This study investigated the relationship between children's environmental perceptions and their ecological actions before and after attending Earthkeepers, an earth education program. Participants were 604 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students from 14 schools in Arizona and Pennsylvania. A comparison of the environmental perceptions of participants revealed a statistically significant difference between those who undertook more and those who undertook fewer or no positive ecological actions. After the program, students who undertook more positive ecological actions, for example using less energy and fewer materials, had more pro-environmental perceptions than their counterparts. Individual interviews with 18 of the participants supported the positive relationship between environmental perceptions and ecological actions and provided further explanations for those actions.

Integrating environmental learning into mainstream education is an important countermeasure to address the challenges to the sustainability of the earth and children's integrated development. To be effectively integrated into mainstream education, an environmental learning program should be designed in ways that elicit the support of stakeholders, while at the same time without scarifying the environmental learning goals. The purpose of this study therefore is to explore an environmental learning model that meets the above mentioned goal using a case study design.Key principles for designing such environmental learning programs are identified first based on the theoretical framework. Then, the actual enactment of these principles in a practical setting and the effects on students in terms of environmental learning goals and traditional educational goals are explored through a case study of a pilot environmental learning program designed with these guiding principles. It presents a detailed portrait of the design process, the actual enacted curriculum, and the experiences of key stakeholders with this environmental learning program. It also evaluates this program's effects on students in environmental literacy (the environmental learning goal), academic achievement and social development (the traditional educational goals). The enactment of the guiding principles and factors that influence the enactment of this program are discussed thereafter. It concludes with the construction of the curriculum integration through environmental learning model based on the case study and a discussion of the model in light of the curriculum integration framework.