ABSTRACT
Education about, through and for the environment is an important area of overlap between science education and education for sustainable development (ESD). Science is central to our understanding of the world around us, and scientific skills and conceptual understanding help children and young people to grapple with complex issues of sustainability. Getting outside the classroom, exploring the local environment, is vital. Place-based, vernacular learning fosters connection to nature. It is through direct experience of, and cognitive and emotional engagement with, the natural world that children, and each of us, become empowered to become agents of change for our environment. Inquiry-based learning, through the lens of scientific inquiry, functions as an action-oriented and transformative approach to ESD, which motivates and empowers children to connect with, care for and take action to protect their world. The two exemplars provided draw on direct experience of the local to engage children with wider global issues.
