Innovative Ideas to Teach Sustainability

Dear Educators,
We hope that you will explore these ideas and share them with your students to raise their awareness of environmental challenges and some innovative technologies that have been created to promote sustainable practices. 



Edible spoons: Plastic utensils can remain in the environment for a long time and they contain toxic chemicals which could be harmful for human and other organisms. So, using the cutlery which can be edible, biodegradable and vegan could be a fantastic alternative to protect our environment. An Indian couple invented a strategy to make edible spoons from sorghum, rice and wheat.

Edible water bottles: A large number of people all over the world drink mineral water from plastic bottles. It seems that about 50% of the plastic in our environment comes from water bottles. In this video you can see an innovative edible water bottle which is an amazing idea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KppS7LRbybw

Floating ocean trash can: Plastic pollution in water bodies is a very serious issue nowadays which has adversely affected the aquatic life. Two Australian inventors designed a trash can which can float in water and collect the trash from the water. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON1QW4e72pg

COcatchers: CO2 has been one of the most important air pollutants for decades. Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have invented a technology to capture COefficiently. This technology is in the form of small blue capsules which can capture CO2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SjR3QZxH8s

PaveGen: PaveGen has invented a technology to turn kinetic energy into renewable electricity.  As they explained this technology, “The PaveGen technology is a multifunctional custom flooring system. As people step on the tiles, their weight causes electromagnetic induction generators to vertically displace, which results in a rotatory motion that generates off-grid electricity.”  Please go to the following website to learn about their project. http://www.pavegen.com/

Floating food forest: “Swale” is the name of a floating food forest in New York with a large number of edible plant varieties that teaches children about the importance of sustainability and building land stewardship.” http://mashable.com/2017/06/27/floating-food-forest-teaching-kids-about-sustainability/#jtXuJ7yO9kqY


Resources: 

Education for Sustainability (Useful websites): Here you can find a list of websites which contain resources for teaching sustainability in schools.  This website has been developed by the AESA research project, Education for Sustainability and the Australian Curriculum.

Getting started with sustainability in schools: You can find different resources on this website such as case studies, curriculum units, classroom activities and also community activities for teaching the values of sustainability to children and to give them essential skills to promote sustainability. http://www.sustainabilityinschools.edu.au/

Green Schools Alliance: You can join this website and use the tools and resources to teach sustainability concepts in your classrooms.  You can also collaborate with other sustainability champions on this site. http://www.greenschoolsalliance.org/home

Green Education Foundation: Green Education Foundation is a non-profit organization which provides teachers and students with different resources, models and curriculum resources to develop a sustianble future through teaching and learning. http://www.greeneducationfoundation.org/

Be The Change: Be The Change is a Canadian charity established in 2005. They support sustainability related initiatives in education and community setting . They provide innovative cross curricular resources, professional development workshops and ideas for sustainability education. http://www.bethechangeearthalliance.org/

Sustainability Lesson Plans for Primary Schools: In this small pdf you can find sample lesson plans for teaching environmental issues and developing concrete action plans to reduce “individual environmental footprint”https://au.fsc.org/preview.middle-3-4-lesson-plans.a-1124.pdf

Learn for Life: This website contains multiple curriculum materials and activities for teachers to use in their classes to teach about environment and sustainability and also various resources for students classified by topics in the area of environment. https://www.coolaustralia.org/

No comments:

Post a Comment