FOREVER EARTH - A SCIENCE FIELD TRIP IN ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

The Forever Earth program was brought about through the efforts of numerous partners including Forever Resorts, Inc.; the National Park Service, Lake Mead National Recreation Area; Outside Las Vegas Foundation; and UNLV's Public Lands Institute. UNLV's Public Lands Institute manages and facilitates programs on the Forever Earth houseboat for the purpose of enhancing outdoor environmental education efforts in Southern Nevada.

Curriculum for grades four, five, six, and seven was developed to complement traditional classroom studies in science with engaging, participatory, on-site activities and support lessons based upon a solid framework for inquiry and discovery. During the field trip on board the houseboat, students participated in activities, performed investigations, and used scientific equipment to discover the answers to key questions. Curricula for each grade were developed, field tested, and delivered. The purpose of this paper is to 1) describe the impacts of these curricula on students' knowledge and attitudes about the environment and provide results about teachers' perceptions of the curriculum.

Three survey instruments (Student Knowledge Instrument, Student Attitude Instrument, and Teachers' Perceptions Instrument) were developed for the purposes of collecting evidence related to the impact of the curriculum. The assessments were conducted over time (i.e., pre- and post-intervention) to determine the effectiveness of the curriculum in having an impact on student knowledge and attitudes about the environment.

Statistically significant gains occurred at each grade level measuring student knowledge. Overall, findings of student attitudes suggest that attitudes improved significantly due to instruction. The difference between pre and post test score means of teachers perceptions was significant using a paired samples t-test, t (39) = -4.907, p < .000 These findings indicated that teachers rated the curriculum as significantly more effective after the instructional event than before.