INJECTING ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ELEMENTS INTO THE SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM FOR JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NIGERIA Dr. Adebisi Adedayo 1 and Dr. J. A. Olawepo 2 Department of Geography, University of Ilorin, Nigeria. Department of Curriculum Studies & Educational Technology, University of Ilorin, Nigeria. ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to propose a strategy for introducing environmental education directly into the Social Studies curriculum for Nigeria Journal Secondary Schools in a cumulative and logical fashion. Before doing so, a content analysis of the current national social studies curriculum was performed in order to identify the amount and sequence of environmental education elements present in it and to point out any deficiencies and anomalies. A suitable environmental education framework was then identified from a survey of literature and used to select relevant themes and units which were positioned within the existing curriculum Introduction Environmental Education (BE) currently being emphasised in Nigeria is primarily concerned with providing learners with values, attitudes, skills and knowledge (VASK) necessary for studying the relationship between mankind and the environment in order to identify problems of survival and proffer orations to them (Fensham 1978, Noibi, 1991). This is also in line with the goal of social studies which is to inculcate usable knowledge, skills, attitudes and value on societal issues and to examine the interactive processes particularly between human beings and environmental resources, in order to improve the quality of life of the people. The school, including a well-conceived and dynamic curriculum, is seen as one of the best ways of achieving this goal in Nigeria. According to Stapp (1967), environmental programme or components of curricula must follow certain principles, notably, logical sequence, continuity and progression so that the understanding developed early can be expanded upon in later years. Despite the injection of BE in the recently introduced citizenship curriculum at the secondary school level by the Federal Military Government (NERDC, 1992), practicing teachers need to acquire the necessary skills for sequential incorporation of EE directly into the school systems. Indeed, rather than teaching just EE module in the citizenship education auricular, it is important that the various EE components are properly infused into the normal contents of the different teaching subjects to facilitate their cross-curricular teaching. It is against this background mat an attempt is made in this paper to propose a sequence of environmental education themes within the social studies curriculum for junior secondary schools by injecting EE concepts into each of the existing themes and breaking them into units and content clusters. Environmental Education Components of Social Studies Curriculum For J.S.S. The current social studies curriculum for junior secondary schools (J.S.S.) In Nigeria was produced in 1977 (NERC, 1977) and its implementation started in 1982. Social studies is a core