GOAL:

To develop an understanding of the interdependence of all organisms and the need for conserving natural resources

Responsible environmental actions are an obligation of all society but start with the individual.

Ecology R4.00 To understand how personal decisions on a daily basis affect the environment

4.01 list ways in which lifestyle affects the environment.
4.02 compare characteristics of human lifestyle in the past, present, and possible future.

I. Redefine the meaning of lifestyle.
II. Complete questionnaire on student's lifestyle.
III. Compare original answers to questionnaire to new answers to same questionnaire.
VI. Discuss lifestyles of past
V. Propose questions to determine lifestyles of grandparents.
VI. Write paragraphs an the future of your environment.
VII. Share answers to questions on lifestyles of grandparents.
VIII. Brainstorm goals for your community in the future.

COMPONENT OF SCIENCE: Science in Society

GOAL:

To enable students to demonstrate positive attitudes toward science in solving problems and making personal decisions about issues affecting the individual, society and the environment.

4.2 PERSONAL NEEDS - The application of science may be used to change the quality of life for the individual.

4.2a - Any individual can participate in and contribute to the process of science.

BENCHMARK: People use and contribute to science to improve their lives.

TIME REQUIRED:

One class period (55 minutes)

Teacher's copy of questionnaire and questionnaire answer sheets (one per student). See Instructional Objective 1.01 for both of these items.

(In this classroom connector, students will be repeating the questionnaire they took in a previous lesson. They will need their answer sheets from the original questionnaire (given at the beginning of the course) to use in comparing to their new answers to the same questions.

Lifestyle

Each day we make decisions in our personal lives that affect the environment. In some instances these decisions result in an action that has a positive effect on the environment and at other times we make a decision that may result in an action that has a negative effect. During this course we have discussed many environmental problems and the causes of these problems. As we have looked at various causes of problems, you have learned that man is often a contributing factor. How many of you have become more aware of the role you play both in the creation of environmental problems and in the prevention of problems? (All should raise their hands.) Today we are going to repeat the lifestyle questionnaire we completed earlier this year and again use the questionnaire to identify our actions that have either positive or negative effects on the environment.

Who can tell me what is meant by lifestyle? (Allow for responses.) Lifestyle refers to the way we live. As you look at your lifestyle, you will look at the types of decisions you make daily and how these decisions affect our environment. You will also be looking for changes you have made in your lifestyle since the first time you took the questionnaire.

(Hand out copies of the answer sheets for the questionnaire. You will read the questions to the students. Stress that only they will know what they have marked since they will not put their names on the answer sheets.) (Read questions to students.)

(After the students have finished their questionnaires, hand out the answer sheets from the first time the questionnaire was completed.)

I have given each of you your answer sheets from earlier in the year. I want you to take the two answer sheets and mark the questions where you have given different answers. (Allow time for the students to complete this task.)

Now that you have compared your two sets of answers, let's discuss some of the differences you have found in your answers. (Conduct a discussion of the differences the students have found. Look specifically for changes from actions with a negative effect on the environment to changes with a positive effect on changes from positive actions to negative actions.)

How many of you have found one or more of your lifestyle actions that you have changed since earlier in the year? (Allow for response.) Will the changes you have made have a positive or negative effect on the environment? (Allow for response.) Each of you is finding that what you do in your lives has meaning not only for yourself but for the people who share your environment. None of us has the right to act irresponsibly in regard to our environment.

Responsible actions regarding our environment are a duty of all levels of society. We cannot, however, expect responsible action to occur unless we are willing to fulfill our own obligations. We must understand that we make decisions that affect our environment an a daily basis; and we must accept the responsibility of making decisions that will result in a healthy environment for everyone.

This classroom connector addresses Instructional Objective 4.02.

In this course we have discussed lifestyles several times. We have looked at our own lifestyles and compared it to others in our class, our state, our country, and with other countries. We have found similarities in our lifestyles and that of others and we have found differences. If we compare our lifestyle to that of people in the past or to people in the future would you expect to find similarities? On your paper, write one similarity you would expect to exist between your own lifestyle and that of your grandparents when they were your age. (Allow time for response.) Next write one similarity you expect to find in your own lifestyle and that of your grandchildren when they are your age. (Allow time for response.) Today we are going to compare our own lifestyles to those of people in the past and we will discuss what we think lifestyles will be like in the future.

If we look at the lifestyles of people thousands of years ago, we would expect to find drastic differences in their lifestyles and our own. There is a vast difference in cooking your meal on a wooden stick over an open fire and cooking it in a plastic dish in a microwave oven. If we look at the lifestyles of our grandparents when they were our ages, would we expect to find similarities or differences? (Allow for responses.) If you want to find out more about the lifestyles of your grandparents when they were your age, what questions would you ask? (Allow for responses. Write the questions on the chalkboard as students respond. Questions might include: How did you heat your home? How did you get to school? How was the food purchased in stores packaged? Were any items in containers that could be recycled? What did you do for entertainment? Did you have indoor plumbing? How did you get to and from school? Did your mother buy most of your clothes or did she make them? Were any of your foods packaged in plastic? Did you raise any of your own food such as garden vegetables, beef, or pork?

Each of you are to copy the questions we have suggested on your paper. Tonight, you are to ask these questions of your grandparents. If they are not available, ask your parents if they have heard your grandparents talk about these things. You might ask a neighbor or older friend of the family who is about the same age as your grandparents. Tomorrow we will look at the answers you have obtained and determine how the lifestyle of our grandparents when they were young was like ours today and how it was different.

(Allow time for students to copy questions from chalkboard.)

In 1855, Chief Seattle of the Duwamish people wrote a letter to President Franklin Pierce. In this letter he said "Every part of the earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in memory and experience of my people ... The white man ... is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother but his enemy... Continue to contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste." What do you think was meant by Chief Seattle? (Allow time for responses.) This letter was written over 100 years ago. Do you think the Chief's statement still has meaning for us today? (Allow for responses.)

Do you think we are still treating the earth as our enemy rather than as our brother? (Allow for response.)

Think about the things that you really like doing outside. What outdoor activities do you enjoy? (Responses might include: playing, walking, picnics, swimming in lakes or rivers, boating, hunting, fishing.) If we continue treating the earth as we are now, will we be able to participate in these activities 15 or 20 years from now. What would you like for the earth to be like in 15 or 20 years? (Allow time for response.) What will we have to do in order for the earth to be like you want it in the future? (Allow time for responses.)

On a sheet of paper, I want you to write two paragraphs. The first paragraph should describe the environment as you want it to be twenty years from now. The second paragraph should describe the lifestyle changes people must make in order to have the environment you have described in the first paragraph. (Allow students to work on paragraphs during remainder of the period. They should complete the paragraphs for homework.)

Second Class Period

Today we will begin class by sharing the answers you have obtained to the questions you asked your grandparents.

(Conduct classroom discussion concerning questions and responses. Compare the responses to the answers students would give to the same questions.)

Next I would like for you to share your paragraphs with the class. You don't have to actually read the paragraphs but tell us about the environment you would like for us to have twenty years from now. (Allow a student to share his paragraph, then ask him what changes in lifestyles would have to occur for us to have this type of environment. Repeat this for several students.) Many of you will live in this community for the rest of your lives. Keeping this in mind, what goals regarding environmental concerns would you set for our community? (List these on the chalkboard.)

As I look at these goals, I see that all of them refer to an improved environment. We can accomplish these goals only if we are willing to make the necessary changes in our lifestyles. Achieving many of these goals will require changes not only for ourselves but for others around us.

In this lesson we have looked at the lifestyles of our grandparents, our own lifestyles, and what we want our environment to be like in the future. At the beginning of this lesson, I asked you to write a similarity you thought might exist between your own lifestyles and that of your grandparents. How many of you were correct in your selection of a similarity? (Allow for a show of hands.) I also asked you to write a similarity you thought would exist in your own lifestyle and that of people in the future. Think about that lifestyle similarity you selected. Can you maintain that lifestyle action and have the kind of environment you described in your paragraph? (Allow for responses.)

All of us like the modern conveniences we enjoy in our lifestyle. We tend to be comfortable in the lifestyle we are maintaining. We are discovering, however, that we cannot keep making the same lifestyle decisions and be able to have the kind of environment we want in the future. As Chief Seattle said "Continue to contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste."

1. Project Wild "Planning for People and Wildlife"

2. Project Learning Tree "Plan Your Community's Future"

3. Tennessee Environmental Education Association Activity Manual - "City of Tomorrow"

This is the time this file has been accessed since 11/01/02.

The University of Tennessee at Martin is not responsible for the information or views expressed here.

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