Young girl looking though binocular in jungle

Teaching How to Think, Not What to Think

Environmental Education offers opportunities for hands-on learning in local and real-world contexts promoting active learning, leadership, and stewardship.

By teaching students how to think, not what to think, about complex environmental issues, PLT is helping young people learn the problem-solving skills they need to make informed choices about the environment. We are also helping to prepare a 21st century workforce faced with increasingly complex environmental issues, like climate change and energy.

PLT Makes a Difference

hand woman listens to a tree with a stethoscope in the forest, concept love the environment. copy space. selective focus.

Healthier Schools and Communites

PLT encourages students to improve their schools, homes, and neighborhoods based on what they learn in the classroom. Hands-on and outdoor activities increase students to focus and encourage them to get outside and be active.

Group Looking For Minibeasts At Activity Centre

Hands-on Activities

PLT provides educators with peer-reviewed, award-winning curriculum materials to engage students in learning about the environment. We show teachers how easy it is to bring environmental education into their everyday lesson plans, empowering them to be confident when taking students outdoors.

Female teacher sitting at desk of her classroom

Ongoing Training for Educators

More than 675,000 teachers have received training in Project Learning Tree since the program began in 1976, making PLT one of the most widely used environmental education programs in the United States. Training offers guidance on connecting activities to academic standard learning objectives.

Portrait of young children throwing leaves around on an autumns day

Future Stewards

PLT is growing and a community of solutions-oriented young people and adults ready to lend their voice and engage on sustainability issues. Connecting kids to nature has proven physical and mental health benefits, sparks curiosity about the natural world, and cultivates leadership.

hand holding small tree for planting into the soil

Sustainable Futures and Green Jobs

We are working with leaders on both sides of the border to create green jobs and empower youth to tackle sustainability issues. PLT can create the skills needed to make decisions about the future that impact out environment, health, social life, and economy.

Young teen examining the tree stem through with magnifying glass.

Supporting STEM

Environmental education offers an engaging platform for gaining and applying knowledge and skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), meeting 21st Century Needs.

HELP GROW THE NEXT GENERATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDS

With your support, we’ll connect children to nature, engage students in learning, and improve student achievement.

Contribute Today

The PLT Network Makes Us Unique

Project Learning Tree is distinguished by the quality, commitment, and extent of its network of national and state partners and sponsoring organizations. Learn more about PLT’s Network and Partners and discover how it enables PLT to:

be relevant for all communities, locations and settings

support and change communities, one community at a time, which allows us to adapt materials and activities to people’s unique needs

produce high-quality and relevant activities that make learning fun