Lessons from a pilot introduction of environmental education into a teacher education programme designed to address pupil disengagement from school science, are discussed in this paper. Pre-service teachers discovered that environmental education can be a potent context for creativity and continuity in curriculum planning. Interpretation of the responses demonstrates that environmental education can be used to develop scientific and eco-literacy and that pre-service teachers can be imaginative when offered the opportunity to link disparate areas of science in this context, but the timing of the intervention appears to be critical. Exposure to school culture appears to inhibit their ability to plan imaginatively. This has implications for pre-service teacher education and practising teachers internationally, if pupil disenchantment with science is to be halted.