Ireland’s environmental watchdog has launched an online resource centre for Irish schools interested in environmental issues.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new site is aimed at secondary level schools but Sunday School teachers and youth club leaders will also find much useful material on the site – http://www.epa.ie/researchandeducation/education/educ/.
Speaking at the launch of the scheme last week Dr Mary Kelly, EPA director general said: “My hope is that they will influence a generation of young people to have a life-long passion for the environment.
“By then lots of the students who will have used these materials in schools up and down the country will be young adults, well-versed in the values of sustainable living.
“We have worked with teachers to develop the resources and they are tailored to deliver what the professionals have told us will work best in the classroom.”
The resources include modules on biodiversity, sustainable resource use, clean air and water as well as climate change.
The environmental themes can be explored through corresponding comprehensions and lesson plans designed specifically for Transition Year, CSPE, Science and Geography.
Topics covered include limiting and adapting to climate change, clean air, clean water, protected soil and biodiversity, sustainable resource use and integration and enforcement.