Environmental Education

The United States is increasingly concerned with environmental issues, and 4-H has responded accordingly. Through environmental education, 4-H teaches stewardship, an ethic that embodies cooperative planning and management of environmental resources to facilitate long-term sustainability. 4-H offers a wide variety of environmental club projects and curriculum, such as water science and energy sources. 4-H environmental education has led to innovative projects, some of which are listed below.

4-H Environmental Education and Stewardship Programs

4-H2O is a project to help youth learn about water quality, water conservation and watershed issues.

4-H Million Trees engages 4-H youth to plant 1,000,000 trees across the continent with the goal of reducing atmospheric CO₂.

AguaPura is designed to enhance participants’ understanding of salmon and steelhead and the critical relationship these fish have to healthy watersheds.

California Aquatic Science Education Consortium includes five thematic water resource educational activity manuals available both in English and in Spanish

Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Program (WHEP) helps youth develop an awareness of the environment and its associated problems.

4-H Power of the Wind Curriculum helps middle-school-aged youth learn about wind and its uses.