Bay Area Earth Science Institute

"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe."

- John Muir

Workshop Overview Natural resources through the lens of

sustainability Water and energy: global to local

California's resources

Connections Science-social studies-geography-health-math Water-food-energy connections People and the environment

Interconnectedness of lifestyle, population, and environmental impacts

Acknowledgements This workshop was made possible by a grant

from Intel.

BAESI Website www.baesi.org “One-stop shopping” A collection of podcasts,

ready-to-use classroom activities, and other resources for teaching about plate tectonics, climate change, and other topics

Natural Resources and Sustainability What does the word “sustainability” mean to

you?

A common definition

The World Commission on

Environment and Development (the

Brundtland Commission) in its

report Our Common Future (1987):

“Sustainable development is development that meets theneeds of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Sustainability: More than the environment

Three “dimensions” of sustainability: Environment Economy Society

“People, Planet, and Profit” Includes societal and intergenerational equity

One Model of Sustainability

http://www.sustainablemeasures.com/Images/Interconnected.gif

A Better Model?

Concentric circles: The economy exists within society. The economy and society exist within the environment.

Source: http://www.sustainablemeasures.com/Images/Concentric.gif

Sustainability as a Process We know what unsustainable practices look

like, but we’re learning about a sustainable future as we go along

Education for sustainability Interdisciplinary Skills:

Systems thinkingCritical thinkingProblem solving

What do people NEED?

Think-pair-share:

What do people need to assure their well-being?

What Do People NEED?

Food Water Air Shelter

Can you think of others?

Meeting these needs requires Earth’s resources

NASA

The Lorax Using Dr. Suess’s The Lorax

to teach students about sustainable development The Lorax was written in 1971 and is considered a metaphor for unsustainable use of natural

resources.

Video

The Lorax: short synopsis A young boy goes to meet a ruined industrialist in a treeless

wasteland and hear his tale of what happened to him. His tragic story is about how he began a thriving business

with a useless fashion product (the Thneed) derived from the trees of a forest.

As his business booms, the forest and its inhabitants suffer as he wantonly clearcuts without regard to the warnings of the wise old Lorax about the dire consequences of his greed.

The lovable Lorax, who speaks for the trees, tries to save his forest from industry (and the greedy Once-ler), but he isn't able to.

From http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon_synopsis/46368-Lorax.html

Do you really need a thneed? Can you think of some real examples of a

“thneed” (i.e., a product people want, but don’t need)?

Manufactured need: The Story of Stuff The Story of Bottled Water

The “real cost” of food/products

Materials/energy to extract, produce, transpose, dispose of, etc. Examples (handouts)

What resources are needed to make a burger, fries, and Coke?

The Life Story of a Potato Chip

Ecological Footprint A tool for measuring humankind’simpact on nature

Estimates the area of land and ocean required to support consumption of food, goods, services, housing, and energy and to assimilate wastes.

Expressed in "global hectares" (gha) or "global acres" (ga) 1 Hectare = 2.5 acres

Categories: carbon (home energy use and transportation), food, housing, and goods and services.

http://www.myfootprint.org/en/about_the_quiz/what_it_measures/

Overshoot (ecological deficit): Living Beyond Our Means

Taking more resources than Earth can provide, or using them faster than they regenerate

Putting more wastes into the ecosystem than the earth can absorb.

Ecological productive land available for each person on Earth: 1.89 hectares (4.5 acres)

Current average usage: ~ 2.2 hectares (5.5 acres)(~ 20% overshoot).

http://www.rprogress.org/training_manual/Overshoot.pdf

Can Earth support the lifestyles of a growing world population?

How Big is YOUR Footprint?