Environmental Science
Over the course of a semester, students investigate current environmental issues including global climate change, human population growth, water conservation and distribution, food production, oil dependence, and alternative energy resources. Because these concepts are interdisciplinary in nature, our students are able to draw real connections between science and humanity. Drawing on the environment's relationships with economics, politics, war, and the human condition, students learn to express well-informed opinions and ideas about environmental science. Students investigate topics and share information through presentations, research, writing, public speaking, and a variety of projects.
Selected Resources:
- Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
- Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner
- Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature by Janine Benyus
- The Party's Over: Oil, War, and the Fate of Industrial Societies by Richard Heinberg
Environmental Science Projects
Water Project- Stakeholders’ Perspectives and Human Resources
Students are divided into small groups to investigate water issues at a given local, national, or international location. Examples include Mono Lake, the Yuba River, the Mississippi River dead zone, the Three Gorges Dam in China, and the Saddam River (canal) in Iraq. Students identify stakeholders, and then research primarily by telephone interviews with experts and those most involved in the issues. Each group gives a 10-15 formal presentation.
Omnivore’s Dilemma Performance Arts Pieces
Corn and fast food, industrial organic agriculture, grass farming, and hunting/gathering are the major chapters in Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Students read this book for the Peace Studies/Environmental Science Food Intensive. As an intro to this intensive, students are divided into groups, each taking one of the major chapters and turning its essential ideas into a performance arts piece. In the past, students have written and performed songs, created films, and acted in short plays. Costumes, props, and inclusion of various community members are all fair game.
Human Population Growth
After understanding the statistics behind exponential growth, we start to look at human population growth and the indications that we are an over-populated species. Students research and present on the following topics: Russia, population, and hunger; China, population, and government involvement in family planning; Tanzania, population, and HIV; and Italy, population, and reactions to decreasing population trends.
Global Warming Mock Trial- Bangladesh vs. Industrialized Nations
The United Nations Convention on Climate Change calls for nations to address the potential problems of CO2 emissions. The Convention also includes a process for nations to settle disputes before the International Court of Justice. Severe coastal flooding is possible with climate change, so many countries, including poor countries like Bangladesh, can appeal to the international community for assistance. As a class, we engage in the mock trial of Bangladesh vs. Industrialized Nations. Students are lawyers and witnesses for both sides as we act out and discuss the effectiveness of trials, the UN Convention, and solutions to catastrophes caused by climate change.