Learning to Give, Philanthropy education resources that teach giving and civic engagement

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Environment: Sustaining Our World (6-8)
Unit of 3 lessons
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6th-8th Grade
Subjects:

Language Arts, Philanthropy, Science and Social Studies

Key Words/Concepts click to view
Lesson 1 : ELA: Cause/Effect; Group Discussions; Personal Response; Reflection; Universal Themes
 PHIL: Global Community; Time/Talent/Treasure
 SCI: Compare/Contrast; Graphs/Charts/Tables; Health; Water
 SOC: Civic Responsibility/Virtue; Common Good; Economic Sectors; Nonprofit
Lesson 2 : PHIL: 4 genOn
 SCI: Experiment; Pollution; Water
 SOC: Common Good
Lesson 3 : ELA: Persuasive Techniques; Reflection
 PHIL: Advocacy; Common Good
 SCI: Water
 SOC: Civic Responsibility/Virtue

Unit Purpose:

This lesson raises the learners’ awareness of water quality, water treatment, and responsible management of water resources around the world. Learners explore the issue of safe water accessibility and discuss responsibilities of a global citizen to assure all people have safe drinking water.  The learners’ experiment with a natural water filtration process. They review the water cycle and come to an understanding  to sustain the quality of the world's water  for the common good. The students will write a "Safe Water" pledge and may choose to sign it indicating action they will personally take to assure sustainable, safe water. They will create persuasive products to share their knowledge of issues around safe drinking water.

Unit Duration:

One 45 Minute Class Period and Additional Time to complete a Service Project

Unit Objectives:

The learners will:

  • identify regions or countries around the world where the water is not safe for drinking (potable water).
  • define philanthropy and its relationship to global citizenship.
  • reflect on their individual global responsibility.  
  • define environmental stewardship as the careful and responsible management of our environment.
  • identify the stages of the water treatment process.
  • review the water cycle.
  • determine the need to sustain the quality of the world's water. 
  • communicate with others about the environmental cost of polluted water.
  • create a poster or other persuasive product for promoting responsible water use for a sustainable future.

Notes for Teaching:

A Closer Look: Some Facts and Resources for Sustainability (Educator background and resources)

 
·         Environmental Protection and the Human Footprint: Air pollution, global warming, deforestation, water contamination, and other harmful circumstances put our planet’s sustainability at risk. 
o    For more information on the top environmental concerns, visit Green Living at greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Top_30_Environmental_Concerns
 
·         Global Leadership and Collaboration: Sustaining and protecting our environment and livelihoods are shared priorities across the world. The United Nations Environmental Programme works to promote effective responses to international environmental challenges and foster cooperation on environmental issues among the international community. The group’s six priority areas include climate change, disasters and conflicts, ecosystem management, environmental governance, harmful substances, and resource efficiency (United Nations Environmental Programme). 
o    To learn more about global leadership to protect the environment, visit www.unep.org.
 
·         Global Warming: Carbon dioxide and other gases warm the surface of the planet naturally by trapping solar heat in the atmosphere, which keeps our planet habitable. Global warming is caused by burning fossil fuels such as coal, gas, and oil and clearing forests, all of which have dramatically increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere, therefore forcing temperatures to rise. We're already seeing changes. Glaciers are melting, plants and animals are being forced from their habitats, and the number of severe storms and droughts is increasing (The Evidence). 
o    To learn more, consider viewing the documentary An Inconvenient Truth or visiting www.climatecrisis.net.
 
·         Population Growth and Overpopulation: Human population rates have significantly increased over the past two centuries, largely due to medical, technological, and economic advancements. This rapid growth has been associated with environmental changes including:
o    Increasing greenhouse gas emissions that may produce dramatic climatic change, and the destruction of tropospheric ozone
o    Toxification of the soil, air, and water
o    Environmental degradation such as deforestation
o    Loss of biodiversity, or the planet’s range of life forms (Demographic Transition:  An Historical Sociological Perspective)
 
·         Preservation of Natural Resources: According to the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, over the past half-century “humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable period of time in human history, largely to meet rapidly growing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fiber, and fuel.” The assessment found that about 60% of the ecosystem services evaluated are being degraded or used unsustainably (Overview of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment). New York State is rich with natural resources, including water, timber, and natural gas, and there are many ways in which young people can take action to protect natural resources in their communities.
 
·         Role of Government: The U.S. government plays a tremendous role in environmental protection and building a sustainable future. 
 
o    To explore ways in which young people can learn more about the government’s work and getting involved, visit the Environmental Protection Agency at www.epa.gov/epahome/citizen.htm.
 
·         Urban Environments: Urban planning is a process by which professional planners guide the development of a city or town so that it furthers the welfare of its current and future residents by creating convenient, equitable, healthful, efficient, and attractive environments. Any aspect of a neighborhood that is not part of the natural environment is called the “built environment.”
 
A Closer Look: Thinking for Sustainability
Addressing sustainability requires systems-thinking, or a perspective that requires consideration of the whole, parts of the whole, and how these things relate to one another. For example, when thinking about pollution, the systems-thinker considers local pollution and its impact on other communities, countries, and the world, as well as how worldwide pollution may affect the local community.
 
Per The Cloud Institute, there are several “Habits of Mind” that support sustainability (Education for Sustainability). They include:
 
·         Understanding of Systems as the Context for Decision Making: The extent to which one sees both the whole system and its parts as well as the extent to which an individual can place one's self within the system.
 
·         Intergenerational Responsibility: The extent to which one takes responsibility for the effect(s) of her/his actions on future generations.
 
·         Mindful of and Skillful with Implications and Consequences: The extent to which one consciously makes choices and plans actions to achieve positive systemic impact.
 
·         Protecting and Enhancing the Commons: The extent to which one works to reconcile the conflicts between individual rights and the responsibilities of citizenship to tend to the commons.
 
·         Awareness of Driving Forces and their Impacts: The extent to which one recognizes and can act strategically and responsibly in the context of the driving forces that influence our lives.
 
·         Assumption of Strategic Responsibility: The extent to which one assumes responsibility for one's self and others by designing, planning and acting with whole systems in mind.
 
·         Paradigm Shifter: The extent to which one recognizes mental models and paradigms as guiding constructs that change over time with new knowledge and applied insight.

Bibliographical References:

The Cloud Institute—Education for Sustainability-A one-stop resource for youth sustainability education
www.cloudinstitute.org

New York State Department of Environmental Protection—Environment Resources Map
An interactive map highlighting the resources and environmental problems facing different geographical areas
www.dec.ny.gov/imsmaps/ERM/viewer.htm

The Habitable Planet – Online Textbooks
Free, full-text versions of multiple textbooks covering a variety of different sustainability-related topics
www.learner.org/courses/envsci/unit/index.php

The Waters Foundation—Systems-Thinking in Schools
A free, one-stop resource for information, materials, and guidance regarding Systems-Thinking
www.watersfoundation.org

UNESCO—Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future
A free, extremely comprehensive resource for sustainability education offered by UNESCO
www.unesco.org/education/tlsf

National Geographic Channel—Various Games Fun, free, interactive games that teach youth about environmental sustainability issues across a variety of topics
channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/games

WEACT—Environmental Justice Resources
A comprehensive resource center for those looking to get involved in environmental justice
www.weact.org

Lawmakers discussing regulations on water bottlers.  http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Health/story?id=8031551&page=1

World Water Council: http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/index.php?id=25

Global Stewards.org http://www.globalstewards.org/water.htm

EPA Sustainable Water http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/sustain/index.cfm 

Global Water Challenge, sign-up to be a Water Warrior http://www.globalwaterchallenge.org/warriors/warriors-home.php 

The Water Project http://thewaterproject.org/how-to-give-clean-water.asp

UNICEF Reports: Safe Drinking Water http://www.unicef.org/specialsession/about/sgreport-pdf/03_SafeDrinkingWater_D7341Insert_English.pdf

Progress: A Statistical Review Since the World Summit on Children http://www.unicef.org/specialsession/about/sgreport-pdf/sgreport_adapted_stats_eng.pdf 

The Global Education Project http://www.theglobaleducationproject.org/earth/human-conditions.php

Annie Leonard’s video on the environmental cost of water bottles: http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-bottled-water/

State Curriculum and Philanthropy Theme Frameworks:

See individual lessons for benchmark detail.

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