During National EE Week, and throughout the year, help youth receive the benefits of environmental education experiences with the help of Penn State Extension programs and resources.

April 14-20, 2013 is National Environmental Education Week (or EE Week for short), and across the country many educators and organizations will be ramping up their efforts to improve the overall environmental knowledge of youth.

You can include youth education as part of your efforts as well, either during EE week or any time of year.

Do you have a site being restored that would make a great destination for a field trip, perhaps for a school environmental club, scout troop, or 4-H club? Does your organization have public awareness events that could be enhanced by adding youth activities? Are you planning a stream clean-up day where youth groups could help and also engage in learning?

Penn State Extension and the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management offer a wide variety of programs and resources designed to educate youth, teachers, and other youth educators about renewable natural resources.

We accomplish this work through the Pennsylvania 4-H Youth Development Program, curriculum resources for schools and environmental education centers, and teacher trainings. These tools are all available to you, and can be just the right thing to help you enhance the role of youth in your environmental education mission.

Some great examples of opportunities include the 4-H Stream Teams Program, the From the Woods Publication Series, the Junior Forest Steward Program, and the many 4-H Project Opportunities that cover environmental topics.

Teaching youth about the environment and encouraging them to get outdoors creates a multitude of benefits to the youth, the community, and the environment. Youth increase their knowledge and their environmental literacy, but also develop valuable life skills like decision making, relationship building, and stewardship.

Youth also benefit from positive health improvements such as increased physical activity, stress reduction, attention restoration, and healthy development, according to the National Environmental Education Foundation.

You can learn more at the EE Week website.  You can learn more about the programs offered by Penn State Extension by visiting online.

(Written By: Jennifer R. Fetter, Extension Educator – Watershed/Youth Development, Renewable Natural Resources Team, Penn State Extension, Dauphin County Office, and reprinted from Penn State Extension's Watershed Winds newsletter.)

4/15/2013