|
Maryland Home Grown Lunch Week - Coming Fall, 2008!
The Eat Local Challenge (transportation impact)
Free lesson downloads from Population Connection (Click here)
Titles and descriptions of some lessons. These are not live links. Free registration on the website.
Population Basics
Ø Food For Thought A simulation where students populate "continents" drawn to
scale in yarn on the classroom floor and discuss how people and resources are
distributed worldwide.
Ø Power of the Pyramids-Students construct and interpret "population pyramid"
graphs for several countries.
Ø World Population Video - This seven minute film depicts the history of human
population growth and distribution from 1 AD through the present, then projects
future growth to the year 2030.
These activities explore how human numbers and actions affect the availability of natural resources on Earth and the quality of our environment.
Ø Earth- Apple of our Eye A demonstration of worldwide land distribution -- the instructor slices an apple to represent land used for farming.
Ø EcoEthics In groups, students explore and discuss their personal code of environmental ethics by discussing eco-dilemmas.
Ø Population and resources -Activities about how population changes and resource use affect human well-being.
Ø Population Dynamics-These activities address population growth patterns, demographics, and forecasting.
Facing the Future Lessons
40 Free lesson downloads on human population and environmental impact. Requires free registration. The links below are not active. register through the FTF main site.
Examples of lessons: These links are not live. Free registration on the Facing the Future site.
6. Is It Sustainable? - Students define and discuss sustainability and its 3 key components: the economy, the environment, and society.
CARRYING CAPACITY AND POPULATION GROWTH
9. How Big is a Billion? - A short demonstration of what 1 billion looks like, using increasing amounts of rice to represent the world’s population. Students then create their own representations of 1 billion.
10. Splash But Don’t Crash - Students see the effect of population growth rates on the Earth’s carrying capacity through an exercise in which they move water from a container representing births and deaths into another container representing the Earth.
12. Watch Where You Step! - Students identify the components of an Ecological Footprint by creating a web diagram of all the resources they use in their everyday lives and the mark or “footprint” this consumption leaves on the environment.
BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEMS
18. Biodiversity Connections - Students simulate biodiversity within an ecosystem by assuming the identities of resident plant and animal species in a forest stream ecosystem.
RENEWABLE AND NONRENEWABLE ENERGY
19. Toil for Oil - In this oil extraction simulation, students experience the increasing difficulty of extracting a limited, nonrenewable resource over several years.
20. Fishing for the Future - Students model several consecutive seasons of a fishery and explore how technology, population growth, and sustainable practices impact fish catch and fisheries management.
30. Shop Till You Drop?
In this simulation, students experience how resources are distributed and used by different people based on access to wealth.
31. Let Them Eat Cake!
Through cutting and distributing pieces of cake, students see the inequitable distribution of resources around the world. |