To investigate these topics, students answered questions
from the textbooks and used drama and creative writing to explore concepts. They also called on the expertise of their classmates to learn about the states they were studying individually for the poster project. We held a Convention of States, in which groups interviewed the representatives of each state in their region (or as many states as were repre- sented in their class) and asked them about the main tourist attractions, locations of major cities and other features of their state. The students had researched this information for their posters and they loved being interviewed as experts. The regional groups were able to use this information to flesh out the current picture of their region as they prepared to imagine its future. This was one of the most successful activities in the unit. Water issues are often linked to climate change con-
cerns, and this was an important topic for the region study. Some regions have an abundance of water, while others already face shortages that are predicted to worsen with climate change. To understand how water issues relate to regional geography and climate change, we created an imaginary river that crossed several regional boundaries and had the potential to be diverted from one region to another. Then the class held a mock meeting of a water council to debate the allocation of the water. The students used the information they had gathered about the biodiversity, culture, natural resources and economy in their region to advocate for the best use of the water. Applying their infor- mation to a contentious issue helped them to see how much they had already learned about their regions and deepened their appreciation for the complexity of the issues. Once the students stepped out of their roles and were no longer arguing for their special interests, they observed that water, like climate change and many other environmental issues, doesn’t obey human-drawn boundaries. The students needed to understand the science behind
climate change if they were going to be able to connect it to the future of their regions. In our class, I began this by teaching a short review of the greenhouse effect. Our school is fortunate to be affiliated with a college, and this allowed us to call on a professor of geology to provide deeper and more specific information about climate change predic- tions. This expert presentation was essential to helping the students form theories about the impact of climate change in their study region. For schools without access to academic or business organizations that deal with climate change sci- ence or predictions, local meteorologists and informational films on climate change, such as An Inconvenient Truth, would also be good sources of background information. The final activity of the unit asked the students to
compile the information they had gathered and take action as experts. Each group was asked to select a policymaker from their region of study and write a letter explaining what they had learned about the region and climate change. They began by filling in a worksheet to summarize what they had learned about the region, the predicted climate changes, how those changes might affect life in the region and, finally, suggestions for actions that the lawmaker should take. We also spent time talking about how to find a political repre- sentative and how to write this type of letter. Many students initially doubted that their letters would have much impact.
Page 26
A discussion with the class about the responsibility of lawmakers to represent and respond to constituents and how much power informed citizens can have turned into a great civics lesson. One student wrote to a Utah congressman, explaining
that Utah is in a difficult situation because of the impor- tance of both the skiing and the coal mining industries in that state. He pointed out that the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by coal-fired power plants makes it unlikely that both industries can flourish in the future. Another student wrote, “Recycling is always good, but a law needs to be made about protecting the environment.” She went on to urge the state senator from Washington to take action so that her state will not face the burden of the floods and drought that are predicted to increase with climate change. The excitement grew in our class as the reply letters
started to come in. Some responses were from local repre- sentatives, but we even got a letter from U.S. Presidential candidate Barack Obama. There was plenty of debate about whether the signatures were really signed or if they had been stamped on the letters (something I had prepared the stu- dents for), but each reply was seen as proof that their voices had been heard.
Assessment
Assigning the students the task of proofreading each other’s letters before they were sent ensured that the letters were more polished and provided a way for students to share what they learned. We used these letters as part of the assessment for the unit. In addition, we gave an open-note test. This unit asks students to consider questions that do not always fall into black-and-white categories — for example, no one knows exactly what will come with climate change — and so we tried to give our students questions that would allow them flexibility in their answers. The questions challenged them to describe unique features of their region of study, but also to state what region they would like to live in and to give a good case for their choice (taking into account everything they had learned, including climate change
GREEN TEACHER 83
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
