamas, and Portland Public School districts. Our education model aligns with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), Oregon Environmental Literacy Plan, and STEAM teaching targets. We work to reduce barriers to quality ecology education in every area of our programming, and we engage primarily students of color from low income communities. Our collaboration with teachers increases their capacity as ecosystem educators. We are now offering digital versions of Free Ecology Lessons and will soon launch online access to our Climate Action Education Program and Elementary Place-based Units (PBUs) to teachers nationwide at www.teacheco.org. PBUs offer teachers a comprehensive, ready-to-use ecology curriculum unit. PBUs contain at least five hours of classroom engagement per unit, including a comprehensive NGSS-aligned science lesson and activity as well as four integrated extension lessons for Math, English Language Arts, Social Science, and Art. Each extension lesson includes accompanying hands-on materials like grade-level appropriate books, art supplies and more. ECO also brings hands-on ecology lessons and activities to the classroom where we actively engage students multiple times throughout a school year, which include a service-learning project in the field. These service-learning projects give kids a chance to apply the ecological knowledge they've learned in ECO lessons and field explorations while also empowering them to create positive outcomes in their community. Service-learning projects include activities like planting native species, removing invasive plants, building a rain garden or outdoor classroom. These projects are often facilitated in cooperation with partnering government agencies or other local nonprofits, and give students the chance to make a real difference in their community. ECO programs are designed to continue year-after-year. Each year's curriculum is tied to the educational science standards, and each continuous year's program builds on knowledge from previous school years. ECO programs are a wonderful preparation and follow-up to Oregon's terrific Outdoor School programs. Here are just a few 2023 student and teacher comments that keep us inspired to show up every day and do our best for them! — I like ECO because it teaches you about climate and how the things we do affect our future. — I can't wait to tell my parents all about what we did today. I'm going to teach them how to plant a tree. — After ECO, I can teach someone that plants use chlorophyll to do photosynthesis. Great lessons! The math/science lesson with graphing fit PERFECTLY into our curriculum. We were thrilled that you had all of that data already available for us. It was incredibly meaningful to see the similarities and differences in rainfall right here, in our own state! Students were completely engaged. We are thrilled to be able to use these resources and hope that you set us up again next year so that we can use the kits again!