Program Overview

---

Environmental Studies — Elementary, BAE

Introduction

This major satisfies the academic major requirement for teacher certification with an endorsement in elementary education and must be accompanied by the professional preparation program in elementary education. See the Early Childhood, Elementary, and Multilingual Education section of this catalog for program admission, completion, and teaching certification requirements. This program fulfills the academic major requirement for elementary education candidates who wish to have a solid background in studies related to the environment. Although environmental studies itself is not an endorsable area, some of the courses might be counted toward endorsement in other areas. Students should contact a faculty advisor for clarification of course work applications.

Why Consider an Environmental Studies - Elementary Major?

Are you excited about teaching children about the environment? Do you want to teach people to make environmental choices in their lives? Perhaps an Environmental Studies-Elementary major is for you!

Student Resources

• Department website: Environmental Studies
• Department advising: See the Advising section of the College of the Environment website.
• Degree Works: Current students should also log on to Degree Works to check student-specific program progress.
• Career Services Center: Connect major to a career
  • Sample Careers:
    • Elementary Teacher

How to Declare (Admission and Declaration Process):

Admissions applications with essays and deadlines are no longer required to declare a major in Environmental Studies.

Pathways for Major Declaration in Environmental Studies

There are two pathways to declaring a major within Environmental Studies:

1. Declare a pre-major and then declare a Major upon completion of admission requirements.
2. Declare a major upon completion of admission requirements.

Pre-Major Declaration

Students can declare a pre-major at any time. Upon completion of admission requirements, these students can then declare a major.

Benefits of declaring a pre-major are:

• Receive priority registration for restricted sections of ENVS 203 and ENVS 204, both required for entry into the major, and ENVS 201.
• Assignment of a College of the Environment professional advisor and a faculty advisor.
• Included in the College’s email distribution list of announcements and internships.

To declare as Pre-major:

• Go to the College of the Environment Undergraduate Student Forms webpage
• Click on the link to the Pre-major Declaration Form under the Declaration Forms section.
• Fill in the form with your information, writing in Environmental Studies as your pre-major.
• Submit the form.

Processing your pre-major declaration form can take a couple of weeks. Do not wait until registration to submit.

Upon completion of admission requirements, declare a major using the process below.

Major Declaration

Students must meet the following requirements to declare a major:

• Confirmed admission to Western Washington University.
• ENVS 203, HNRS 215, or equivalent transfer credit (completion with C- or better).
• ENVS 204 or equivalent transfer credit (completion with C- or better).

To declare as a major:

• Go to the College of the Environment Undergraduate Student Forms webpage.
• Click on the link to the Major Declaration form under the Declaration Forms section.
• Fill in the form with your information, writing in the name of the specific Environmental Studies major you want to declare.
• Submit the form.

If you have questions about this process, please set up an appointment with a professional adviser.

Recommended Deadline for Pre-Major and Major Declarations

While students may declare as pre-majors or majors at any time, students are strongly encouraged to declare early in the quarter.

Declaring an Environmental Studies pre-major or major does not guarantee you access to all ENVS courses. Some classes have pre-requisites and others are highly sought after by many students. When classes fill and long waitlists develop, we follow the department waitlist priority policy.

Advising Tips

ENVS 201 is a requirement for many Environmental Studies courses; students are encouraged to complete this requirement as soon as possible to avoid delaying access to upper division ENVS courses.

Many other General University Requirements provide good foundations for studying the environment. The following courses are particularly encouraged:

• Communications (ACOM, BCOM & CCOM): ENG 101 and courses with COMM, JOUR and ENVS prefixes.
• Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning (QSR): ENVS 201 and MATH 112 or MATH 240.
• Natural Sciences (LSCI & SCI): ENVS 203, an LSCI course, and ESCI 225, a SCI course, are required for most Environmental Studies majors. For efficient GUR progress, choose these two courses and one additional LSCI course to complete your natural science GURs.
• Social Sciences (SSC): ENVS 204 is required for most Environmental Studies majors. Other courses to consider are ENVS 115, ECON 101, PLSC 250, UEPP 202, and UEPP 270.
• Additional math and sciences courses, such as MATH 114, CHEM 161 and BIOL 204 are also good GUR choices as these courses will allow enrollment in a broader range of upper division environmental science courses in the College of the Environment.

Grade Requirements

A grade of C (2.0) or better is required for courses in the elementary education professional program and all courses required for the endorsement.

All preparatory courses required for admission should be completed on a lettered or numeric grading scale, not P/NP, and must be completed with a grade of C (2.0) or better.

Requirements (53-57 credits)

Preparatory courses (8-10 credits)

• One course from:
  • BIOL 101 - Introduction to Biology w/lab
  • BIOL 204 - Introduction to Evolution, Ecology and Biodiversity w/lab
• One course from:
  • ECON 206 - Introduction to Microeconomics
  • PLSC 250 - The American Political System

Major (45-47 credits)

• ENVS 381 - Introduction to Education for Eco-Social Justice and Sustainability
• ENVS 492 - Curriculum for Environment and Sustainability
• ESCI 330 - Natural History of the Pacific Northwest
• ENVS 303 - Introduction to Environmental Studies I: Human Ecology and Ethics
• ENVS 305 - Introduction to Environmental Studies II: History and Policy
• Electives under advisement (23-25 credits)
  • ENVS 300- and 400-level
  • ESCI 300- and 400-level

Additional Requirements

Elementary Education Professional Program Requirements

Department of Early Childhood, Elementary, and Multilingual Education, Woodring College of Education

Introduction

This program centers an anti-bias, anti-racist, social justice philosophy and leads to a recommendation to the state of Washington for a teaching certificate with an Elementary Education endorsement. Students seeking a bachelor’s degree with teacher certification and an endorsement in elementary education must complete the GURs, an approved academic major, and the professional education course work listed below.

Admission and Declaration Process

See the Early Childhood, Elementary, and Multilingual Education section of this catalog for program admission, completion, and teacher certification requirements.

Grade Requirements

Students must earn a grade of C (2.0) or better in the elementary education professional program and in all courses required for the endorsement.

Requirements (105 credits)

Professional Studies Core (22 credits)

• ELED 305 - Development and Learning in a Diverse Classroom
• ELED 310 - Education, Culture, and Equity
• ELED 311 - Understanding Washington State Tribal History, Culture, and Government: Since Time Immemorial Curriculum
• ELED 460 - Children’s Literature in the Classroom
• I T 344 - Foundations of Technology in Teaching and Learning
• MLE 441 - Language, Culture, and Equity: From Global to Local

Elementary Program Methods and Curriculum Content (32 credits)

• One course from:
  • ART 398 - Integrated Arts for Elementary Educators
  • DNC 398 - Integrated Arts for Elementary Educators
  • MUS 398 - Integrated Arts for Elementary Educators
  • THTR 398 - Integrated Arts for Elementary Educators
• HLED 455 - Health Education Grades K-8
• I T 442 - Digital Decisions: Technology for Educators
• MATH 381 - Teaching K-8 Mathematics I
• MATH 382 - Teaching K-8 Mathematics II
• MATH 383 - Teaching K-8 Mathematics III
• PE 345 - Physical Education for Elementary School
• SCED 480 - Science Methods and Curriculum for the Elementary School
• SPED 364 - Teaching Each Student

Preparatory Field Experiences (13 credits)

• ELED 480 - Literacy: Beginning Communicators
• ELED 481 - Literacy: Fluent Communicators
• SCED 490 - Laboratory/Field Experience in Elementary Science

Professional Field Experiences & Methods Courses (38 credits)

• ELED 412 - Seminar on Racial Justice Praxis
• ELED 427 - Elementary Social Studies Through Counternarratives
• ELED 471 - Documenting Teaching
• ELED 494 - Internship - Elementary
• MATH 491 - Internship Seminar - Teaching K-8 Mathematics

University Graduation Requirements

• General University Requirements
• Writing Proficiency Requirement (WP)
• 180 Minimum Total Credits
• 60 Minimum Upper Division Credits
• Residency Requirement
• Minimum Grade Requirements
• Final Quarter Requirement