Sustainability Education Handbook

Customize Your Curriculum:

". . .in order to secure the clean air, water and food that we need to healthfully survive, we have to become stewards of the places where we live." --from a report by the North American Bioregional Congress, 1984

Questions to Help Begin the Process

Directions:

The following set of questions, based on the Fair Share Game™ created by Deanne Bednar of Upland Hills Ecological Awareness Center, may help you ‘re-cast’ or re-direct’ your class conversations when introducing lesson modules and activities. While the questions are general, they can be quickly and easily applied to all subject areas. The questions themselves also form a class module in and of themselves!

The Questions:

» What does ‘quality of life’ mean to you?
» What "nature things" would you like to have within biking or walking distance of your home?
» What does the phrase, "Buy locally, Act globally" mean to you?
» How many hours a week do you spend in a car or bus?
» How many hours a week do you spend walking or riding a bike?
» What items in your life are absolutely necessary? Why?
» What items in your life would you be willing to give up?
» If you had to choose the three most important things to your livelihood, what would they be?
» How much money do you believe you need to live the life you want?
» How many hours do you envision yourself working?
» Would you be willing to have fewer things in order to work fewer hours?
» What are some renewable energy sources?
» How can renewable energy help you?
»If you take into account the world’s natural resources and sustainable regenerating capacity, what would be your individual "fair share" of these resources?

More Information:Click here to view an actual piece of curriculum customized to include environmental, economic and social sustainability concepts.

Click here to continue to the next section: "Evaluation Criteria Chart "

Sustainable Education Handbook Table of Contents:

List of Contributors, Acknowledgments, Terms of Use
Introduction
Sample Activities
Teaching Tools
The Benefits
The Approach
Customize Your Curriculum
Evaluation Criteria Chart
Sustainability Topics
Web Sites
Curriculum
Sustainability / State Standards
Standards Quick Guide
Renewable Energy and Efficiency Success Stories