Teaching Pedagogy Concept and Scope Of EVS Notes - Concept and Scope of Environmental Studies

 

Concept and Scope of Environmental Studies

 

Environmental studies is the science which studies the interaction between man and the environment, emphasising the links between different subjects related to this issue,

 

1.1 Meaning and Definitions of Environment

The word Environment is derived from the French word Environ which means surrounding.

Our surrounding includes biotic factors like human beings, plants, animals, microbes etc and abiotic factors such as light air, water, soil etc.

In words of Kalavathy, "Environment is a-complex of many variables, which surrounds man as well as the living organisms. Environment includes water, air, land and the interrelationships which exist among and between water, air, land and human beings and other living creatures such as plants, animals and microorganisms."

 

Generally, environment consists of an inseparable whole system constituted by physical, chemical, biological, social and cultural elements, which are interlinked individually and collectively in uncountable ways.

 

In words of Douglas and Holland, "Environment is aggregate of all the external force, influences and the condition which affect the life, nature, behaviour, the growth, development and maturity of living organism."

 

1.1.1 Concept of EVS

·               Environmental studies is important to be studied at primary level, as it gives information about our nature and also the men and environment relationship,

·               It creates awareness among people as how to protect and conserve our environment which is very important for our survival.

·               Every organism is surrounded by materials and forces that constitute its environment. It is the environment from where every organism must derive its requirement. The environment creates the favourable conditions for the existence and development of living organisms.

·               The degradation of the environment has become a serious problem for the existence of human beings. Pollution of soil, water and air causes harm to living organisms as well as loss of valuable natural resources. Environmental studies involves educating the people for preserving the quality of environment.

·               Environmental studies makes students able to understand about the various phenomena and the changes occur in the environment. It also enables them how to act in a specific situation in appropriate and wise manner.

·               Thus, to understand the complexity of the environment and to create problem-solving capability and for the development of analytical thinking among students, it is crucial to introduce this subject at school level.

 

1.1.2 Scope of Environmental Studies

 

Environmental studies is of multi-disciplinary nature, it is concerned with geographical feature of area, living beings of the area, natural resource and conservation of the resources, waste management, biodiversity conservation, renewable energy generation, sanitation and health. Because of relation with so many subjects and domain environmental studies is considered to have great scope. Environmental science can be applied in the following domains

 

         1.      Ecosystem Structure and Function The study of ecosystems mainly consist of study of interaction of biotic components with abiotic components.

 

        2.      Natural Resource Conservation and Environmental Management EVS helps in managing and maintenance of forest, natural resources and wildlife. Environmental studies also provide solution to today's problems like pollution, loss and decrease of natural resources.

Environmental scientist are working for ecological balance, conservation of biodiversity and regulation as well as preservation of natural resources.

 

         3.      Environmental Studies in the Industry Due to rapid pace of industrialization, our environment has been affected badly. So in order to protect environment from further degradation, there is growing trend to adopt environment friendly process and technology to produce environment friendly or green goods.

 

        4.      Research and Development Various research projects and works are being undertaken in the field of environmental and its allied studies.

         Researches are being done to control pollution, to counter global warming, reduction of green house gases and adoption of renewable energy source.

 

        5.      Human Health and Sanitation There is direct relation between environment and human health.

Many of the diseases spread only by unhygienic environment. For healthy and disease free life, pure and hygienic environment is must so sanitation in imperative. Therefore, study of human health and sanitation is important aspect of environmental studies.

 

        6.      Social Development Non-governmental organisation, media and journalist are making effort too create pubic awareness about different issues of environment like pollution conservation and protection of environment. Through these work, masses will get aware about different aspect of environment.

 

         7.      Urbanisation and Environment Due to continuous migration from rural .to urban areas, various problems have been occurred due to a large population like air pollution, water pollution, urban waste disposal etc. To combat these problems environmentalists are working in this direction.

 

1.13 Objectives of Teaching Environmental Studies at Primary Level

 

Some of the objectives of environmental studies teaching at primary level are as follow

 

·               To enable children to have basic knowledge of various numerals, alphabet and the basic things we see everyday around us.

·               To enable children understand the importance of cultivating healthy habits and maintaining both personal and social hygiene.

·               To develop the habit of performing task in a systematic manner and learn to carry out any activity with precision.

·               To make them understand simple graphs, maps, flowcharts and statistical tables.

·               To develop creative, observational and inventive qualities in the child. To arouse the interest of children in the study of nature and surroundings.

·               To engage the children in exploratory and hands on activities that lead to the development of cognitive and psychomotor skills.

·               To internalise the values of concern for life and environment and arouse curiosity about the natural and social environment.

·               To connect the experiences of the learners in schools with the outside world.

·               To encourage children to question and explore their immediate environment.

·               To connect learners to the natural and socio-cultural environment.

 

1.1.4 Types of Environment

Environment are of three types, which are as follow

 

         1.      Natural or Physical Environment physical or natural environment has been developed without any human intervention. On the basis of structure, it is divided into four categories

 

          (i)      Biosphere It is the layer of the planet Earth where life exists. It includes species of plants, animals and fungi.

          (ii)     Lithosphere About 71% part of the Earth is covered with water and only 29% part is made up of surface area. It is the solid, outer part of the Earth.

 

        (iii)    Atmosphere All the air in the atmosphere makes up the atmosphere. The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen (about 78%), oxygen (21%) and other gases (1%) such as carbondioxide (0.039%), argon (0.93%) and the rest are trace gases. Our atmosphere is divided into several layers like, troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and the exosphere.

         (iv)    Hydrosphere About 71% part of the Earth is covered by hydrosphere. It includes all the gaseous, liquid and solid water of the Earth.

Approximately 36 crore sq km area is filled by water on the Earth.

 

         2.      Social or Cultural Environment

Cultural environment includes human settlements, means of irrigation, means of transportation, economic activities, division of labour, agricultural fields, mill, factories, banks, insurance corporations, political organisations. Besides these, the culture, lifestyle, relations with each other, religion etc are also involved in this environment. These all are the result of human actions.

 

         3.      Psychological Environment

It is a inter disciplinary field based on men and environment relationships. Its subject matter includes types of environment, human attitude towards environment effects of culture and built environment, learning environment, informational environment and social settings.

It is different from normal environment as each individual has its own environment in which he/she lives.

 

Personality is a dynamic and organised set of characteristics possessed by a person that uniquely influences his/her environment, cognitions, emotions, motivations and behaviours in various situations.

 

1.1.5 Components of Environment

Components of environment includes

 

Abiotic Components

·               These include all the physical and chemical factors which control and affect the growth, development, health and all the activities of all living beings.

·               Physical factors consist of temperature, water, moisture, sunlight, soil, pressure etc.

·               Chemical factors include gases, minerals etc.

 

        1.      Physical Components

These components determine the average temperature of an area. These include

         (i)      Temperature The degree of hotness or coldness of an area is called as temperature.

It is the most important ecological component. It influences all the activities of an organism, e.g.

·               Metabolic rate gets increased lipto certain limit by accelerating activities of enzymes.

·               It also increases the rate of transpiration in plants.

 

         (ii)     Light It is also one of the most important climatic components of the environment.

Metabolic activities of both the plants and animals are influenced by light, e.g.

·               Rate of photosynthesis in the plants gets increased by increasing the number of chromoplasts and the amount of chlorophyll. Light also influence the daily activities of the animals.

 

         (iii)    Wind Wind is the fast moving air. Both the plants and animals get influenced by wind. e.g.

·               Wind causes soil erosion and desertification.

·               Wind also causes pollination in some plants.

 

          (iv)    Atmospheric Humidity The amount of the water vapours present in the atmosphere is called atmospheric humidity.

Both plants and animal get influenced by atmospheric humidity. e.g. it helps in the growth of orchids and lichens.

It transpiration (in plants) and perspiration (in animals).

 

         (v)     Water Metabolic activities of the organisms are largely affected by water. It also acts as a raw material in photosynthesis in plants. It acts as a good solvent and ionizer. It also helps in the digestion of the food in animals.

 

          (vi)    Soil The surface layer of land is called soil

Weathering of rocks by chemical or physical or biological actions leads to the formation of soil. Soil is formed of four types of layers, known as horizons. These horizons are lying one upon other, forming soil profile.

Following are some functions of soil

·               Soil acts as a living habitat for many organisms.

·               Complex organic compound of dead animals and plants get decomposed in the soil,

 

         2.      Chemical Components

The chemical components include

 

        (i)      Gases Major involvement of gases in atmosphere are

·               Oxygen About 21% of atmospheric air is oxygen. It is used in aerobic respiration. It is mainly formed as a by-product of the process of photosynthesis of the plants.

·               Carbon dioxide About 0.03% of the atmospheric air is carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is exhaled by an organism during respiration. Burning of the fossil fuels also leads to the formation of this gas. It is also used in the process of photosynthesis by the producers.

·               Nitrogen About 79% of the atmospheric air is nitrogen. It is fixed as nitrites and nitrates either biologically or biologically.

 

        (ii)     Nutrients/Minerals Nutrients are important for the growth, development, distribution and reproduction of all living beings. The chemical nutrients human consume in the largest quantities are known as macro nutrients.

And those nutrients which are required in less quantity known as micro nutrients, e.g. carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulphur are macronutrients whereas manganese, zinc, cobalt, copper etc are micro nutrients.

 

Biotic Components

Living organisms of the environment (plants, animals, microbes etc) are included in the biotic components.

Biotic components are divided into two categories, which are as follow

 

         1.      Autotrophic Components

These components include green plants, blue-green algae and photosynthedc. These are also known as producers. They manufacture their own food by the process of photosynthesis.

 

         2.      Heterotrophic Components

These organisms feed on ready-made organic food.

They also decompose the complex organic compounds. The consumers are divided into two categories

 

        (i)      Macro Consumers The animals which feed upon the producers directly or indirectly are included in the macro consumers category.

They are divided into four types

·               Primary consumers

·               Secondary consumers

·               Tertiary consumers

·               Quaternary consumers

 

          (ii)      Micro Consumers Micro consumers include the decomposers (like bacteria and fungi). They help in cleaning the environment. They feed on the dead bodies of both plants and animals.

 

1.1.6 Significance of Environmental Studies

Some of the significance of environmental studies are given below

 

·               Environment is essential because environment provides us drinking water, food, air etc for life. So it is imperative to live in salubrious environment.

·               Environmental studies helps to maintain ecologies balance by providing a basic knowledge of environmental systems and their processes. By giving information regarding the changes that take place due to anthropogenic factors environmental study helps us to know about damage and health of environment,

·               Environmental study includes diverse area such as property rights, economic instruments for pollution control, cost benefit analysis management applications with environmental policy.

·               Concepts from environmental studies can be applied to the study of agriculture and the design of sustainable production systems.

·               We need to study physical, biological, chemical and social processes that forms the basics of the environment. Environmental studies provides necessary skills to raise the questions and too often obtain answers to some of the environmental problems, which our planet is facing today.

·               Due to continuous degradation of environment by unplanned urbanisation and industrialisation today, environment has become very fragile. So in order to protect environment, it is vital that awareness about environment should be created and proper redressal steps should be taken.

·               Environmental studies will make the child aware about the environment in the early stage, so he/she can contribute to the society in a fruitful manner.

 

1.1.7 Relation between Environment and Human Development

 

Technological development was the first requirement of human. Whether these technologies are developed or underdeveloped, these adversely affect the environment as well as human existence.

The human environment relationship can be divided into Jour periods from early period to the present.

 

        1.      Food Accumulation Period

·               Early man was a hunter and gatherer. He lived in caves and moved from one place to another in search of food and shelter.

·               That was the period when man got affected by the environment as his needs were limited. But as the time passed he used to invent new things like invention of fire, wheel, new tools from stone then after wood and metals etc.

·               Gradually, he started to use natural resources for his needs and a trend of continuous consumption of resources begun. Then human began to live in groups and trend of settlement developed. Now, men was in state to affect the environment.

 

         2.      Animal Husbandry and Herding Period

·               To fulfill all his needs like food, milk production, safety and for means of transportation, human started animal husbandry.

·               He started fencing, collecting fodder for animals.

This is the socialisation period of man as he developed settlements and lived in groups for security purpose. But still for food and fodder he used to move from place to place.

·               With the growth of settlements the consumption rate of natural resources also increased.

 

 

         3.      Agriculture Period

·               Human started to identity all the plants which were important for him and then agriculture process started.

·               This was the process of growth of organic compounds according to human needs. This was the period when human used various new techniques in agricultural process and industrialisation also came into move to fulfill the growing demands of increasing population.

·               Due to rapid growth of population, migration process began and forests disappeared at many places. From that time, the process of major changes started in man-environment relationship.

 

         4.      Industrialisation, Science and Technology Period

To fulfill economic needs man used all his capabilities to develop science and technology. It was the result of growing population and its ever growing demands. Human made various changes in his environment like

·               He cleared forests area to cultivate the land.

·               Various latest techniques were introduced like, chemical fertilisers, new machines and tools, pesticides, herbicides etc.

·               He started construction work, mining process, building dams to change the course of rivers for irrigation, canal construction etc. Construction of roadways and flyovers had been done.

·               Various techniques are used to change weather conditions like cloud seeding, de-fog method etc.

·               Fossil fuels like coal, petroleum etc are being used for energy purpose in industries.

All these activities lead various harmful effects on environment. Consequently, the environment get exhausted and various natural disasters take place like

·               Due to construction and mining processes, the rock structure beneath the surface gets disturbed and earthquake and volcanoes etc hazardous activities take place.

·               When we modify our environment by new techniques they emit heat and warms up the atmosphere thus, global warming, acid rain etc take place.

·               The same happen when new techniques use in agriculture which is not environment friendly.

·               These techniques left the soil infertile and make the area into wasteland.

·               Ozone gas is depleting day-by-day because of excessive use of fossil fuels. This gas protect us from harmful effects of ultraviolet (UV) rays of the

Sun. This UV rays cause skin cancer, lower our immunity system, inhibits photosynthesis process, water storage capacity and crop production.

 

1.1.8 Significance of Environment in Human Life

Environment is very essential in every aspect of life.

All the living beings are depend upon the environment. All the components required for survival of living organisms are gained through environment. These components are intensely related to human beings and affect his life.

The interrelationship of these components are discussed below

 

Mountain Ranges and Human Life

 

·               Billions of people living in lowlands benefit from mountains. They are the sources of both major and small rivers on Earth. They influence regional and global weather conditions and climate.

·               Mountains also play an important role in the water cycle because they capture moisture from the atmosphere and release it in the form of snow or water, which is essential for industries, settlements and agricultural activities downstream.

·               Water from mountains is also used to generate hydroelectric power. Renewable energy from mountains promotes economic development especially in rural areas.

·               In developing countries, wood fuel from mountains is the main source of energy for settlements. Mountain wood provides timber for local use and export. Mountains are centers of biodiversity, because they have plant, crop and animal diversity.

·               They are also the sources of wild foods, such as mushrooms, birds and game. Mountains also provide ground for recreation, sporting and tourism activities.

 

Plateau and Human Life

 

·               Most of the minerals in the world are found in the plateaus. Besides, the extraction of minerals is relatively easier on plateaus.

·               These minerals are indispensable as raw material for our industries, e.g. coal, iron, manganese .and mica are found in the Chotanagpur plateau in India.

 

Plains and Human Life

 

·               The plains generally have deep and fertile soil.

·               Since the plains have a flat surface, the means of irrigation are easily developed. Both these factors have made the plains agriculturally so important that, they are often called food baskets of the world.

·               The plains have been the centers of many modern and ancient civilisations. The major river valley civilisations of the world have flourished in the plains only. Hence, they are aptly referred to as the cradles of civilisation, e.g. there are the civilisation of the Indus and the Nile Valley.

 

Water Sources and Human Life

 

Water is important because it is needed for life to exist. Many uses of water include agricultural, industrial, household, recreational and environmental activities. Virtually all of these human uses require fresh water. Fresh water comes from rivers, like Ganga, Yamuna, Kaveri, Damodar etc and ground water also.

 

Natural Vegetation and Human Life

The importance of forests cannot be underestimated. We depend on forests for our survival, from the air we breathe to the wood we use. Besides providing habitats for animals and livelihoods for humans, forests also offer watershed protection, prevent soil erosion and mitigate climate change.

 

Minerals and Human Life

Minerals play a significant role in human life as these are the symbol of economic growth of a country, e.g. coal, petroleum, natural gas etc provide us almost all of the energy we use to light, heat and run our world. The Peninsular plateau of India is the resource rich region of the country which provides a number of minerals which are crucial to run the economy.

 

Climate and Human Life

Climate affects the lives of humans by maintaining and changing the environment in which they live. This includes the impact on human health as well as crops grown to sustain living organisms. These effects may be positive or negative. Our food habits, clothing, types of settlements etc all are regulated by type of climate of the area.

 

1.1.9 Children and Environment

 

Children are arguably more susceptible to environmental influences. The physical, social and cultural environments all affect personality of children. This can be understood by reading following

 

        1.      Effects of Environment on Psychological

Development According to Gordon, in the absence of adequate social and cultural environment the psychological development of child slows down.

 

        2.      Effects of Environment on Physical

Development According to Frenj Bones, differences in physical development of various races are the result of their environment, e.g.

Japanese, live in the America for several years, have greater height then the actual natives of Japan due to the effect of their physical environment.

 

         3.      Effects of Environment of Mental

Health Research demonstrates that environment has an effect on interpersonal behaviours, mental health, motivation, cognitive development and biological measures. When healthy environment is provided to a child he may develop a higher IQ level than his peer group.

 

4.      Effects of Environment on Language

Development Language development in children is majorly affected by their surrounding environment. Besides this, mental and physical developments also affect this development. There is need to develop good habits in children like cleanliness, how to improve mental capabilities and also create a good environment for their proper development.

 

        5.      Effects of Environment on Personality

Development Every individual on this Earth is different from the other. No one person is fully like other person. Some say that hereditary factors passed by our parents and ancestors to us are the main factor to ones personality. But it is environment which makes a person successful or unsuccessful.

 

1.2 Integrated EVS

 

·               According to the National Curriculum

·               Framework (2005), "Environmental studies for primary class (III to V) should be a subject, which integrates and encompasses the concepts and theories from science, social science and environment."

·               Environmental studies is not taught in very primary level (classes I and II) but the concepts which are important to know at that stage of life is taught through language, mathematics and poems.

·               Curriculum Framework (2005), suggest that book should be designed in a way to give children a lot of space to explore and learn by way of thinking, observing and doing.

·               In the environmental studies at the primary level, there should be no place for definitions, facts and more information. Children should be provided with opportunities to express, learn by doing, asking question and experiment.

·               Language to be used in the book should not be formal, but it should be such that children can understand it easily.

·               Going by the view of curriculum framework, textbook should not be the only source of knowledge, but it should support children to construct knowledge through all sources around them such as people, the environment, newspaper etc.

·               Environmental studies book should contain chapters made out of real life incidents, everyday challenges and contemporary issue related to petrol, fuel, water, forest, protection of animals, pollution etc. Book and its content should provide opportunities to children to debate, engage and develop sensitive understanding to these topics.

·               Syllabus of EVS has been divided into six themes so as to inculcate every aspect of learning which are considered important for child of primary level.

Themes of environmental studies are following

·               Family and friends, (including animal, plants)

·               Food        

·               Water

·               Shelter      

·               Travel

·               Things we make and do

 

·               Integrated environmental studies has goal of holistically developing individual social, physical and emotional potential. Environmental studies help children in understanding multi-disciplinary issues of environment by enabling direct engagement and learning activity inside and outside of the classroom.

 

1.2.1 Efforts for Integrated Environmental Studies

·               The education system in India had incorporated certain aspects of environment in school curriculum as far back as 1930. The Kothari

Commission (1964-66) also suggested that basic education had to offer environmental education and relate it to the life needs and aspirations of the people and the nation.

·               At the primary stage, the report recommended that the aims of teaching science in the primary schools should be to develop proper under-standing of the main facts, concepts, principles and processes in physical biological environment."

·               Environmental education at primary, secondary, higher secondary levels were treated in different way. Environmental education is an essential part of every pupil?s learning. It helps to encourage awareness of the environment, leading to informed concern for and active participation in resolving environmental problems.

·               It was recommended that science at primary and secondary level should be taught integrated and not as separate subjects like biology, physics, chemistry etc.

·               There should not any source book students for class I and II levels but teacher guidance. There were separate books for science and social studies from class III to V. And also was a provision to prepare environmental studies books with some selected topics for class I to V.

·               In 1977, on the recommendation of Ishwar Bhai

Patel review committee, it was suggested that there should be two courses namely 'Course A' and 'Course B' for teaching at secondary level one after other. But later this idea was left.

The National Education Policy (1986) gave way to National Curriculum Framework (1988). It was recommended to introduce again the environmental studies at primary level with two units, e.g. science and social science.