You are now entering the Twittersphere! Where EE meets social media

“Humans did not weave web 2.0, they are merely a strand in it. Whatever they do to the interweb, they do to themselves.” Is social media just a diversionary gimmick? A passing phase? The latest craze? Or can social media be socially ‘transformative’ media with an integral place in EE pedagogies? In this paper I will examine the affordances of Web 2.0 (and 3.0) technologies, such as social media, in the light of differences in perceptions of what technology represents underpinned by comparative theories of technology. An instrumental theory (or neutralist approach) of technology is one which views technology as a ‘tool’ without any inherent value whereas a critical theory of technology views technology as a site of struggle, of power relationships and of social transformation. From a critical perspective Web 2.0 (and 3.0) technologies have the capacity to democratise the knowledge economy by turning knowledge consumers into “prod-users” (Bruns, 2008); to promote ubiquitous learning; and to facilitate collaboration through online Communities of Practice. However, applying a critical technology perspective means that we also need to consider that web technologies are not a panacea: misappropriation and indiscriminate use of technology; substitution for valid EE experiences; environmental impacts; and exacerbating the digital divide are the flip side of the coin (W. J. Rohwedder, 1999).

Children's understanding of sustainability in their home and kindergarten

This article presents an ongoing study within early childhood education for sustainability at the Department for Early Childhood Education in Stavanger, in collaboration with the School of Early Childhood, Queensland University of Technology, in Brisbane, Australia. The study commenced in 2014, and will compare the responses to interviews of young children (4-5 years) in Brisbane with those of children in Stavanger, in order to find out ways to enhance learning about sustainability topics, to identify which kind of environmental/sustainability activities are memorable for young children, and to obtain mutual inspiration about early childhood education for sustainability from the different countries.

Geography and international assessment: Opportunity or distraction

Assessments of students in primary and secondary education are debated among practitioners, policy-makers, and parents. In some countries, assessment scores serve a criterion for passage between levels of education, for example, from secondary school to post-secondary education. Those practices are often traditions and while they come under criticism, they are a long-accepted part of the educational practices within a country. In those countries, the students’ assessment and examination scores are posted in public places or published in local news media. In other countries, assessments are used for the periodic checks on individual student progress. The results of assessments may be used for rating schools, and in some cases, they are used for evaluating the performance of teachers. Assessments are used less often to analyze student performance and make judgments regarding the performance of the curriculum. Even less often, assessments serve to critically establish strategies for the improvement of student learning and educational practices. The ends on the continuum of the assessment debate often focus on the opportunities that assessments present to improve education on one end. The other end is that assessments serve as a major distraction from the important work of teachers by removing classroom room time from instruction. The debate on those issues continues.

Democratic and participatory citizenship: Youth action for sustainability in Australia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of recent examples of action competence among young people engaged in democratic participatory action in sustainability programs in Australia. It explores examples of priorities identified for citizen action, the forms this action takes and the ways that democratic participation can achieve positive outcomes for future sustainability. It suggests multiple ways for developing action competence that provides further opportunities for authentic and engaging citizen action for youth connected to school- and community-based learning, in new and powerful ways. Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper examines international literature on the theory of “action competence,” its significance for education for sustainability (EfS) and the ways it can inform education for young people’s democratic participatory citizenship and civic engagement. It analyses examples of the development of action competency among young people in Australia, including the problems and priorities identified for citizen action, the forms this action takes and how it can achieve positive outcomes for sustainability. Following this analysis, the paper suggests multiple ways for developing action competence in EfS in schools and communities in new and powerful ways. Findings – Developing EfS to increase democratic and participatory action among young citizens is now widely regarded as an urgent education priority. There are growing exemplars of school and community organizations’ involvement in developing EfS learning and teaching to increase participatory citizenship. Young people are being empowered to develop a greater sense of agency through involvement in programs that develop action competence with a focus on sustainability in and out of school. New forms of participation include student action teams and peer collaboration among youth who are marshaling social media and direction action to achieve change. Originality/value – It contributes to the literature on multiple ways for developing action competence in EfS.

Lähiympäristö nepalilaisessa arjessa - oppilaiden ja opettajien käsityksiä omista vaikutusmahdollisuuksistaan

Aims. Sustainable development has become the most important theme in the development co-operation in the 21st century. Sustainable development is pursued by environmental education among other things. This research rose from the discussion about the meaning of environmental education in developing countries and especially the effect it might have in the environment and society. Nepal and one of its rural private schools was selected as a research object. The themes and questions of the research are: 1. Conceptions of the immediate environment of students and teachers: What does immediate environment mean according to the students and teachers? 2. Students most important acts in the environment: What kind of effect do the students think they can have on the environment in their everyday life? 3. Teachers opinions, experiences and methods in environmental education: What do teachers think should be taught to the students in environmental education? What are the teachers actually teaching? What kind of methods are the teachers using while teaching environmental education? Researching the conceptions of immediate environment and acts in the environment gives information about the students and teachers relation with the nature in their everyday life and the baseline from which environmental education will be implemented from. Teachers opinions, experiences and methods in environmental education provide information on the current implementation of the environmental education. Methods. Ethnography was selected as a research method. Before collecting the actual data, a pre-study was conducted. The aim of the pre-study was to specify the research themes and practice the cross-cultural interview as a research method. The actual data was collected in the last week of January 2010 in Dhangadhi, Nepal. The data included twenty-two drawings and captions from the students and one group interview with the teachers. The data was analyzed with brief quantitative analysis and full analysis was done with a qualitative method called content analysis. Results and conclusions. Teachers and student s conceptions of immediate environment differ from each other. Students saw the immediate environment from the scientific approach while the teachers thought it was more social conception. The interface was found in their own personal environment. This interface is a good baseline for environmental education. The most important acts in the environment for the students were protection towards the environment. The students saw their possibilities to have an influence in the environment through the school. A connection between the school and acting in the environment was evident. In the teachers opinions and experiences of environmental education, environmental problems and the importance of teaching attitudes and values were found. No logic thematic entities were discovered but the teachers did use different kinds of methods in their teaching. Achieving the international aims for environmental education was very challenging in the research school because of the teachers lack of information and skills to teach the subject. The context where the school works was also challenging.

Possibilities of an international assessment in geography

A recent editorial in International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education (IRGEE) (Stoltman, Lidstone & Kidman, 2014) highlighted an opportunity for the inclusion of geography as a subject in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) tests. At present TIMSS tests only encompass mathematics and physical sciences. The IRGEE editors encouraged geography educators to take the initiative and be proactive for a TIMSS international assessment in geography to become a reality. This paper reports on a research project to identify the perceptions of the global geography education community on the advantages and challenges of initiating and implementing such tests. The authors highlight a number of consistencies and tensions revealed by the respondents as well as potential issues of validity, reliability and fairness of a geography assessment instrument. The implications of these findings for ongoing research are discussed.

Lapset ja nuoret ympäristökansalaisina : Ympäristökasvatuksen näkökulma osallistumiseen

Children and young people as environmental citizens the environmental education perspective to participation This doctoral thesis examines the participation of children and young people in developing their own environment at school, as a part of environmental education. The aim of the research is to assess and consider children and young people s environmentally responsible participation and its effectiveness in relation to the participants own learning and the end results of the participation. The research combines the perspectives of environmental education and citizenship education through the concept of environmental citizenship. Environmental education, which enhances environmental citizenship, offers children and young people the possibility to be active citizens and learn about citizenship in their own lives by taking action themselves. The research is made up of two parts which complement each other. The first part consists of an action research carried out in the Joensuu Lyseo Upper Secondary School, where an environmental education course with a traffic-related theme was planned, developed and evaluated. The second part is made up of an interview survey carried out in Helsinki. In the survey actors from schools and various city offices, who were involved in development projects of school environments, were interviewed. According to the research results, all-round cooperation and more open relations with those outside of the school environment are important ways to support environmental citizenship in schools. Thus, environmentally responsible participation offers a chance to learn competence that an environmental citizen needs the knowledge, skills and willingness to act that have not been successfully taught through traditional school education. The research introduces a model of environmentally responsible participation as a learning process, in which learning is studied through the development of competence, self-empowerment and social empowerment. The model makes the context of environmental education visible and puts emphasis on reflection in the learning process. A central factor in children and young people s self-empowerment is the sense of being heard and taken into consideration. At the moment children and young people s rights to participate are strong, due to legislation, school curricula, and several national and international agreements. Despite this, involving them in developing their own immediate surroundings has not become a part of schools and planning organisations daily life and established methods. Reasons for this situation can be found in the lack of regard and resources for these matters, in the complex nature of planning and a long time frame, and the problems of ownership and of reaching each other. Central to overcoming these obstacles are a gradual change in conduct and mentalities and the strengthening of teachers and officials competence. Children and young people need different ways and methods of varying levels of involvement, structures and arenas which enable participation and in which environmental citizenship can be realized. Key words: environmental citizenship, environmental education, citizenship education, children and young people s participation, social learning, self-empowerment, social empowerment, school, community planning

Introducing the multi-faceted teaching experiment

A mathematics classroom is comprised of many mathematicians with varying understanding of mathematics knowledge, including the teacher, students and sometimes researchers. To align with this conceptualisation of knowledge and understanding, the multi-faceted teaching experiment will be introduced as an approach to study all classroom participants’ interactions with the shared knowledge of mathematics. Drawing on the experiences of a large curriculum project, it is claimed that, unlike a multi-tiered teaching experiment, the multi-faceted teaching experiment provides a research framework that allows for the study of mathematicians’ building of knowledge in a classroom without privileging the experience of any one participant.

The inclusion of geography in TIMSS: Can consensus be reached?

An initial call by the editors of International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education (IRGEE) prompted a study about the inclusion of geography in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) tests. This study found that the geography education community were overwhelmingly in favour of such a move, believing that the information collected would be valuable in enhancing learning outcomes through its impact on research, policy and teaching practice (Lane & Bourke, 2016). However, a number of questions about the development and implementation of this assessment were posed. This paper addresses two of these questions: (1) What is the global geographical education community’s views about Grades 4 and 8 as target year levels for the assessment?; and, (2) What types of knowledge and cognitive dimensions would they like to see assessed? Based on these findings, the overarching key question that requires further discussion is: Can there be some degree of consensus in terms of what should be assessed and how the test should be implemented?

Koulun kestävän kehityksen työn merkitys kiinteistön jätehuollossa Case: Helsingin peruskoulujen jätekustannukset ja -määrät

Koulujen kestävän kehityksen työllä tarkoitetaan ekologiseen, taloudelliseen, sosiaaliseen ja kulttuuriseen kestävyyteen pohjautuvaa ympäristökasvatusta. Helsingissä peruskoulujen kestävän kehityksen työvälineet (ympäristökartoitukset ja – ohjelmat) ovat perustuneet koulujen ympäristöasioiden suunnitteluun, opetussuunnitelmien toteutumiseen ja ylläpitotoimintoihin, kuten jätehuoltoon. Opetusvirasto käytti vuosina 2005 ja 2009 ympäristötoiminnan arvioinnissa ympäristötasokuvauksia 1-3, joista arvosana 3 kuvaa ympäristöasioissa edistyneintä koulua. Tutkielman tavoitteena on tutkia ympäristötoiminnan tasojen perusteella ryhmiteltyjen peruskoulujen välisiä eroja jätekustannuksissa ja – määrissä (euroa/henkilö ja kg/henkilö) ja löytää mahdollisesti eroihin vaikuttavia tekijöitä. Tutkielman toimeksiantajana on 4V-Välitä, vaikuta, viihdy, voi hyvin – hanke, jonka yhtenä toiminnan osa-alueena on koulujen kestävän kehityksen työ. Tuloksista tullaan johtamaan tietoa Opetusviraston sekä muiden tahojen, kuten HSY:n ja Palmian ympäristötyöhön sekä Kiinteistöviraston Tilakeskuksen hallinnassa olevien koulukiinteistöjen jätehuollon kehittämiseen. Tutkimusaineistoina käytettiin Helsingin peruskoulujen vuoden 2009 jätekustannuksia ja tutkielman yhteydessä kerätyn jäteseurannan tuloksia vuodelta 2010. Jätekustannus- ja jätemääräaineistot yhdistettiin vuoden 2009 ympäristötoiminnan tasoluokitusten perusteella otokseksi (n=64). Lopullinen jätekustannus- ja jätemääräanalyysi tehtiin 29 koulun otoksella, josta oli rajattu pois kiinteistöt, joilla on koulun toiminnan lisäksi muita käyttötarkoituksia. Analyysiin sisällytettiin myös tarkempi tarkastelu koulujen seka- ja biojätejakeiden kustannuksista ja määristä. Tutkimuksen johtopäätöksenä todettiin, että eri ympäristötasoisten peruskoulujen välillä on huomattavia euro- ja kilomääräisiä eroja henkilöä kohden lasketuissa jätekustannuksissa ja –määrissä. Kokonaisjätemäärässä ei ole tapahtunut merkittävää muutosta tarkasteluvuosien välillä, mutta lajittelu näyttäisi kuitenkin tehostuneen. Tulosten perusteella ympäristöasioissa edistyneiden tason 3 koulujen keskimääräiset sekajätemäärät ja -kustannukset olivat pienimmät tasojen 1 ja 2 kouluihin verrattuna. Biojätemäärät ja –kustannukset olivat suurimmat tason 2 kouluissa. Jätekustannuksiin ja – määriin näyttäisivät vaikuttavan jäteastioiden määrien, kokojen ja tyhjennysrytmien optimointi sekä jäteastioiden täyttöasteet. Peruskoulujen tulisi keskittyä kestävän kehityksen työn avulla jätteiden synnyn ehkäisyyn ja vähentämiseen, jotta jätekustannuksetkin vähentyisivät jätehuollon kehittämistoimenpiteiden seurauksena.

Aktiiviseen kansalaisuuteen kasvattaminen yläkoulun maantieteen opetuksessa

Tutkielmassa tarkasteltiin aktiivista kansalaisuutta perusopetuksen yläkoulun (luokat 7–9) maantieteen opetuksessa. Tutkielman taustana olivat aktiiviseen kansalaisuuteen liittyvät viralliset ja epäviralliset diskurssit: opetussuunnitelman perusteiden aihekokonaisuudet, kouluun kohdistuvat kansalaiskasvatushankkeet sekä nuoriin, kansalaisuuteen ja kansalaisyhteiskuntaan liittyvät keskustelut. Maantieteen opetuksen osalta taustana olivat opetussuunnitelman velvoitteet huomioida aktiivinen kansalaisuus yläkoulun maantieteen opetuksessa sekä (pääasiassa brittiläinen) kirjallisuus, jossa maantieteen ja kansalaiskasvatuksen/aktiivisen kansalaisuuden välillä nähdään yhtäläisyyksiä. Tutkielmassa pyrittiin selvittämään, mitä aktiivinen kansalaisuus on yläkoulun maantieteen opetuksessa ja miten maantieteen opettajat suhtautuvat tehtäviinsä nuorten kansalaisten kasvattajina ja yhteiskunnallisina vaikuttajina. Tutkielmaa varten kerättiin teemahaastatteluaineisto kuudelta yläkoulun maantieteen opettajalta. Haastatteluihin pyrittiin löytämään mahdollisimman aktiivisia maantieteen opettajia. Haastatteluaineiston analyysissa käytettiin sisällönanalyysia, ja aineiston avulla pyrittiin kuvaamaan ilmiötä. Haastateltujen opettajien mukaan yläkoulun maantieteen opetuksessa luonnonmaantieteelliset sisällöt painottuvat enemmän kuin kulttuurimaantieteelliset. Aktiivisen kansalaisuuden kannalta keskeisiä sisältöjä, kuten vaikutusmahdollisuuksia oman ympäristön suunnitteluun ja kehittymiseen sekä kotikunnan ja lähiympäristön tutkimista käsitellään opetuksessa vain vähän, jos ollenkaan. Aktiivinen kansalaisuus on yläkoulun maantieteen opetuksessa eniten tiedon jakamista, ajattelun taitojen ja mielipiteen muodostamisen harjoittelua sekä ympäristövastuullisuuteen kansalaisuuteen kasvattamista. Opetuksessa käytetään myös aktiivisen kansalaisuuden kannalta keskeisiä työtapoja, mutta työtapojen käyttö vaihtelee. Haastatellut opettajat eivät koe opetussuunnitelman aihekokonaisuuksia juurikaan omakseen. Opettajat eivät myöskään määrittele kansalaisvaikuttamiseen kasvattamista koulun tärkeimpien tehtävien joukkoon. Osa opettajista kokee kuitenkin olevansa yhteiskunnallinen vaikuttaja opettajana. Opettajien puheessa koulun kansalaiskasvatuksen tavoite, kunnon kansalainen, ei määrity kovin aktiivisena tai poliittisena. Opettajien puhe sisältää kuitenkin monenlaisia näkemyksiä suhteessa nuoriin kansalaisina ja aktiivisuuteen: toisaalta nuoret eivät ole kiinnostuneita yhteiskunnallisista asioista eikä heiltä vaaditakaan sitä, toisaalta maaperä nuorten kasvattamiseen aktiivisiksi kansalaisiksi on hyvä ja aktiivisuus on pieniä asioita lähiympäristössä sekä yhdessä tekemiseen uskomista. Haastattelujen pohjalta todettiin, että lukuun ottamatta joidenkin opettajien ympäristökasvatuksellista otetta, aktiivinen kansalaisuus ei ole täysin tiedostettu tavoite yläkoulun maantieteen opetuksessa.

Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Sea Turtle Symposium, 3-7 March 1998, Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico

For the first time in its history, the International Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation migrated to a site outside of the United States. Thus the Eighteenth edition was hosted by the Mazatlán Research Unit of the Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología of the Mexican National Autonomous University (UNAM) in Mazatlán, Sinaloa (Mexico) where it was held from 3-7, March, 1998. Above all, our symposium is prominent for its dynamism and enthusiasm in bringing together specialists from the world´s sea turtle populations. In an effort to extend this philosophy, and fully aware of how fast the interest in sea turtles has grown, the organizers paid special attention to bring together as many people as possible. With the tremendous efforts of the Travel Committee and coupled with a special interest by the Latin American region´s devotees, we managed to get 653 participants from 43 countries. The number of presentations increased significantly too, reaching a total of 265 papers, ranging from cutting-edge scientific reports based on highly sophisticated methods, to the experiences and successes of community-based and environmental education programs. A priority given by this symposium was the support and encouragement for the construction of "bridges" across cultural and discipline barriers. We found success in achieving a multinational dialogue among interest groups- scientists, resource managers, decision makers, ngo's, private industry. There was a broad representation of the broad interests that stretch across these sectors, yet everyone was able to listen and offer their own best contribution towards the central theme of the Symposium: the conservation of sea turtles and the diversity of marine and coastal environments in which they develop through their complicated and protracted life cycle. Our multidisciplinary approach is highly important at the present, finding ourselves at a cross roads of significant initiatives in the international arena of environmental law, where the conservation of sea turtles has a key role to play. Many, many people worked hard over the previous 12 months, to make the symposium a success. Our sincerest thanks to all of them: Program committee: Laura Sarti (chair), Ana Barragán, Rod Mast, Heather Kalb, Jim Spotilla, Richard Reina, Sheryan Epperly, Anna Bass, Steve Morreale, Milani Chaloupka, Robert Van Dam, Lew Ehrhart, J. Nichols, David Godfrey, Larry Herbst, René Márquez, Jack Musick, Peter Dutton, Patricia Huerta, Arturo Juárez, Debora Garcia, Carlos Suárez, German Ramírez, Raquel Briseño, Alberto Abreu; Registration and Secretary: Jane Provancha (chair), Lupita Polanco; Informatics: Germán Ramírez, Carlos Suárez; Cover art: Blas Nayar; Designs: Germán Ramírez, Raquel Briseño, Alberto Abreu. Auction: Rod Mast; Workshops and special meetings: Selina Heppell; Student prizes: Anders Rhodin; Resolutions committee: Juan Carlos Cantú; Local organizing committee: Raquel Briseño, Jane Abreu; Posters: Daniel Ríos and Jeffrey Semminoff; Travel committee: Karen Eckert (chair), Marydele Donnelly, Brendan Godley, Annette Broderick, Jack Frazier; Student travel: Francisco Silva and J. Nichols; Vendors: Tom McFarland and J. Nichols; Volunteer coordination: Richard Byles; Latin American Reunión: Angeles Cruz Morelos; Nominations committee: Randall Arauz, Colleen Coogan, Laura Sarti, Donna Shaver, Frank Paladino. Once again, Ed Drane worked his usual magic with the Treasury of the Symposium Significant financial contributions were generously provided by government agencies. SEMARNAP (Mexico´s Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries) through its central office, the Mazatlán Regional Fisheries Research Center (CRIP-Mazatlán) and the National Center for Education and Capacity Building for Sustainable Development (CECADESU) contributed to the logistics and covered the costs of auditoria and audiovisual equipment for the Symposium, teachers and their hotels for the Community Development and Environmental Education workshop in the 5th Latin American Sea Turtle Specialists; DIF (Dept of Family Affairs) provided free accomodation and food for the more than 100 participants in the Latin American Reunion. In this Reunion, the British Council-Mexico sponsored the workshop on the Project Cycle. The National Chamber of the Fisheries Industry (CANAINPES) kindly sponsored the Symposium´s coffee breaks. Personnel from the local Navy (Octave Zona Naval) provided invaluable aid in transport and logistics. The Scientific Coordination Office from UNAM (CICUNAM) and the Latin American Biology Network (RELAB) also provided funding. Our most sincere recognition to all of them. In the name of this Symposium´s compilers, I would like to also express our gratitude to Wayne Witzell, Technical Editor for his guidance and insights and to Jack Frazier for his help in translating and correcting the English of contributions from some non-native English speakers. Many thanks to Angel Fiscal and Tere Martin who helped with the typing in the last, last corrections and editions for these Proceedings. To all, from around the world, who generously helped make the 18th Symposium a huge success, shared their experiences and listened to ours, our deepest gratitude! (PDF contains 316 pages)

Distribution and sighting frequency of reef fishes in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

This study analyzed species richness, distribution, and sighting frequency of selected reef fishes to describe species assemblage composition, abundance, and spatial distribution patterns among sites and regions (Upper Keys, Middle Keys, Lower Keys, and Dry Tortugas) within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) barrier reef ecosystem. Data were obtained from the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) Fish Survey Project, a volunteer fish-monitoring program. A total of 4,324 visual fish surveys conducted at 112 sites throughout the FKNMS were used in these analyses. The data set contained sighting information on 341 fish species comprising 68 families. Species richness was generally highest in the Upper Keys sites (maximum was 220 species at Molasses Reef) and lowest in the Dry Tortugas sites. Encounter rates differed among regions, with the Dry Tortugas having the highest rate, potentially a result of differences in the evenness in fishes and the lower diversity of habitat types in the Dry Tortugas region. Geographic coverage maps were developed for 29 frequently observed species. Fourteen of these species showed significant regional variation in mean sighting frequency (%SF). Six species had significantly lower mean %SF and eight species had significantly higher mean %SF in the Dry Tortugas compared with other regions. Hierarchical clustering based on species composition (presence-absence) and species % SF revealed interesting patterns of similarities among sites that varied across spatial scales. Results presented here indicate that phenomena affecting reef fish composition in the FKNMS operate at multiple spatial scales, including a biogeographic scale that defines the character of the region as a whole, a reef scale (~50-100 km) that include meso-scale physical oceanographic processes and regional variation in reef structure and associated reef habitats, and a local scale that includes level of protection, cross-shelf location and a suite of physical characteristics of a given reef. It is likely that at both regional and local scales, species habitat requirements strongly influence the patterns revealed in this study, and are particularly limiting for species that are less frequently observed in the Dry Tortugas. The results of this report serve as a benchmark for the current status of the reef fishes in the FKNMS. In addition, these data provide the basis for analyses on reserve effects and the biogeographic coupling of benthic habitats and fish assemblages that are currently underway. (PDF contains 61 pages.)

Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary: A rapid assessment of coral, fish, and algae using the AGRRA Protocol

The Flower Garden Banks are topographic features on the edge of the continental shelf in the northwest Gulf of Mexico. These banks are approximately 175 km southeast of Galveston, Texas at 28° north latitude and support the northernmost coral reefs on the North American continental shelf. The East and West Flower Garden Banks (EFG and WFG) and Stetson Bank, a smaller sandstone bank approximately 110 km offshore, are managed and protected as the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS). As part of a region-wide initiative to assess coral reef condition, the benthic and fish communities of the EFG and WFG were assessed using the Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) protocol. The AGRRA survey was conducted during a week-long cruise in August 1999 that was jointly sponsored by the FGBNMS and the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF). A total of 25 coral transects, 132 algal quadrats, 24 fish transects, and 26 Roving Diver (REEF) surveys were conducted. These surveys revealed reefs with high coral cover, dominated by large, healthy corals, little macroalgae, and healthy fish populations. The percent live coral cover was 53.9 and 48.8 at the WFG and EFG, respectively, and the average colony diameter was 93 and 81 cm. Fish diversity was lower than most Caribbean reefs, but large abundances and size of many species reflected the low fishing pressure on the banks. The benthic and fish assemblages at the EFG and WFG were similar. Due to its near pristine conditions, the FGB data will prove to be a valuable component in the AGRRA database and its resulting scale of reef condition for the region. (PDF contains 22 pages.)