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Bay Area Earth Science Institute

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.

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Bay Area Earth Science Institute

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  1. 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

  2. Workshop Overview • Natural resources through the lens of sustainability • Water and energy: global to local • California's resources

  3. Connections • Science-social studies-geography-health-math • Water-food-energy connections • People and the environment • Interconnectedness of lifestyle, population, and environmental impacts

  4. Acknowledgements • This workshop was made possible by a grant from Intel.

  5. 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

  6. Natural Resources and Sustainability • What does the word “sustainability” mean to you?

  7. The World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission) in its report Our Common Future (1987): “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” A common definition

  8. Sustainability: More than the environment Three “dimensions” of sustainability: • Environment • Economy • Society “People, Planet, and Profit” • Includes societal and intergenerational equity

  9. One Model of Sustainability http://www.sustainablemeasures.com/Images/Interconnected.gif

  10. 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

  11. 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 thinking Critical thinking Problem solving

  12. What do people NEED? Think-pair-share: What do people need to assure their well-being?

  13. What Do People NEED? • Food • Water • Air • Shelter Can you think of others? Meeting these needs requires Earth’s resources NASA

  14. 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

  15. 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

  16. 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

  17. 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

  18. Ecological Footprint A tool for measuring humankind’simpact on nature • Estimates the area of land and ocean required to supportconsumption 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/

  19. 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

  20. Can Earth support the lifestyles of a growing world population?

  21. How Big is YOUR Footprint?

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