1.    Background ：What is the ecological literacy?

With the emergence of the first and second industrial revolution, human civilization has entered a new stage.The population explosion has accelerated the process of urbanization. At the same time, it also poses great challenges to the ecological environment. Environment issue such as climate change，forest degradation，global warming，loss of Biodiversity etc. has became the urgent problems that human being faced with.

         “ecological literacy（also called ecoliteracy）”as the appendage of the sustainable education theory raised by American educator David W. Orr and physicist Fritjof Capra in the 1990s. It means the ability of understand the ecological system and understanding their potential application to understanding how to build a sustainable human society.

“All education is environmental education. By what is included or excluded, emphasized or ignored, students learn that they are part of or apart from the natural world. Through education we inculcate the ideas of careful stewardship or carelessness(Orr,1992, p. 90).”

2. Why should educators pay attention to that

     The concept of “literacy”has extended a lot as time goes by. Literacy not only means the ability of reading, writing and calculating, but also means the understanding of the world including the society, global culture, and nature. From students ‘perspective，the high-level ecological literacy could improve the quality of life. For example，when children have adequate knowledge about the process of crop production，they are able to distinguish the quality of food，which benefit they health. Furthermore，the movie called Martian demonstrated the importance of ecological literacy in an Artistic method. As Mark Watney was left alone on Mars with limited food，he has to produce food by himself. Through his efforts, potatoes were eventually successfully grown in the Martian environment. Understanding the process of plant growth，soil environment is a part of survival skill.

“ Ecoliteracy must become a critical skill for politicians, business leaders, and professionals in all spheres, and should be the most important part of education at all levels – from primary and secondary schools to colleges, universities, and the continuing education and training of professionals.（Fritjof，2008, p.49）”

     Also，the ecological literacy is the foundation to achieve sustainable development. Education is a major force for sustainable development. Waste minimization and reuse, energy minimization and renewable energy generation, food growing and similar environmental protection theme will be emphasized in the content of ecological literacy（Wooltorton，2006）. 

     The sustainable development is a long term goral for mankind，as a result，only when children are aware of environmental problems and know how to react，the ecological environment would be gradually improved.

3. The challenges 
“ we have no good data on the public's awareness or understanding of environmental problems, nor on whether the public has learned what must be done to preserve biodiversity or reduce the threats to our environment. (Blumstein&Saylan,2007. p.12)”

     Professor Michael Clarke discusses how as a society we are facing a crisis of ecological illiteracy.

4.How can teachers design an effective and attractive course to improve ecological literacy? 

• Connecting with the media

      Teachers are not alone when they encourage students apply ecological literacy in the daily life. The social media help a lot to arise the awareness of environmental issues and there are some successful practices made by media. Ant Forest which is a Chinese mobile platform by Alipay group aims to transform virtual trees planted on the platform by users into real ones, thus contributing to tree-planting and environmental initiatives. Yong generation are more attracted by the new media rather than the traditional materials. If educators using media to encourage students, they will have more motivation to practice.  There is the introduction of  Ant Forest.

• Interdisciplinary interaction

     The ecological literacy is not only based on the specific subject like biology and geography，it also can combine with the art subjects including music and art. The ecological literacy is a complex concept，which requires students' basic abilities in various subjects. While the focus on biology and geography were obvious, one of the most important tools for learning is writing because writing intersects critical thinking, knowledge acquisition, and attitudinal change. Music and art are also included in the the part of ecological literacy curriculum as it helps students express their attitudes, values toward the eco environment.

                                   

The practice in art. 

• Experiential learning

     Experiential teaching means learning through experience and feedback. This theory raised by Kolb (1984) which defines learning as "the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience”. In other words, it requires students transform what they know into practice to get the deep understanding of new information in the real word. Combined this theory with application of ecological literacy, Immersive experience as well as hand-on learning is the vital part to achieve the high level of ecological literacy. There is a successful application below.

      By observing creatures，planting plants，reflection games student build their own comprehension about the nature and they are also encouraged by teachers to think about the environment issue. This teaching program makes the knowledge vivid and meaningful. “Learn while playing”motivate the interests of students and also promote the learning and practicing.

     On the other side of the globe, Japan also has a prominent presence in environmental education. Throughout the hatching process, the students not only learned about the process of breeding, but also gained a deeper understanding of biology. The ecological literacyand the basic knowledge of specific subject can promote mutually.

5.The complexity of practicing ecological literacy in the real world.

     It can not be deny that ecological literacy include both comprehension of the nature and the ability to apply the idea in the real world to solve the problems. However, to gain the higher level of the ecological literacy is complicated which require various abilities of students. For example, To cooperate well with others in the environmental  program, students' cooperate skill and leadership is vital. I argue that some basic abilities and skills including problem solving，critical thinking and so forth is the precondition of practicing ecological literacy. As the time pass by,  more competences are required for youth in 21th century , and these are also important to achieve higher ecological literacy level.

    There is an article which discussed the issue specifically. If you are interested in  what kind of abilities students need, please clic here.

References

Blumstein,D. T., & Saylan, C. (2007). The failure of environmental education (and how we can fix it). PLoS Biology, 5(5), e120.

Coyle, K. (2005). Environmental literacy in America: What ten years of NEETF/Roper research and related studies say about environmental literacy in the US. National Environmental Education & Training Foundation.

Capra, F. (1996). The web of life (pp. 153-171). Audio Renaissance Tapes.

Kolb, D. (1984). Experiential learning as the science of learning and development

Locke, S., Russo, R. O., & Montoya, C. (2013). Environmental education and eco-literacy as tools of education for sustainable development. Journal of Sustainability Education, 4(1).

Orr, D. W. (1992). Ecological literacy: Education and the transition to a postmodern world. Suny Press.

Wooltorton, S. (2006, January). Ecological literacy ‘‘basic’’for a sustainable future. In Proceedings of the Social Educator’s Association of Australia (SEEAA) national biennial conference. Brisbane, Australia.