Conservation Education 



By Donald A. Williams 



In the Classroom and Afield 



RESPONSIBILITY for soil and 

 water and related resource 

 conservation bears more heavily on 

 every succeeding generation as our 

 population mounts and our land 

 and water problems multiply. Thus 

 it is the sober obligation of the cur- 

 i-ent generation to prepare the next 

 so well that it will discharge its 

 conservation responsibilities more 

 wisely and effectively than any of 

 its predecessors. 



That means instilling in today's 

 young people a basic undei'standing 

 of what these life-supporting re- 

 sources are, a true appreciation of 

 their real values, and some prac- 

 tical knowledge of conservation 

 principles and actions. 



The first step is to teach conser- 

 vation in the Nation's classrooms, 

 from kindergarten through college. 

 Incorporating conservation sub- 

 jects in the school curriculum at 

 any level is appropriate; for soil, 

 water, plant, and wildlife conserva- 

 tion is part and parcel of conven- 

 tional subjects such as elementary 

 science, biology, nature study, ge- 

 ography, health and nutrition, and 

 other sciences and social studies. 



To confine teaching an "agricul- 

 tural" subject such as soil and 

 water conservation to rural areas 

 no longer suffices. The conserva- 

 tion and wise use of these and 

 allied natural resources affects 

 every one of our 186. million people 

 — from the farmer and rancher who 

 produces our food and fiber crops 

 to the youngest city consumer of 

 milk from his nursing bottle. It 

 equally concerns the fast-growing 

 ranks of rurban and other land 

 users and city people who must 

 have ample water for household, 



industrial, and recreational uses. 



Fortunately for the soil and 

 water conservation movement, re- 

 source use and conservation has 

 come to be recognized in its proper 

 perspective by thousands of teach- 

 ers and other educators. For they, 

 more than an^'one else, will shape 

 the attitudes of tomorrow's gener- 

 ations toward the renewable nat- 

 ural resources by which we live. 

 Many science and social studies 

 teachers and others have found 

 they can strengthen the subject 

 content of their courses by relating 

 them to local resources, their use, 

 and conservation. Many more 

 should do so if our ever-improving 

 conservation technologies are to be 

 applied to the fullest needed extent. 



Conservation education has made 

 great forward strides. There is in- 

 creasing conservation preparation 

 in teacher training colleges. More 

 than 100 conservation workshops 

 are held each summer for teachers. 

 A growing variety of classroom 

 texts and other materials on natural 

 resources and conservation are be- 

 coming available to teachers and 

 students. 



About 20 colleges and universi- 

 ties now offer undergraduate de- 

 grees with soil and water conserva- 

 tion majors. Thirty-one States have 

 conservation advisory committees 

 or councils, on which State depart- 

 ments of education, colleges, and 

 universities usually are repre- 

 sented. 



Formal resoui-ce education in 

 schools also is supplemented sub- 

 stantially by educational activities 

 of the Federal-State Extension 

 Services, Forest Service, and by 

 conservation programs in school- 



age youth organizations such as the 

 Boy and Girl Scouts, Camp Fire 

 Girls, Junior Audubon Clubs, Fu- 

 ture Farmers of America, and 4-H 

 Clubs. These major youth groups 

 alone include more than 11 million 

 boys and girls from farms and 

 cities, plus several million dedi- 

 cated adult leaders. 



The Soil Conservation Service 

 provides information on .soil and 

 water conservation to all of these 

 educational interests and youth 

 groups, and to textbook writers and 

 producers of other educational ma- 

 terials. It also similarly serves or- 

 ganizations such as the Conserva- 

 tion Education Association, ] 

 tional Science Teachers Associa- 

 tion, American Association of 

 School Administrators, Joint Coun- 

 cil on Economic Education, Amer- 

 ican Nature Study Society', and the 

 National Association of Biology 

 Teachers. It works with specialists 

 of the U. S. Office of Education on 

 conservation teaching materials. 



The SCS is not in the teaching 

 business, any more than it is in 

 the farming business; but, just as 

 providing technical help to land 

 users is our responsibility, so is 

 providing aid to conservation edu- 

 cation our responsibility. This as- 

 sistance ranges from supplying 

 teachers with requested basic con- 

 servation information to partici- 

 pating in field tours for school and 

 youth groups. 



The Soil Conservation Service 

 holds conservation education to be 

 of highest importance, for onlj- a 

 conservation-minded people can 

 safeguard and improve our remain- 

 ing heritage of renewable natural 

 resources in the future. 



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