NC students to learn about environmental issues through Earth Day-inspired plan

Children in central North Carolina will learn more about the environment thanks to a new plan linked to Earth Day.

Students at Lincoln Heights Elementary School in Fuquay-Varina will get hands-on experience by building a pollinator garden.

“We get to help the environment by having more plants and it was really fun,” student Julia Handy said.

North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Elizabeth Biser announced Monday a new K-12 environmental literacy plan. It provides framework for ways students can learn about environmental issues, critical thinking and civic engagement.

“Making sure that we’ve got students who are educated in science and environmental literacy is going to be so important to make sure that we can tackle the challenges of the future,” Biser said.

Biser called the garden another tool for teachers to teach students.

” They’re going to see that their kids are going to have more opportunities for science education for outdoors learning, and we know that that benefit students not just in science education, but really across the curriculum,” Biser said.

Several studies show environmental education and nature-based learning can improve grades and mental health for students.

“Building that into the curriculum is really important for not just their young lives today, but who they will become as citizens,” said Wake County Board of Education member Monika Johnson-Hostler.

Lincoln Heights was also awarded a green power grant to install a 20-kilowatt solar panel. It is complete with a weather station, data monitoring and a stem curriculum.