I n t rod u ct i o n :This activity is designed to give students

the opportunity to examine their own valuesand beliefs as they relate to the enviro n m e n t ,population and social issues. It is not the intentof this activity to prescribe “right” and “wro n g ”answers for the students. In some cases, stu-dents may perceive what would be the mostethical solution to a given problem, whileadmitting that they realistically might notchoose that option. For each Dilemma Card ,the action choices are preceded by “would you”rather than “should you.” This will encouragestudents to offer what they probably would doin each given situation. It might be useful toc o m p a re students’ reactions to each dilemmaboth before and after going through the stu-dent readings and lessons.

Proce d u re :1. Copy and cut up the dilemma cards. Other

dilemmas could be written that are morespecific to problems in your area. Studentscould also be involved in the process of cre-ating the Dilemma Cards with each studentresponsible for writing one dilemma.Dilemmas can be left entirely open-endedwith no options suggested for consideration.

2. Divide the class into groups of four, and giveeach group a stack of Dilemma Cards. Placethem face down at the center of the gro u p .

3. The first student draws a card from the topof the stack. The student studies the situa-tion, decides what he or she would do, andf o rmulates his or her re a s o n s .

4. When the student is ready — typically in lessthan two minutes — the student reads thesituation and the options aloud to the rest ofthe group. The student gives the decision heor she has chosen, and briefly describes thereasoning involved. In turn, each of theother members of the group is invited tocomment on the dilemma, and what he orshe would do in the situation. The discussionof each dilemma by the members of theg roup should take about five minutes. Theperson whose dilemma is being discussedshould have the opportunity to ask questionsof the other members of the group, and to

o ffer clarification about his or her decision.The discussion gives the students experiencein having ideas examined by peers, and isintended to remind the students of the needto take personal responsibility for decision-making. It is not necessary and may not bedesirable for the students to reach consen-sus; there are legitimately diverse views ofthe most appropriate and responsible actionsto take in many situations. The purpose is top rovide students with an opportunity toexamine, express, clarify and take re s p o n s i-bility for their own re a s o n i n g .

5. The card is then re t u rned to the bottom ofthe stack and the next student selects a cardf rom the top of the stack. Continue thisp rocess until each student has had theo p p o rtunity to express his or her decisionand rationale about a dilemma.

Fo l l ow-up Act i v i ty :Have each student choose a dilemma and

write a short paragraph on the positive andnegative effects of all the options listed for thatdilemma. They should indicate what additionali n f o rmation, if any, is needed in order to makea responsible and informed decision. Studentsshould identify what seems, in their judgment,to be the most responsible decision — andexplain their re a s o n i n g .

Adapted by permission from Project WILD. The original activity, “Ethi-Reasoning,” appears inProject WILD’s K-12 Activity Guide, Council for Environmental Education, copyright 1983,1985, 1987, 1992.

185 Earth Matters

Eco-EthicsStudent Activity 30

Concept: Lessons on population, envi-ronment and the global soci-ety should have their appli-cations in daily personaldecision making.

O b j e c t i ves: Students will be able to:• Take positions on d i l e m m a s .• Formulate and pre s e n treasons for their positions.• Discuss the dilemmas andpositions in gro u p s .

Subjects: E n v i ronmental science,social studies

Skills: Decision making, criticalthinking, discussion, writing

Method: While considering variousdilemmas, students examinetheir own values and beliefsrelated to enviro n m e n t a lissues, and evaluate possibleactions they might take thathave impacts on the envi-ro n m e n t .

M aterials: Copies of Dilemma Card s

186 Earth Matters

Dilemma CardYou are president of a large corporation. You are

v e ry interested in pollution control and have had atask force assigned to study the pollution your plant isc reating. The task force re p o rts that you are bare l ywithin the legal re q u i rements. The plant is pollutingthe community’s air and water. To add the necessaryequipment to reduce pollution would cost so muchthat you would have to lay off 50 employees. Wo u l dy o u :• add the equipment and fire the employees?• not add the equipment?• wait a few years to see if the costs of the

equipment will drop?• hire an engineering firm to provide further

recommendations?• other? (specify)

Dilemma CardYou love children and would like to have a larg e

f a m i l y. You are aware, however, of the world’s popula-tion is expected to double in the coming century.Would you:• plan to have a large family anyway?• decide not to have children?• limit yourself to one or two children?• other? (specify)

Dilemma CardYou are finally able to build the home your family

has dreamed about. After reviewing the plans for yourhome, you realize that you cannot include all of thef e a t u res you had planned for, due to rising constru c-tion costs. If you can only choose to include one ofthe following features, would you choose:• solar heating?• recreation room with fireplace?• hot tub and sauna?• greenhouse?• other? (specify)

Dilemma CardYou are having a picnic with your family at the

beach and you see another family leaving to go home,without having picked up its own trash. It is clear theother family is going to leave litter all around. Wo u l dy o u :• move quickly and ask them to pick up the

trash before they leave?• wait for them to leave and pick up the trash

for them?• do nothing?• other? (specify)

Eco-EthicsDilemma Cards

187 Earth Matters

Dilemma CardYou are an influential member of the community.

On your way home from work, you are stopped by apolice officer and cited for having excessive autoemissions. Would you:• use your influence to have the ticket

invalidated?• sell the car to some unsuspecting person?• work to change the law?• get your car fixed and pay the ticket?• other? (specify)

Dilemma CardA friend asks you a question about sex and how to

p revent pre g n a n c y. Although you don’t know theanswer for sure, you know enough to guess. Whatwould you do and why? Would you:• make up an answer based on the facts you

know?• try to help find the answer in a health book or

in the library?• suggest your friend talk to his/her parents or

a teacher?• admit to your friend that you do not know for

sure?• suggest talking to a sibling?• other? (specify)

Dilemma CardYou have a job at a restaurant and notice that

each day pre p a red meals are left over and are discard-ed. You feel this is a waste of good food, especiallysince many people in your city are without adequatefood. Would you:• suggest to management that leftover food be

donated to a local homeless shelter?• suggest to management that less food be

prepared each day?• do nothing?• other? (specify)

Dilemma CardT h e re is an undeveloped green space in your

town where you and your friends sometimes go forpeace and quiet. It’s home to some local wildlife and asmall creek. The town officials are thinking about sell-ing the land to a developer who wants to build a shop-ping mall. The mall would provide some jobs for are ahigh school students. The mall also might be a placefor you and your friends to hang out. What would youdo and why? Would you:• support the mall project at the expense of

your green area?• oppose the mall project all together?• go to a city planning meeting to see if

developers would consider another site?• do nothing and let the adults decide?• other? (specify)

Eco-EthicsDilemma Cards

188 Earth Matters

Dilemma CardYour friend has just given you a lovely ivory

necklace that she purchased on a trip to Africa. Yo ua re aware that African elephants are being slaugh-t e red for their ivory tusks and are now an endangere dspecies. Would you:• accept the necklace and wear it often?• accept the necklace but keep it in a drawer?• explain to your friend why you do not wish to

accept her gift?• other? (specify)

Dilemma CardYour parents make you mow and water your

lawn. The area hasn’t had much rainfall for some timeand area officials are recommending that every o n ec o n s e rve water. However, your neighborhood hasstrict rules about keeping each yard in ord e r. Wi t h o u tregular watering your lawn will turn brown. Whatwould you do and why? Would you:• ignore the conservation warning and continue

watering your lawn to keep it looking nice?• sacrifice the beauty of your lawn by watering

less often?• plant different things in your yard that do not

require so much care?• other? (specify)

Dilemma CardYour cafeteria at school has attempted to pre p a re

food items that are popular with students (hamburg-ers, hot dogs, pepperoni pizza, fried chicken, etc.).While you and your friends enjoy these foods, youknow that most of these items are high on the foodchain, requiring intensive amounts of water ande n e rgy to produce. You are also aware that much ofthe grain produced in this country is used to feedlivestock, while much of the world suffers fro mhunger and malnutrition. Would you:• meet with school administrators to suggest

having more meatless lunches served each week?

• bring your own lunch and not worry aboutthe cafeteria menu?

• eat whatever is served?• other? (specify)

Dilemma CardThe school you attend is not in walking distance

of your home. You could catch the bus on the corn e ror drive in with a friend. The car would get you toschool faster and without waiting outside. But the bususes less gas per passenger. Would you:• take the bus?• get a ride in the car?• carpool with other kids nearby?• ride your bicycle?• other? (specify)

Eco-EthicsDilemma Cards

189 Earth Matters

Think Globally, Act LocallyStudent Activity 31

Concept: To avoid becoming over-whelmed by global pro b l e m s ,we should concentrate onthe local level, focusing onmeaningful actions individu-als can take to participate inglobal problem-solving.

O b j e c t i ves: Students will be able to:• List personal actionswhich could help alleviatemany of the global chal-lenges discussed thro u g h o u tthe curr i c u l u m .• Assess proposal actions ontheir potential eff e c t i v e n e s sand convenience.

Subjects: E n v i ronmental science,social studies, family life,c i v i c s / g o v e rn m e n t

Skills: B r a i n s t o rming, evaluation,critical thinking

Method: Students come up with wayst h e y, as individuals, can helpmeet the challenges to envi-ronmental quality andhuman well-being posed byglobal population pre s s u re s .They then think criticallyabout the potential eff e c t i v e-ness of these pro p o s e da c t i o n s .

M aterials: Copies of StudentWo r k s h e e t s

I n t rod u ct i o n :Although some global issues may seem

i n s u rmountable, there are usually actions we cantake as individuals on the local level that, collec-t i v e l y, will alleviate these problems and educateothers. Sometimes there are varying degrees ofinvolvement that are easy or very difficult toaccomplish. Often, we have to weigh the poten-tial effectiveness of possible actions to determ i n ethe best way to proceed. In this activity, studentswill consider various actions and potential out-comes to respond to many of the issuesa d d ressed in the previous activities.

Proce d u re: 1. For each global and local challenge listed in

the attached chart: have students, either indi-vidually or in groups, add as many ideas asthey can think of to the personalactions/potential solutions list. You mightwant to compile all ideas onto one class list.

2. Next have the students assess which aspects ofthe global and local problem are addressed byeach idea. For example, recycling car oil willhelp the water pollution problem and lessenhealth problems caused by poor quality drink-ing water; thus students should write “A,1” inthe Problems Addressed section on the chart .

3. The next two columns can be filled in together.Students should first evaluate the degree ofpersonal commitment each idea wouldinvolve, rating the ideas: Ea s y, Average, orDi fficult. Then students should evaluate thed e g ree of effectiveness for each idea: Un l i k e l y,Somewhat likely, Ve ry likely.

D i s c u ssion Qu e s t i o n s :1. Review the list of global problems related to

overpopulation. Should any of the categoriesbe changed? Any additions to or subtractionsf rom the list? Ask students to arrange the listin order of importance or priority to them.

2. Also review the local problems list. Do anymodifications seem appropriate for this list?Note similarities and diff e rences between theglobal problems and local manifestations.

3. Some of the personal actions from the solu-tions list will positively affect more than onep roblem. For example, using the car less

a ffects air pollution, global warming ande n e rgy conservation. Have students notewhich ideas help more than one problem anddraw arrows on their chart to the other globaland local challenges aff e c t e d .

4. Also, some actions may help solve one pro b-lem while contributing to another. An exam-ple of this is switching from disposable dia-pers to cloth. Using cloth diapers helps thewaste disposal problem, since less mass willbe sent to landfills; it also re q u i res larg eamount of hot water to clean the diapers,thus contributing to the energy and waterpollution problems. Have students circle theideas which have such a dual effect and writethe problem(s) negatively affected next to it.

5. Finally, discuss the intangible benefits ofdoing what you can to solve a problem. Is itpossible to feel better by taking an action thatby itself will not solve the problem than bydoing nothing at all? Why or why not?

Fo l l ow-up Act i v i ty :Ask students to look at their completed

c h a rts and determine whether there are anypotential “actions” that they have done in thepast, are doing currently or might want to do asa result of evaluating the effectiveness of per-sonal activities to address certain global andlocal problems. Are there any actions best takenby a group of people, such as a school ecologyclub or civic org a n i z a t i o n ?

Adapted with permission from the Office of Environmental Education, Washington State. Theoriginal activity, appears in Energy, Food, and You, published by the Office of EnvironmentalEducation, Washington State (Seattle, WA).

Student Worksheet

Think Globally, Act Locally

190 Earth Matters

191 Earth Matters

Think Globally, Act LocallyStudent Worksheet

Student Activity 32

A Nonbearing Account

192 Earth Matters

I n t rod u ct i o n :In 1729, Jonathan Swift wrote the now

classic article, “A Modest Proposal,” a gro t e s q u es a t i re on the twin Irish problems of overpopula-tion and food shortage during that time. Not tobe taken seriously as a plan for solving thesep roblems, Swift’s satire was meant to cre a t ea w a reness and get people talking about thesesocial issues.

In the following article, “A NonbearingAccount,” Professor Noel Perrin outlines hisplan for lowering fertility rates in an eff o rt tocurb population growth. He describes why thep rogram is necessary, how it should be imple-mented, and the anticipated costs and benefits.While not nearly as outlandish (or inhumane)as Swift’s proposal, Perr i n ’s article was pro b a b l ywritten more as a tool for discussion than as aplan likely to be adopted by the federal govern-ment. Even so, many readers may find Perr i n ’sideas compelling and cre a t i v e .

Proce d u re :Distribute copies of “A Nonbearing

Account.” After students have a chance to re a dthe article, lead a discussion using the followingq u e s t i o n s .

D i s c u ssion Qu e s t i o n s :1. What do you think of Perr i n ’s idea to pay

females of childbearing age not to have chil-d re n ?

2. Do you think his idea would work in theUnited States, significantly decreasing fert i l i-ty rates? Would many women decide againstchildbearing entirely? Why or why not?

3. What segments of the U.S. population mightlook favorably on Perr i n ’s proposal? Whatsegments of the population might re g a rdP e rr i n ’s proposal with scorn? Explain.

4. P e rrin compares the financial costs of hisplan to current costs of the U.S. welfare sys-tem. Do you think implementation of hisplan would significantly reduce federal assis-tance to the indigent?

5 . What do you feel is Perr i n ’s attitude towardthe status of women in the United States? Indeveloping countries?

6 . Do you think Perr i n ’s plan would be possibleto implement? Is it re a l i s t i c ?

7. P e rrin notes that there is a precedent for gov-e rnments paying women to have childre n .What sort of precedents might he have inmind? Can you think of any ways the U.S.g o v e rnment encourages childbearing? (Note:P e rrin is most likely re f e rring to tax incen-tives to have childre n . )

8.Do you think Perrin wrote this article to seri-ously win support for his plan or just toheighten awareness of population pre s s u re sby offering a “modest pro p o s a l ” ?

Fo l l ow-up Act i v i ty :Have students draft their own “modest pro-

posal” for slowing (or stopping) populationg rowth nationally or globally, working eitherindividually or in pairs. The proposal shouldclearly outline the necessity of the plan, logistics,costs and benefits. Students should be as persua-sive as possible in their writing assignment.

Concept: C reative approaches areoften necessary in cre a t i n ga w a reness in and findingsolutions to complex pro b-lems such as populationp re s s u re s .

O b j e c t i ves: Students will be able to:• Critically analyze a pro p o s-al for combating populationg ro w t h .• Develop their own “mod-est proposal” to address pop-ulation concern s .

Subjects: Language arts, social studies

Skills: Critical thinking, discussion,c reative thinking, writing

Method: Students critically examine ap roposal for combating pop-ulation growth and thendevise their own “modestp roposal” to address thisi s s u e .

M aterials: Copies of Student Reading

by Noel Perrin

193 Earth Matters

A Nonbearing Account*

Sometime in 1987 world population hit 5billion. Sometime a little before 2000 it will hit 6billion. Sometime around 2010 . . . Obviouslyg rowth like this can’t continue indefinitely. We ’ l lrun out of parking space for all the cars. We ’ l lrun out of flight paths for all the airplanes. We ’ l leventually run out of essentials like food. A coun-t ry like Nepal has already run out of fire w o o d .

But how do you stop the relentless incre a s eof humanity, currently proceeding at the rate ofalmost 2 million a week? Well, the intere s t i n gidea I’ve heard is to do it with money. Mores p e c i f i c a l l y, bank accounts. One for everywomen in the world. Forget the rest of theworld for a minute: here is how the plan wouldwork in the United States. Every girl, when shereached pubert y, would notify her local popula-tion center. (These sunny offices had better bes t a ffed entirely by women — well-paid ones,too.) At that moment a financial clock woulds t a rt ticking.

If the girl went the next year without hav-ing a baby, she would get a government checkfor $500, placed in the bank account the centernow opened for her. She could take it all outand spend it on angora sweaters, if she wanted.She could leave it in as the beginning of a fundfor college. Whatever she liked. The next year, ifshe still hadn’t had a baby, the govern m e n twould increase the sum by a hundred, so thather second check would be for $600. The yeara f t e r, $700. A young woman reaching the age of20, and still not having had a child, wouldreceive a check for around $1,200. No fort u n e ,but worth having. Available without any dis-crimination of any kind. A Miss du Pont, ano rd i n a ry kid in Topeka, an intending nun, ateenage prostitute, all would get their checks.

Suppose the young woman w a n t s a child,though. There ’s nothing to stop her, except alittle financial self-interest. If at 21 she pro c e e d-ed to have a baby, fine. Let’s have a baby shower.The government payment, however, woulda b ruptly drop to zero. But then, if she did nothave another baby the next year, back wouldcome a check for $500. If she went two years,she’d get $600, and so on up the modest payl a d d e r. A pleasant little extra income for the sexthat has historically been underpaid.

G reat barg a i n : What would all this cost? Inthe case of women who never do have childre n ,p l e n t y. Start at 13 with a check for $500 and bythe time you reached menopause at 53, thecheck would be $4,500. To that point, you wouldhave received a total of almost $100,000. A lot ofm o n e y. But still a bargain. A great bargain. Thesame hundred thousand is about half the cost ofbringing up one abandoned child in New Yo r kC i t y. It’s less than a fifth the cost of bringing upone psychologically disturbed child in a gro u phome in the District of Columbia. The total costthe first year would be about a billion dollars inpayments to girls, maybe 2 or 3 billion to set upthe centers. The total cost the fifth year would bea round $10 billion. The cost wouldn’t level off forabout 40 years — and when it did, it would stillbe under what we now pay as welfare. And mostof the money would flow back out immediatelyto stores or get turned over somewhat later tohappy bursars at colleges.

Student Reading

194 Earth Matters

A Nonbearing Account

Do I possibly exaggerate when I say thatwhen the plan was in full operation, and everywoman in the country between puberty andmenopause receiving her check, the cost wouldstill be less than that of the current welfare sys-tem? I don’t think I do. Try looking in theStatistical Abstract of the United States. Thec u rrent figure is $770 billion a year — $298 bil-lion in state and local money, $472 billion fro mthe federal government. That table covers manythings, including VA hospitals. So turn to am o re modest table, the one called “Cash andNoncash Benefits for Persons With LimitedIncomes.” Here the total is $114 billion, all fed-eral money.

Such a plan would be much harder toimplement in, say, India, where most peopled o n ’t have bank accounts and where the govern-ment would be hard pressed to find the funds.But it wouldn’t be impossible. Such paymentcould be the first-ever democratic foreign aid —putting money directly in the hands of women,rather than in the pockets of businessmen andb u reaucrats. Furt h e rm o re, India has alre a d yfound ways to pay men to have vasectomies.

Of course there are problems with such aplan. Men will object to all this money going towomen, money being power. There are bound

to be accusations of racism, even though theo ffer would be voluntary, universal and totallycolor blind. There being no precedent (thought h e re ’s plenty of precedent for the opposite case:g o v e rnments paying women to have childre n ) ,it would be hard to get started. The more stolidtype of politician will call the plan impossible,utopian, dre a m y, absurd .

But consider the alternatives. One, ofcourse, is to go on exactly as we are — adding abillion people every few years until there is nom o re tropical forest, no more oxygen-carbondioxide balance, no more space, and our worldcollapses in disaster. Another is nuclear war. At h i rd (the likeliest, I expect) is mandatory birt hc o n t rol, starting one country at a time, with allthe re p ression that implies. The re p ression isa l ready there in China. And with the rigidimmigration restrictions imposed by thosecountries that have started early against thosethat start late. Maybe even with populationwars. How much more graceful to do it all withc h e c k s .

Noel Perrin is professor of English at Dartmouth College. He has written for The New Yorkerand New York magazine.

* Reprinted with permission from Noel Perrin. The original article appears in Newsweek,April 2, 1990.

195 Earth Matters

In Search of Sustainable LifeStudent Activity 33

I n t rod u ct i o n :Planning for a quality future re q u i res defin-

ing what “quality” means to people. We all wantto live in a community that not only contains allthe re s o u rces we need to survive, but is also safe,clean and provides adequate services. Such acommunity is possible as long as we take re s p o n-sibility for the overall quality of life a ffecting our-selves, family, friends, and future generations.How can we tell if our quality of life has impro v e dor deteriorated? The historically-used GNP andGDP indicators (Gross National Product andG ross Domestic Product) tell only the story ofeconomic activity, omitting many of the socialand environmental factors that contribute toquality of life. Factors such as safety, water qualityand natural beauty should also be considered.

The purpose of this activity is to let the stu-dents explore those factors — factors thata d d ress the concept of s u s t a i n a b i l i t y. Accord i n gto the World Commission on Environment andDevelopment, a sustainable community is “ o n ewhich meets the needs of the present withoutc o m p romising the ability of future generationsto meet their needs.” Students will exchangeideas and develop their own community’sQuality of Life Index.

Proce d u re :1. To begin the exercise, have students share

their responses to: “The one thing I wouldlike to add or eliminate from my life to makeme happy would be...” and “The one thing Iwould like to add or eliminate from my com-munity to benefit most residents would be...”After students have thought personally andh e a rd what their peers value, ask how theconcepts of quality of life and s u s t a i n a b i l i t yrelate to their responses.

2. Break the students up into small groups tob r a i n s t o rm factors that they think contributeto a community’s lasting quality of life. InP a rt 1, students may have thought of specificthings to add to the community, but nowthey will be thinking in broader terms aboutthe factors that comprise a healthy commu-nity over a long period of time, such as pro-tected and adequate supply of drinking waterand availability of good jobs.

3. After students have brainstormed for severalminutes, ask each group to select and rankthe seven most important factors for a com-m u n i t y ’s quality of life.

4 . An indicator is used to m e a s u rechanges in af a c t o r, e.g., a change in GNP indicates thatour economy is growing or shrinking). Inthis step, students will develop indicators foreach of the gro u p ’s seven factors. Forinstance, to measure crime (a f a c t o r), youcan use the crime rate statistics from thepolice department as an indicator. Openspace (another f a c t o r) can be indicated by theamount of public park land or forest. Remindstudents of the importance of factor measur-ability when making an index.

5 . Have each group present its indicators.Conduct a class vote to determine the top tenindicators of a community’s health and sus-t a i n a b i l i t y.

D i s c u ssion Questions: 1. Do you think each of its indicators should

c a rry the same weight?2. What criteria will you use to weigh the indi-

c a t o r s ?3. Would grouping these categories enhance

the class index? (See “Index” for suggestions)

Fo l l ow-up Act i v i t i e s :1. Select one of the factors for students to

re s e a rch in their own community. Theyshould find out how to measure the factor (ino rder to make it an indicator), what role theindicator plays in their own community andre s e a rch whether the indicators showi m p rovement or decline in recent years.Students can draw up and send pro p o s a l sa d d ressing any of the indicators to local lead-ers and government officials. They might alsowant to send the list of ten indicators theydeveloped as a class, so that city officials cand e t e rmine what students care about in theirc o m m u n i t y.Example: If students select “crime” as one ofthe indicators, they could call the local policed e p a rtment to get statistics on the crime rateand how it is measured. They could also askhow this rate compares to that of neighbor-

Concept: Planning for a quality futurere q u i res defining what “qual-ity” means to all of us.

O b j e c t i ves: Students will be able to:• Develop a Quality of LifeI n d e x .• Express visions of a desir-able community.• Brainstorm important factors for a community’squality of life.• Define the term s u s t a i n-able community.

Subjects: Social studies, economics,g o v e rn m e n t / c i v i c s

Skills: B r a i n s t o rming, pro b l e m -solving, decision-making,writing, re s e a rching data

Method: T h rough a class brainstorm-ing and a cooperative learn-ing activity, students developan index of what they consid-er to be the ten most impor-tant indicators of a healthyc o m m u n i t y.

196 Earth Matters

In Search of Sustainable LifeStudent Worksheet 33

ing communities. Has the crime rate goneup or down in recent years? Why might thisbe the case? Is crime a problem in anda round schools? What are some proposals formaking their area safer?

2. If your social studies curriculum includes thestudy of diff e rent areas of the world, have stu-dents compare the quality of life in their com-munity to one that has been studied in classin a diff e rent country. How are they similarand dissimilar? Have students write a one-page paper comparing the two communities.

197 Earth Matters

Generations ApartStudent Activity 34

I n t rod u ct i o n :Communities with recent new gro w t h

have probably undergone significant changesover the past decades. Those areas experiencingeconomic declines may also have underg o n eserious change in recent years. Good re s o u rc e sto document these changes are a community’ssenior citizens. In this activity students inter-view older residents to compare today’s envi-ronment to its past.

Proce d u re :1. It is useful to precede this activity with

Activity 33: In Search of Sustainable Life.2. Tell the students that they will be conducting

i n t e rviews with older community re s i d e n t s .Ask them what questions they think will elicitthe most relevant responses to the indicatorsdecided upon in the Class Index from Activity33: In Search of Sustainable Life. Studentsshould, however, feel free to ask about otheraspects of historical life in their communities.Keep a list on the board of their responses. Puttogether a sample questionnaire using boththe students’ and your own suggestions (SeeSample Questionnaire ) .

3. Provide the students with a list of diff e re n toptions for interviewees (senior center re s i-dents, grandparents, nursing home re s i d e n t s ,elderly community members). Many stu-dents will be first-generation residents sodoing a bit of networking with nursinghomes and/or re t i rement communities maybe a good idea before sending students out.

4. Working in pairs or individually, studentsshould spend about a week conducting theiri n t e rview and constructing a written/oralre p o rt for class pre s e n t a t i o n .Note: Try to make the exercise as “place spe-cific” as possible. Much of the lesson’s signifi-cance lies in communicating the uniquenessof each area and fostering a new appre c i a-tion for community. For example, a ru r a la rea on the East Coast will have a much dif-f e rent history than a core city in theS o u t h w e s t .

The Inte rv i e w:1. Encourage the students to retell some of the

stories they hear during interviews in class.Hearing about other’s experiences can oftenbring valuable perspectives to one’s ownwork. There may be students who had diff i-culty in their interviews and would like totalk about that with the class as well.

2. Following up this section with a fact sheet oflocal historical information is a good way toround out the exercise. Ask your local histor-ical society or library if they can provide one.Guest lecturers or storytellers are also goodre s o u rces.

3. Creating a time line with the class’s new-found information may help the studentsvisualize how the community has changedover the years. Draw a horizontal line on al a rge piece of paper with vertical branches tore p resent diff e rent periods of times or years.Label each branch with a fact or event fro mthe time period. Be sure to label the wholediagram with a larger block of time (forexample: the 1900’s).

Fo l l ow-up Act i v i ty :Supplement the interviews with library

re s e a rch using the same statistical re s o u rc e sabout the community such as populationchange over time, demographics, employmentand industry, cultural trends and enviro n m e n-tal trends. Ask your school or town librarianhow best to search for re s o u rces that documentboth the statistical data of the community inthe present day and that available when thesenior citizens were growing up. Provide a listof these sources to aid the students. The stu-dents will gain experience with both interactiveand library re s e a rch.

Concept: Changes in population andtechnology affect communi-ties over time. Observ a t i o n sof older residents can pro v i d einsight into a community’spast, present and future .

O b j e c t i ves: Students will be able to:• Draw comparisonsbetween the pre s e n t - d a ycommunity and that of anearlier time depicted by theolder residents of the area. • Foster new re l a t i o n s h i p swith senior citizens and cityo fficials in their communi-t i e s .• Identify changes that haveo c c u rred over the pastdecades and their effect onthe community.• Develop a questionnaireand conduct interviews withcommunity re s i d e n t s .• C reate a time line depictingtheir community’s history.

Subjects: Social studies

Skills: R e s e a rch, writing, publicspeaking, interv i e w i n g

Method: Students interview seniorcitizens in their communityto broaden their perspectivein how their community haschanged over the decadeswith respect to population,economics and the enviro n-m e n t .

M aterials Sample questions (photo-copy for students)Local re s o u rces about theh i s t o ry of the community( o p t i o n a l )

198 Earth Matters

Generations ApartSample Questionnaire

1. How long and where have you lived in this are a ?

2. Can you think of any anecdotes that depict the community setting when you first came here/when you were growing up?

3. How has the community improved/changed since you’ve lived here ?

4. What changes do you think have not been beneficial to the re s i d e n t s ?

5. What was/were the main occupation/s or cash cro p / s ?

6. What businesses have disappeared or changed into something new?

7 . We re there any farms near by? Was the area residential or urban?

8. Do you think the landscape has changed over time? What are some of the most obvious changes?

9. Was there much crime?

1 0. What was it like for families bringing up childre n ?

1 1. What were the schools like? What were class sizes like?

1 2. Did a large percentage of kids graduate from high school in your community?

1 3. We re there any periods of population increase or decrease that you noticed? How did that affect the area/community? For example, were there ever overly crowded classrooms or a lot of traffic congestion?

1 4. We re people sparsely settled?

1 5. We re people very poor/wealthy?

1 6. What was happening in the news?