The chemistry curriculum is a logical place to describe and discuss our world’s natural resources: water, earth, air, and energy. After all, three are made of chemicals and the fourth is involved in chemical transformations. The NSF-funded Families, Organizations, and Communities Understanding Science, Sustainability, and Service (FOCUSSS) program is an instructional project created to make connections among various learning environments – the chemistry classroom, the home, and the community. It uses natural resources as its contexts, and instructional units start in the classroom and extend into out-of-school experiences for students with their families. By blending these environments, the project has provided opportunities for students and family members to learn the science behind sustainability principles. Data from this project support that cutting across these learning environments and expanding the notion of curriculum do foster pro-environmental behaviors both for students and their family members.

Using the chemistry curriculum as the starting point for engaging students and their families in pro-environmental behaviors

249th National Meeting (2015)

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