CELF
Summer Institute Schedule
DAY 1
Introduction to Sustainability and Sustainability Education
Overview of key concepts and issues. Activities related to systems thinking.
DAYS 2 - 3
Mini Sessions
Participants will select from three mini session tracks by grade level and discipline. See online registration to indicate preferences for participation.
During afternoon curriculum work session, participants will explore and develop curricular applications for their subject area. Special attention will be given to the use of big ideas to provide a meaningful context for instruction. All school subject areas will be addressed and supported, with special resources offered for math, science and technology, as well as social studies and ELA. A framework* for the creation of big ideas and creating context driven instruction will be provided and discussed.
Morning Mini Sessions
1. Discovering Principles of Systems and Sustainability Through Interactive Games and Stories
Level: Elementary
In this session participants conduct an inquiry-based curricular module that compares and contrasts nature's ecosystems with the human built world through principles of systems thinking. Utilizing the cooperative skill building game "Silent Squares," students inquire about elements of "successful" systems, and then apply their findings to both an ecosystem and the industrial agriculture system. Concept diagrams are constructed and students reflect in "Power Café," (a fast-paced group inquiry activity) to reach understandings of essential sustainability principles, social issues, and a call to action and responsibility.
2. Small children understanding big ideas: the science of sustainability and how to make it accessible for elementary school students
Level: Elementary
Have you ever wondered how you could help small children understand subjects such as 'global warming' or 'waste of natural resources' when you aren't sure whether you understand the concept completely yourself? In this session, we will discuss sustainability topics (global warming/climate change, recycling, use of natural resources, etc.) and fill in any information that you may need. Participants will learn techniques and explore materials that will make the large concepts more accessible to young children. Resources will be shared that will help teachers answer future questions (of your own or from your students.)
3. Modeling Sustainability in the Classroom
Level: Elementary
As children watch and learn from the environment around them, not just from direct lessons, modeling sustainability is incredibly important. During this session, participants will learn options for classroom set up and daily routines that model sustainability, without making a teacher's life harder. Learn how to involve even young children in classroom choices so that they are aware of the use of natural resources. Songs, stories, computer tips, etc. will be included.
4. Empowerment Curriculum for Youth Action and Community Engagement
Level: Middle and High School
Strand: Social Studies/Public Policy/ELA
This session provides a working model for participants to develop a community action component to their academic curriculum that is appropriate for their school/community context. DoRight Enterprises (www.dorightenterprises.org) is used as a model and case study. Through DoRight, a wide variety of community based learning applications are examined, including student-run sustainability consulting "companies" that perform audits of local businesses, political action initiatives that lobby government officials, and public relations/awareness projects involving film making, art projects and "teach-ins." Participants will examine how all school subject areas can be reinforced, applied and extended through project based community action applications.
5. Understanding Climate Change and Creating a Resource Base: Discovering What We Know and What We Don't Know
Level: Middle and High School
Strand: Science/Math/Technology
The climate change issue finds itself at the forefront of discussion in the media, in cocktail parties and on main street. Generalizations and sound bite language has often fueled misunderstandings which can lead to complacency, irrational fears, or outright rejection of the issue. Such lack of clarity creates both a challenge and opportunity for educators. This session seeks to provide an accurate understanding of the climate change issue, drawing on the work of various leading scientific organizations as well as the corporate, military, and education sectors. Participants will engage in a middle school curricular activity, "Web Crawl," a process to create an internet resource document that can be used by all participants.
6. Ecological Footprint II: Methodology, global footprint and population
Level: Middle and High School
Strand: Science/Social Studies (Geography/World Studies)
The Ecological Footprint is science-based method to assess humanity's impact on the environment based on food choices, transportation, energy usage, and other factors. Developed by an international consortium of scientists, EF research spans biology, earth science, and geography. Key questions addressed by the EF include:
- What is the carrying capacity of the planet, and are we living within it?
- How are population, the environment, and equity related?
- How can we live well while reducing our footprint on the environment?
7. Ecological Economics and Economic Worldviews
Level: Middle and High School
Strand: Social Studies/Public Policy/ELA
This session will explore the relationships among the economy, the society, and the environment, with an emphasis on "conventional" vs. ecological economic models and worldviews. The sessions will explore these critical questions:
- How can we create an economy that promotes individual and community well-being within the carrying capacity of the environment?
- What is the role of the "Commons" in sustaining environmental and cultural well-being?
- What is the difference between "growth" and "development"?
- How do economic policies affect environmental and social well-being? Participants examine the value of the Commons and use democratic principles to assess the impacts of privatization, user fees, subsidies, taxes, and other economic policies.
Activities:
- Participate in a simulation that shows how the "Commons" support our well-being.
- Assess the value of ecosystem services such as air- and water purification.
- Assess the environmental and social impacts of privatization, subsidies, taxes, public trusts, and other policies.
- Select policies that advance democratic principles and sustainability. Explore assignments that have students identify the social and environmental impacts of school or community policies.
- Evaluate the GDP as an indicator of sustainability, and explore "triple bottom line" indicators.
- Analyze examples of curriculum and media that are promoted as "environmental", but which are based on ideologies that undermine sustainability.
8. Green Building
Level: Middle and High School
Strand: Science/Math/Technology
Led by an education specialist from the US Green Building Council (USGBC), learn the principles of green building and connect lessons to sustainability themes such as grounds and biodiversity; energy efficiency; water conservation; and waste reduction. Green building provides an opportunity to achieve an outstanding level of integration between the curriculum, values and mission of the School.
9. Renewable Energy
Level: Middle and High School
Strand: Science/Math/Technology
Led by an energy advisor to Juice Energy*, this session investigates the potentials of renewable energy technologies to help solve environmental and economic problems. Learn about sophisticated energy risk management with greenhouse gas (GHG) solutions for commercial and industrial companies. Discuss science, math and technology curriculum connections to carbon reductions strategies.
*Juice Energy is a revolutionary energy company that provides energy portfolio management focused on financial performance and carbon footprint reduction.
Afternoon Curriculum Connections
Creating a Context: Framing Content Instruction Around Big Ideas in Sustainability
Level: By grade level in groups or independent work with guidance from curriculum designers.
During afternoon curriculum work session participants will explore and develop curricular applications for their subject area that utilize the topics and concepts from the morning sessions. Special attention will be given to the use of big ideas to provide a meaningful context for instruction. All school subject areas will be addressed and supported, with special resources offered for math, science and technology, as well as social studies and ELA. A framework for the creation of big ideas and creating context driven instruction will be provided and discussed.
DAY 4
Guided Curriculum Integration
Work in computer lab with guidance from curriculum designers and content experts to integrate sustainability content and pedagogy into standards-based curriculum.
With a focus on systems thinking and integration of the core emphases of environment, economics, and equity, you will work in groups and individually to incorporate SE into curriculum materials as you plan curricula for implementation in your own schools.
Tour of Manhattanville's "Eco-Classroom"
We will visit Manhattanville's Ohnell Environmental Park and its Environmental Classroom, designed by Maya Lin. The building is a LEED-compliant, non-invasive structure made of glass and sustainable harvested wood. Angled sun-shade louvers, low-E insulated windows, energy star reflective roofing, and recycled cellulose insulation batts are among some of the materials and systems used in this project to improve its sustainable performance.
The Eco-Classroom includes a "Living Machine" created by Ecologist Jonathan Todd. The building sits as a backdrop to the living machine filtration pool, which becomes a part of the architecture. As a vital component of the building, the "Living Machine" collects and filters rain water and returns it to the wetlands and nearby stream.
DAY 5
Complete Curriculum Work. Share and discuss completed unit make-overs and teaching strategies.
Enjoy a LOCAL, ORGANIC lunch buffet!
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