Population Connection Workshop at the ENC!

Helen delaMaza represented Population Connection in February and provided training to ENC staff and visiting teachers. Population Education’s lesson plans are all about people–how the human race has grown and shaped the world around us. World population has quadrupled in the past century, changing the way we use natural resources and function as societies. Population education is the ultimate multidisciplinary field; it is ecology, human geography, anthropology, economics, biology, public health, sociology, environmental studies, history and civics all rolled into one.

ENC Naturalists Mark & Leslie help pollute the "Potamic."

All of Population Connection curriculum materials are classroom-tested, rigorously evaluated and frequently updated to be leaders in their content and approach. All lessons are interdisciplinary and well suited for a cooperative learning environment. Population Connection has correlated their lessons with California’s standards which can be found on their website at www.populationeducation.org under “Content Standards by State”.

Population Connection’s Education Program is the only national, population education program with a strong emphasis on teacher training for educators of grades pre-K through 12. Since 1975, the program has developed age-appropriate curricula to complement students’ instruction about human population trends and their impacts on natural resources, environmental quality and human well-being.

Teachers are introducing important population concepts to their students using these outstanding resources and students are benefiting from them. With an emphasis on hands-on learning and balanced discussion of different viewpoints, this program has earned a reputation for educational excellence.