Hello BCSM Community,
I am following as many of the interesting threads on this list as I can! Thank you for being such a great resource. I am curious to know if anyone on this list has worked with tools (lesson plans, games, stories,...) that focus on imparting a more comprehensive/wholistic/systemic understanding of the world and nature. I am particularly interested in the K-12 age range, but adult workshops would be good, too. I am working on a Masters degree and am exploring the teaching of systems thinking skills to shift perspectives and behavior. Any experiences and thoughts would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
Best,
Deborah
Systems Thinking and Behavior Change
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Art Sussman wrote a system's thinking framed environmental literacy book with a strong lens on sustainable behavior. "Dr. Art's Guide to Planet Earth introduces three easy-to-understand principles that explain how our planet works. Using this beautiful, full-color book as a guide, Earthlings ages 12 to 120 learn how to protect Earth's cycles of matter, flows of energy, and web of life. The author, Dr. Art Sussman, is a scientist and nationally acclaimed educator who teaches major scientific and environmental concepts in ways that are meaningful, innovative, engaging, and fun." The reviews by the National Science Teacher's Association, the USEPA, etc. have consistently been favorable. It's available directly from its website http://www.planetguide.net/, or via internet book sellers. In the past Art has gotten funding to make class set's available.
Jeff Hohensee
Deep Lake
Deborah,
I would refer you to ZERI educational initiative at www.zeri.org including ZERI Fables.
John
John Motloch
Director, Land Design Institute
Professor of Landscape Architecture
Ball State University
765-285-7561 (phone)
Hi Deborah,
I'm a nature interpreter at the Kortright Centre for Conservation in the Greater Toronto Area. We are an outdoor centre of the Toronto Region and Conservation Authority (TRCA). We are currently attending workshops in " A Systems Thinking Curriculum" in order to apply it to our outdoor programs. If interested in finding out more, contact the TRCA .
Good luck.
Martha Bell
I have been working for several with my post graduate students at the Univeristiy of the Aegean (Greece) using graphic language modeling software to represent models of dynamic environmental situations and problems. A good help can be aquired from the Creative Larning team at MIT and STELLA software. You can ge more information from the relevant sites: http://www.clexchange.org/ http://www.iseesystems.com/
Prof.Em.
COSTAS MAN. SOPHOULIS
University of the Aegean Drosia Samos
83 100 GREECE
Tel & Fax +3022730 27082
Mobile & 6944 345 975
FAX: +3022730 27082
e-mail [email protected]
hi Deborah,
There is a website called SEEK (sharing environmental education knowledge) put together by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (formerly office of environmental assistance) and others. (http:// www.seek.state.mn.us/eemn_c.cfm) One of the things that the PCA has focused on is a document called "environmental scope and sequence", a tool for educators that uses a systems approach to environmental education. It includes sample lesson plans. The PCA gives many workshops that emphasize the importance and power of a systems approach, with the scope and sequence as a basis. If this looks like something helpful to you, let me know and I can try to put you in touch with someone at the Minnesota PCA to find out more about people who are using the scope and sequence in their classrooms.
Christie Manning
Deborah,
Try www.kidsvillage.torino2006.org for an excellent rounded educational approach to the Olympics and its connections to health education, doping, diet, well-being, culture, science and technology, communications, cultural exchange, human rights and the promotion of peace culture, overcoming policies of war. This promotes human sustainability and our relationship to one another as well as our environment. Very topical.
Richard.
I think you'll find the Environmental Literacy Scope and Sequence very helpful in teaching about natural and social systems. It was developed in Minnesota but is applicable anywhere as it is based on the AAAS's (American Academy for the Advancement of Science) standards of systems. You can download it free of charge at http://www.seek.state.mn.us/eemn_c.cfm . The first seventeen pages gives you the guts of the document while the rest is reference. Below is a bit more information about it. Good luck in your work. Environmental Literacy Scope and Sequence This is a tool for educators that provides a systems approach to environmental education for preK through adult learners. It describes key concepts about the interaction of natural and social systems and a sequence in which they are to be taught. It also discusses benchmarks, standards, and applications for using the Scope and Sequence. The Environmental Literacy Scope and Sequence is designed to help create opportunities for mainstreaming environmental education in a way that has not been possible before. It provides a systems approach to environmental education that can focus the efforts of teachers and deliverers of environmental education to unify their many independent efforts to achieve the goal of environmental literacy. Because the Scope and Sequence is based on both state and national standards, it enables environmental education deliverers to build, adapt or integrate curriculum and assessments that are most appropriate for their particular grade level or audience.
Denise M. Stromme
Environmental Assistance, PCA
7678 College Rd, Suite 105 Baxter, MN 56425
1-218-855-5014
[email protected]
mnseek.net http://www.moea.state.mn.us
http://www.nextstep.state.mn.us
David Orr has written a large amount of material around this subject area... A particularly inspiring book is his 'Earth in Mind' Also the Centre for Ecoliteracy http://www.ecoliteracy.org/ founded by Fritjof Capra, Peter Buckley, and Zenobia Barlow focuses heavily on a systems approach to ecological & general education, with some great projects around food systems & school gardens to start students off. From a small amount of experience in the area, pretty much anything that involves students growing things in a garden provides a practical & conceptual introduction into systems theory. Once the basic concepts are grasped it isn't that hard to move outside the garden framework. There is also stuff about 'learnscaping' on the web, 'Permaculture' (very systems based) resources also exist for children.
A
Deborah
I am the Illegal Dumping Coordinator for Ellis County, Texas and we are hosting a Waste in Place Teacher Training Workshop this summer. Waste in Place is an environmental curriculum for K-8 that was created by Keep America Beautiful. The curriculum was developed from three years of research and uses a behaviorally based, systematic approach to changing attitudes and practices related to proper waste handling. Waste in Place uses a hands-on format (lesson plans, games, stories ect...) which gives students the opportunity to practice essential process skills and develop the positive attitudes and actions necessary to make wise decisions about solid waste handling. More information on Waste in Place can be found on the Keep Texas Beautiful website at www.ktb.org or by calling Laura Turner, Training and Affiliate Coordinator at 1-800-253-2689. I hope this helps.
Summer Williams
Illegal Dumping Coordinator
Ellis County Fire Marshal
1201 N. Hwy 77, Suite 106
Waxahachie, TX 75165-7833
Ph 972.825.5555
Fax 972.825.5551
Dear Summer:
How does your activity relate to the Don't Mess With Texas program?
L. E. Johannson B.E.S., (Hons) M.Sc.
FRSA President E2 Management Corporation (E2M)
113 Mountainview Road South
Georgetown, Ontario CANADA L7G 4K2
Tel: 905-873-9484
Fax: 905-873-3054
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
www.14000registry.com
www.e2management.com
www.glassworks.org
L.E.
In response to your question, how does Waste in Place relate to the Don't Mess with Texas program? "Don't Mess with Texas" is the littering campaign created by the Department of Transportation. Keep Texas Beautiful and the Department of Transportation work in a close partnership to prevent litter and beautify and improve communities. Currently, KTB is promoting the Don't Mess with Texas, Real Texans Don't Litter Cleanup Tour by promoting the event to their affiliates on the local level. Keep Texas Beautiful is also an affiliate Keep America Beautiful the creators of Waste in Place. I have been working with KTB to coordinate the Waste in Place Teacher Training Workshop. They are an invaluable resource.
Sincerely,
Summer Williams
Deborah,
The Zero Emissions Research Initiatives (www.zeri.org) have an exciting educational component. There are a series of fairy tales told about natural systems, that have embedded in them over a thousand scientific principles (see http://www.zeri.org/initiative/). This basic concept is to use fairy tales to sow into children's learnings the seeds of systems, science, art, and emotional learning. This has been embraced by the environmental city of Curitiba in Brazil. When students start with a story that integrates ethics, economics, biology, and mathematics; they are drawn to learn those disciplines that are today often dismissed by students as boring or irrelevant. See the types of scientific principles covered at http://www.zeri.org/initiative/collectiontales3.htm. For copies of the fairy tales, write to: [email protected]. ZERI has just started a Masters Program in Systems Design in Turin Italy, as they see a true systems approach as being critical to achieving Zero Emissions. I'll send a separate post on ZERI's upcoming certified training program in the U.S.
Gary Liss