Abstract: The research question addressed is, why is it beneficial to integrate place-based education and environmental education into curriculum? The stimulus for this capstone was desire to incorporate gained knowledge from graduate coursework into classroom teaching and increase student understanding of the Five Themes of Geography. This capstone documents definitions, origins, and applications of place-based and environmental education, and the educational benefits of both pedagogies. An influence writing this capstone was Sobel's and Smith's book, Place- and Community- Based Education in Schools (2010), which explains integrating placebased education and highlights educational benefits, including critical thinking development, higher standardized tests scores, and increased student engagement in learning. The author develops a curricular unit on the Five Themes of Geography that integrates place-based and environmental education from research on both pedagogies; assessment measures for each theme; a final unit assessment; and suggestion for further study on technology integration in place-based and environmental education.
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