CATCH-UP FRIDAYS TEACHING GUIDE
ON PEACE EDUCATION 10
I. GENERAL OVERVIEW
Catch-up Subject: PEACE Grade Level: 10
Quarterly Theme: QUARTER Sub-theme: Sustainability: How Our Actions Affect the
III Peace Environment
between and
among
States,
humans, and
the natural
environment.
Time: Date: Week 3
II. SESSION OUTLINE:
Session Title: Sustainability: How Our Actions Affect the Environment
Session Objectives: At the end of the lesson the students will be able to:
1. Understand the concept of sustainability and the impacts of human activities on
Earth
2. Use evidence to describe how a given everyday activity affects the environment
3. Identify solutions (actions) that can reduce the environmental impact of an
individual or community
Key Concepts: Sustainability
environmental impact,
carbon footprint
Sustainability has become an increasingly important topic over the last century,
especially when considering the projected worldwide population growth as shown in
Figure 1. But what is sustainability? The United Nations (UN) defines sustainable
development as "development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." To achieve
sustainability, the UN advises thinking about three main factors: the economic, social,
and environmental impact of our lives. How can we create an economically, socially
and environmentally balanced system for our planet and the people on it? This requires
a smarter use and fair distribution of natural resources; equal opportunities for
education, safety, food, and medicine; and the protection of our environment to
maintain functional ecosystems. While all three factors are important, this lesson will
focus on the environmental aspect of sustainability.
Figure 1. Projected world population in billions (data from UN).
["World population v3" by Bdm25 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia
Commons
Humans inevitably change their environment through their activities. These
activities can have impacts on the environment on a large scale, such as using
up limited natural resources, creating lots of waste, or causing air and water
pollution. The biggest impacts humans have on our planet are related to the
production and consumption of our food, water, energy, and consumer stuff
such as clothing, plastic products, or electronic devices (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Human activities associated with food, water, stuff, and energy
production and consumption have the greatest impact on the environment.
III. TEACHING STRATEGIES
Components Duration Activities and Procedure
Opening activities
10 mins Show short clip that involves sustainability
A. Introductio The teacher will ask students on their thoughts and
n and observations.
Warm-up
B. Concept 30 mins Introduction and discussion on the key points.
Exploration Start by telling students that this lesson will be about sustainability and
the question of how we can live more sustainable lives. Probe students
on their existing knowledge about sustainability. Ask them to write
down in their paper/notebook what they think sustainability means.
Then start discussing their definitions.
What do you think sustainability means? Can
anybody share their definition of sustainability with
the rest of the class?
There are many different definitions of
sustainability. Acknowledge each of the definitions
shared by students. Focus on answers that mention
environmental, economic, or social aspects of our
lives.
Show another video to the students that discusses
sustainability and sustainable development.
1. Based on the video, redefine the term
"sustainability" as a class until you come to a
collective class definition. Ask students to
write this definition down on their notebook.
2. Mention to students that although many factors
play a role in sustainability (such as economic,
social and environmental), in the following
they will focus on the environmental aspect of
sustainability.
Activity time:
Form groups of four students. Each student within a group is
assigned to a different area (water, energy, food, or stuff). Hand
out the reading materials for each topic to the respective
students. Make sure students only have access to the
information about their assigned topic. If you can, provide each
student with an electronic device. Otherwise have each group
share a device.
Point out to your students that the greatest impacts we have on
our planet comes from how we produce and use food, water,
energy, and other stuff such as clothing, plastics, or electronics.
Their task is to find out how we affect the environment in each
of these four areas, how we can measure this impact, and what
we can do to be more environmentally friendly.
Once all students are ready, have all students assigned to the
same area join to form a temporary expert group on their topic.
Let students share their thoughts and discuss the following
questions based on their findings from the Your Plan, Your
Planet tool and their reading materials. Instruct them to make
notes on their student worksheet.
1. Which everyday actions related to your topic have a
negative effect on the environment?
2. How do these actions impact the environment? Can you
measure their impact?
3. How can you change your actions to reduce your impact
on the environment?
Bring students back into their original groups and ask each
student to present her or his findings to the group. Encourage
students to ask questions and to engage in discussions. Check in
with each group to ensure that all group members participate
equally. If necessary make an appropriate intervention.
C. Valuing and 10 mins Teacher will ask the questions for the class to discussed: Have
Wrap-up students restate what they found each individual can do to
reduce their impact on the environment, then ask your students
to think on a larger scale.
Now that you know what each individual can do to reduce their
ecological footprint, what do you think are things that families
can do? What are things that a whole community (such as the
school) could do to create a more sustainable future?
Which changes do you think have the greatest impact?
D. Journal 10 mins Students will be assigned to reflect on the group activity and write a
Writing short reflection paper on what they learned from lesson.
Prepared by:
Regine A. Digamon
T-I
Southern Inabanga High School
