Impacting the environmental awareness and personal environmental behaviors of high school biology students through action projects

Abstract

This research project examined personal environmental behaviors of high school freshman biology students who were exposed to environmental topics in class and participated in environmental action projects. The effectiveness of classroom lessons and action projects on student's environmental behaviors were evaluated. The student's environmental awareness and voluntary environmental behaviors were monitored throughout the year by in class surveys, short answer responses, informal classroom discussions/interviews and teacher journals. Findings suggest that changing voluntary behaviors is not a quick and easy process. However, the researcher was able to see continued voluntary environmental behaviors in a portion of the students after the completion of action projects.