61 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 V. L. Akerson, G. A. Buck (eds.), Critical Questions in STEM Education, Contemporary Trends and Issues in Science Education 51, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57646-2_5 Chapter 5 Inquiring into Environmental STEM: Striving for an Engaging Inquiry-Based E-STEM Experience for Pre-Service Teachers Angela Burgess and Gayle A. Buck 5.1 Introduction Many scholars have described the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) knowledge and skills for a nation’s future economic pros- perity and technological competitiveness in global markets (see Blackley & Howell, 2015; Bybee, 2013). Although some fear a potential consequence of this focus on STEM innovations may be global environmental issues, Bybee (2013) argues that the integrated disciplinary approach STEM offers (Kennedy & Odell, 2014) may be useful in addressing global environmental challenges such as climate change, energy production and environmental health. The North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) have proposed an integrated approach to edu- cation for sustainable development via Environmental STEM (E-STEM) that aligns with their identifed educational best practices including hands-on learning, tangible themes, student interest and fostering achievement and empowerment (Fraser et al., 2013). The NAAEE defnes E-STEM as “the integration of environmental educa- tion into STEM learning” (NAAEE, 2020). For students to become E-STEM literate, however, teachers need the content and pedagogical knowledge in order to be able to effectively instruct, assess and design STEM curricula (Shernoff, Sinha, Bressler, & Ginsburg, 2017). This task may not be as simple as it frst appears (Akerson et al., 2018). Birney and Cronin (2019) explained, “Beyond the familiar vocabulary of job training, linked learning and twenty-frst century skills, STEM teachers must create a combined learning experi- ence that has no precedent in education” (P.1). This lack of precedence means that most teachers have had little direct experience of STEM education (Awad & Barak, 2018) and so may struggle to implement STEM education in their classrooms A. Burgess (*) · G. A. Buck Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA e-mail: ahburges@iu.edu; gabuck@indiana.edu