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Ecoliteracy

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Understanding the state of the planet allows us to be more fully aware of the challenges, the complexity of how they are linked to each other, and to explore what it means to us. We get a broad view through information and ecological connectivity. We engage through feelings and actions. The key components include water, energy, soil, air biodiversity, and social aspects. 

 

Teaching Goal: Students understand the state of the planet and the interconnections, and what it means for them.

 

Meta Goal: To become aware of the global situation, and personally engaged

Source: Rimanoczy, I. (2020) The Sustainability Mindset Principles: A guide to developing a mindset for a better world. Routledge 

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Click on a button below to access an assortment of different artifacts on the topic of Ecoliteracy.

Scholarly Journals
Scholarly Journals

Ecoliteracy VS Ecological Literacy VS Environmental Literacy

This scholarly journal is written by four authors who examine the historical evolution of the terms: literacy, ecoliteracy, ecological literacy, and environmental literacy, to help clarify the meaning behind these words as they are often misused.

Articles
Articles

Five Ways to Develop Ecoliteracy

This article is a guide for educators to socially and emotionally engage ecoliteracy in their teaching through five practices. The article demonstrates how educators can apply the principles of social and emotional intelligence to incorporate the knowledge and practices of sustainability and empathy for the ecosystems and the environment.

Freshwater Pollution and Solutions

In this National Geographic article, the freshwater crisis is explained in three segments: water pollution, freshwater pollution effects, and freshwater pollution solutions. At the end, there is a TED-talk styled video that gives hope in restoring the freshwater supply.

This article highlights ecoliteracy and the importance of learning through systems.

Ecoliteracy: Learning from Living Systems

Websites
Websites

What is Ecoliteracy?

This article defines ecoliteracy and emphasizes the importance of legacy. Additionally, this website provides many informative links to other sites on ecoliteracy by credible environmental educators and scientists.

This website is an interactive tool that uses the findings in NASA’s research to inform the public on what climate change is and the current state of our planet. NASA provides ways to further an individual’s understanding of climate change by looking at the evidence, causes, effects, and solutions.

Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet 

Water Calculator and Educational Materials

The water footprint calculator calculates an individual’s water usage through a survey of questions on their daily routine. This activity connects to the bigger problems of global sustainability. Additionally, this website provides resources for teachers, students, and younger kids.  

The website, Our Climate Future, has a collection of educational materials for educators and students to use in and outside of the classroom. This website has a variety of resources on Climate Change.

Climate Change

The purpose of this website is to educate students on earth-conscious behavior, this website offers educational tools that can be used in the classroom, including experiential exercises, case studies, and videos that may be adapted to college-level courses. It also provides free downloadable activities, games, handbooks, apps, and articles on a variety of topics.

Ecoliteracy

This is an interactive website created by the EPA that contains resources for educators to use involving facts and data on water in our environment and offers materials for both teachers and students alike.

Scientific Facts and Educational Resources by the EPA

This source is an interactive map on Climate Central’s Surging Seas site that allows you to search for any place on earth and see how much of that land will be flooded due to our rising sea levels.

Sea Level Rising- Interactive Map

This article highlights the severity of air pollution by listing seven surprising facts about air pollution.

Air Pollution

Educatinal Videos
Educational Videos

TED Talk on Food Waste

Tristram Stuart describes the food waste problem by explaining how developed countries are producing food at unnecessary-massive scales. He claims that half of the food produced by Western countries gets wasted. Additionally, he explains the main forces contributing to this waste in Western countries and suggests alternative usage to throwing the unused food away; like using it to feed livestock.

This TED-Ed presentation was made by Emma Bryce and it discusses the history behind humans eating insects, why we find that practice disgusting, and the benefits of eating bugs.

A Different Kind of Protein

Hill’s short four-minute TED Talk is about how he and others can transition to a more environmentally-friendly diet, the vegetarian diet.

How to Change Your Diet to Help the Environment

In Kwartler animation, he goes around the planet and suggests how the different facets of our world (from our society’s infrastructure and humans’ homes, to the plight of domestic dogs and various forms of technology) would change without our presence. The animation reveals the damage humans have done to the planet and the life on it. 

Human Damage to the World

This is a four-minute TED Education animation by Bryce that demonstrates what happens after you throw plastic waste away. The video uses a plastic bottle as an example and explains how it is made and the three possible places it can end up: landfills, the ocean, and a recycling plant. 

What Happens After You Throw Something Away

This is a TED-Ed presentation by Sidhu using statistical information on water in an easy-to-understand video. The question Sidhu is trying to answer is “Are we running out of clean water?” The talk addresses how humans are overusing and depleting the world’s water supply and the major consequences that follow.

Animation about Running Out of Water

In this TED talk, Emma Marris gives a different perspective on what nature means; Nature is everywhere. She argues that the definition of nature should not be anywhere untouched by humanity, instead it should be anywhere where life thrives.

Connecting with Nature

Games
Games

BrainPOP

BrainPOP is an online website that has many online games related to the environment. It is currently a free resource but may require payment in the future. In addition to games, BrainPOP offers planned lessons for teachers, ways for students to demonstrate learning by making a movie or a map, and readings.

Apps
Apps

This app is a way to monitor and track our carbon footprints and devise efforts to improve it. It also compares an individual footprint with world statistics. It has a very engaging format that appeals to young users. Every user has a profile similar to a social media page.

Climate Change- Monitoring Your Carbon Footprint

Sustainability Mindset Toolkit

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