First-Time Fellows Module 1: Environmental Crisis Text Set and Reflection

Average Completion Time = 65-75 min

MODULE 1: Environmental Problems Text Set and Reflection

This activity requires time spent with your computer and with nature. It is recommended that you complete the entire activity in one “sitting,” meaning you go from the text set (readings and videos) to spending time in/with nature. The purpose of this module is to support First-Time Fellows to explore different perspectives on the environmental crisis facing humanity today.

A) EXPLORE RESOURCES: Read, listen, and view the following resources to build your understanding of the environmental issues humanity faces today:

WATCH: TED Talk (2023): Are We the Last Generation, or the First Sustainable One? The word "sustainability" gets thrown around a lot these days. But what does it actually mean for humanity to be sustainable? Environmental data scientist Hannah Ritchie digs into the numbers behind human progress across centuries, unpacking why the conventional understanding of sustainability is misleading and showing how we can be the first generation of humans to actually achieve it.

WATCH ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:

TED Talk (2020): 10 Years to Transform the Future of Humanity, or Destabilize the Planet - also see Planetary Boundaries Overview. "For the first time, we are forced to consider the real risk of destabilizing the entire planet," says climate impact scholar Johan Rockström. In a talk backed by vivid animations of the climate crisis, he shows how nine out of the 15 big biophysical systems that regulate the climate -- from the permafrost of Siberia to the great forests of the North to the Amazon rainforest -- are at risk of reaching tipping points, which could make Earth uninhabitable for humanity. Hear his plan for putting the planet back on the path of sustainability over the next 10 years -- and protecting the future of our children.
OR
Documentary Clip: The 11th Hour: Narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, The 11th Hour is a persuasive and informative documentary. It discusses the damaging impact of humankind on the planet. The movie presents the views of over 50 of the world's leading scientists and environmental activists. these include David Suzuki, Stephen Hawking and Wangari Maathai.

READ:

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2024 Summary

PERUSE:

Children's Book: Children's Book: The Lorax (PDF)
Songs: "Big Yellow" Taxi" Lyrics, Video (YouTube) - Joni Mitchell (1967) and “Mercy Mercy Me: The Ecology” Lyrics, Video (YouTube) - Marvin Gaye (1968)

B) REFLECT: Find a solo sit spot outside (or indoors near a plant) and take time to reflect on what you read and watched. Some possible thinking prompts include:

- What surprised you about what you read/saw? What concerned you?
- What is your overall emotional reaction to the text set?
- How would you define your relationship with nature?
- To what extent do you feel like your everyday life is impacted by these environmental problems and issues?
- Did anything that you saw make you feel hopeful or empowered?
- What role do you think you have as an educator to help students examine these complex environmental topics and issues?

C) SUBMIT: Complete and submit a short written reflection (100 - 200 words) that captures your solo sit-spot reflection thoughts below.

OPTIONAL EXTENTIONS

OPTIONAL EXTENSIONS: If you would like to further your background understanding of environmental issues and environmental sustainability, we recommend checking out the following resources:

Two Hour Online Course - “Awakening the Dreamer” by the Pachamama Alliance: This course provides curated video content exploring environmental problems and their relationship with social and economic issues, and culminates with ideas for what humans can do to be a part of the solution.
Documentary - Breaking Boundaries (114 min): This documentary explores how humanity has enjoyed a 10,000-year stretch of relative stability on Earth due to the relatively stable temperature of the Holocene Epoch. However, the current behaviors of humans has had a tremendous impact on nature, bringing humanity dangerously close to the edge of the nine planetary boundaries. The key message from the film is that we still have time to solve this problem, if we can live within the limits of the planetary boundaries and prioritize cutting greenhouse gases to zero, protecting the wetlands, soils, forests and oceans that absorb our impacts, and change our diets and the way we farm food.

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