Environmental Literacy Framework
Critical Literacy for Environmental Governance - Unit 3 Integration
Ngā Rautaki Reo | Language Strategies for Environmental Understanding
Environmental governance requires sophisticated literacy skills that go beyond basic comprehension. Students must critically analyze scientific texts, decode media representations of environmental issues, construct persuasive arguments for policy change, and express complex ideas across multiple modes and audiences. This framework integrates critical literacy with environmental content, building on established postcolonial pedagogical approaches while supporting STEM learning objectives.
🔗 MCP Integration Point: Social Sciences Foundation
Building on LF_SocialSciences governance framework - literacy components support policy analysis, civic engagement, and democratic participation in environmental decision-making.
1. Critical Environmental Text Analysis
Scientific Text Deconstruction
- • Technical Language Analysis: Breaking down scientific terminology and jargon
- • Evidence Evaluation: Assessing data quality, methodology, and bias
- • Uncertainty Recognition: Understanding probability, confidence intervals, and scientific uncertainty
- • Interdisciplinary Connections: Linking scientific findings to social and political implications
Media Literacy for Environmental Issues
- • Source Credibility: Evaluating environmental reporting and identifying vested interests
- • Greenwashing Detection: Recognizing corporate environmental marketing strategies
- • Climate Communication: Understanding how environmental issues are framed in media
- • Indigenous Voice Recognition: Identifying and valuing traditional ecological knowledge in texts
2. Environmental Communication & Advocacy
Scientific Writing Progression
- • Hypothesis Formation: Clear, testable statements using environmental data
- • Methodology Description: Precise, replicable explanations of environmental investigations
- • Results Interpretation: Connecting data to broader environmental patterns
- • Policy Implications: Translating scientific findings into actionable recommendations
Advocacy & Persuasive Communication
- • PEEL-R Arguments: Point-Evidence-Explanation-Link-Rebuttal for environmental policy
- • Audience Adaptation: Tailoring environmental messages for different stakeholders
- • Multimodal Advocacy: Combining text, data visualizations, and digital media
- • Kaupapa Māori Integration: Incorporating mātauranga Māori principles in environmental advocacy
🔗 MCP Integration Point: STEM Connection
Literacy scaffolds support scientific inquiry - students articulate hypotheses, document methodology, and communicate findings effectively across disciplines.
3. Creative Expression & Environmental Storytelling
Environmental Narrative Techniques
- • Place-based Writing: Connecting personal experience to environmental change
- • Future Visioning: Speculative fiction exploring environmental scenarios
- • Traditional Storytelling: Integrating pūrākau and environmental wisdom
- • Digital Storytelling: Multimedia narratives combining text, image, and data
Performance & Presentation Literacies
- • Environmental Poetry: Expressing ecological connections through verse
- • Policy Theater: Dramatic presentations of environmental governance scenarios
- • Community Presentations: Sharing research with diverse community audiences
- • Digital Activism: Social media campaigns for environmental awareness
4. Assessment & Learning Progressions
Formative Assessment Strategies
- • Think-Pair-Share: Processing complex environmental texts collaboratively
- • Exit Tickets: Quick checks on scientific vocabulary and concept understanding
- • Peer Review: Students evaluate each other's environmental arguments
- • Learning Journals: Reflective writing connecting personal experience to environmental learning
Summative Assessment Options
- • Research Reports: Integrated investigations combining multiple knowledge systems
- • Policy Proposals: Evidence-based recommendations for environmental governance
- • Community Presentations: Sharing environmental research with authentic audiences
- • Digital Portfolios: Curated collections of environmental literacy development
Te Whakakotahi | Integration Framework
Week 1-2: Foundation Literacies
Environmental vocabulary development, scientific text analysis, introduction to environmental media literacy using existing handouts as scaffolds.
Week 3-4: Investigation Communication
Scientific writing support for environmental monitoring projects, data interpretation and communication, hypothesis development and testing documentation.
Week 5-6: Policy Analysis & Advocacy
Critical analysis of environmental policy texts, persuasive writing for climate action, PEEL-R argument development for sustainability solutions.
Week 7-8: Innovation Communication
Technical writing for innovation projects, multimodal presentation skills, communicating complex ideas to diverse audiences.
Week 9-10: Community Engagement
Authentic communication for community action, digital storytelling, reflection and metacognitive writing about environmental learning journey.