Project Learning Tree® (PLT) is an award winning, broad based environmental education program for grades PreK-12. PLT activity guides and supplemental modules provide the needed tools to bring the environment into classrooms - and students into the environment. Project Learning Tree, developed in 1976, is a national program of the American Forest Foundation, a non-profit organization that works for healthy forests, quality environmental education, and informed decision making about our communities and our world. Developed to meet state and national education standards, PLT uses an extensive multi-layered curriculum development and revision process to guide the development of its materials. More than 500,000 educators have participated in PLT professional development workshops and use PLT materials to reach millions of students.

Project Learning Tree focuses on grades PreK-12 with inter-disciplinary activities adaptable to a specific grade level.

Environmental education enhances critical thinking, problem solving, and effective decision making skills, and teaches individuals to weigh various sides of an environmental issue to make informed and responsible decisions.

Project Learning Tree:

• Encourages creativity, originality, and flexibility to resolve environmental issues.
• Provides students with the awareness, appreciation, understanding, skills, and commitment to address environmental issues.
• Enables students to apply scientific processes and thinking skills to resolve environmental problems.
• Helps students acquire an appreciation and tolerance of diverse viewpoints on environmental issues.
• Is approved for classroom use in every state and, in many states, correlated with state science, social studies, language arts and environmental education standards and assessments.

Project Learning Tree offers a 400+ page activity guide for grades PreK-8, and four secondary modules on forest ecology, municipal solid waste, forest issues, and, environmental and human health issues. Three additional secondary modules are in development.

Educators describe PLT workshops as "the best I have attended," and PLT guides as having a wide variety of material that encourages students to explore, highly adaptable to specific classroom needs, reliable, scientific, and full of educational quality.

Project Learning Tree's elementary and secondary curriculum guides earned "straight A's" in 1995 and 2002 from the California Department of Education's Office of Environmental Education and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. In 2002, PLT received the Spirit of the Land Award from the Salt Lake Organizing Committee at the Winter Olympics, which honors outstanding efforts to educate people about environmental issues in all areas of society. PLT also received the 1999 Gold Award from the Solid Waste Association of North America for School Curriculum Excellence. In 1998, Project Learning Tree was honored by the American Society of Association Executives with their Trophy Award and Certificate for Print-Based Education and Community Service Education Program.

The Project Learning Tree activity guide and supplemental modules are available by attending a professional development workshop at a maximum cost of $30. To contact the Project Learning Tree Coordinator in your state for a workshop schedule, visit www.plt.org. Workshops are held in every state at various locations and times throughout the year. For more information about Project Learning Tree, visit www.plt.org or call the national office at (202) 463-2462.