Think Earth Foundation



The Think Earth Foundation is a non-profit, 501(c)(3), public-private partnership whose mission is to help develop and maintain a sustainable environment through education. The Foundation develops and distributes environmental education programs and provides them free to teachers in Southern California.

Educational Development Specialists (EDS) is the exclusive curriculum developer and program distributor for the Think Earth Foundation.

History
Programs
Awards


History
In 1989, EDS helped bring together several organizations that clearly recognized a need for environmental education programs. Though resources on single topics (e.g., recycling, water) did exist, there was no well-developed, comprehensive, and widely-used environmental education program. Thus, the organizations formed a consortium and agreed to develop a single program that would encompass and interrelate all interests, to make teaching students about the environment easier for teachers.

By 1992, the Think Earth Foundation, with EDS as the curriculum developer, had developed, tested, revised, produced, and begun distributing a series of seven instructional units on the environment, one unit for each grade, kindergarten through sixth. Since that time, the Foundation has distributed Think Earth units free to more than 30,000 teachers in Southern California.

Currently, Think Earth has a Board of Directors with 11 members who have regional, statewide, and national interests:

California Air Resources Board
Central/West Basin Metropolitan Water District
City of Los Angeles
The Gas Company
GTE
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Orange County Sanitation District
South Coast Air Quality Management District
Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc.

The Foundation also maintains an education advisory group with representation from:

California State University, San Bernardino, Environmental Education Center
Educational Development Specialists
Los Angeles Unified School District

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Programs
Various components make up the Think Earth Programs.

Elementary Curriculum.
The Think Earth Environmental Education Program is a comprehensive environmental curriculum for preschool through grade 6. Each grade-level unit contains all the materials and procedures needed for one to two weeks of core classroom instruction, along with many extended activities. The curriculum focuses students on their environmental behaviors, and helps them learn to "think earth," which means to:

conserve natural resources
reduce waste
and minimize pollution

Detailed information about the Think Earth units and about how to purchase the materials can be found in Products You Can Buy.

Web Site and Environmental Clubs.
The Think Earth web site, www.thinkearth.org, is designed to help secondary-school students establish and operate environmental clubs at their schools. A related project is the United Eco Club of San Gabriel Valley, a coalition of environmental club presidents from 19 high schools in the Los Angeles area. The coalition is a prototype for forming similar United Eco Clubs in other regions of the country.

Middle School Program.
Air Care is an exciting new environmental curriculum that gets middle-school students involved. Through science activities and a newspaper targeted specifically for them, students learn:
 The Air Care Program is a multi-disciplinary curriculum with a strong focus on science. Much of the content directly addresses 8th-grade physical science and chemistry frameworks, and activities also correlate with performance standards in math and language arts.


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Awards
The Think Earth Foundation and its programs have received numerous awards, including:



The 1992 President's Environment and Conservation Challenge Award,
the nation's highest environmental honor
The Excellence Award for Curricula from the
Solid Waste Management Association of North America
The Clean-Air Award for Excellence in Public Education
from the South Coast Air Quality Management District
The Award of Excellence from the Partnerships in Education Journal,
National Partnerships Awards
The Environmental Pride Award from Los Angeles Magazine

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For More Information
Information about the Think Earth elementary school curriculum and about how to purchase the units can be found in Products You Can Buy.

For more information on the Think Earth Foundation, its programs, and how to participate in the Foundation's activities, call us at (562) 434-6225 or e-mail the Information Request Form.

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