Bay Area Earth Science Institute "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." - John Muir

Workshop Overview  Natural resources through the lens of sustainability  Water and energy: global to local California's resources

Connections  Science-social studies-geography-health-math  Water-food-energy connections  People and the environment Interconnectedness of lifestyle, population, and environmental impacts

Acknowledgements  This workshop was made possible by a grant from Intel.

BAESI Website   “One-stop shopping”  A collection of podcasts, ready-to-use classroom activities, and other resources for teaching about plate tectonics, climate change, and other topics

Natural Resources and Sustainability  What does the word “sustainability” mean to you?

A common definition The World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission) in its report Our Common Future (1987): “S ustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Sustainability: More than the environment Three “dimensions” of sustainability:  Environment  Economy  Society “People, Planet, and Profit”  Includes societal and intergenerational equity

One Model of Sustainability

A Better Model? Concentric circles: The economy exists within society. The economy and society exist within the environment. Source:

Sustainability as a Process  We know what unsustainable practices look like, but we’re learning about a sustainable future as we go along  Education for sustainability Interdisciplinary Skills: Systems thinking Critical thinking Problem solving

What do people NEED? Think-pair-share: What do people need to assure their well-being?

What Do People NEED?  Food  Water  Air  Shelter Can you think of others? Meeting these needs requires Earth’s resources NASA

The Lorax  Using Dr. Suess’s The Lorax to teach students about sustainable development  The Lorax was written in 1971 and is considered a metaphor for unsustainable use of natural resources. Video

The Lorax: short synopsis  A young boy goes to meet a ruined industrialist in a treeless wasteland and hear his tale of what happened to him.  His tragic story is about how he began a thriving business with a useless fashion product (the Thneed) derived from the trees of a forest.  As his business booms, the forest and its inhabitants suffer as he wantonly clearcuts without regard to the warnings of the wise old Lorax about the dire consequences of his greed.  The lovable Lorax, who speaks for the trees, tries to save his forest from industry (and the greedy Once-ler), but he isn't able to. From

Do you really need a thneed?  Can you think of some real examples of a “thneed” (i.e., a product people want, but don’t need)?  Manufactured need: The Story of Stuff The Story of Bottled Water

The “real cost” of food/products  Materials/energy to extract, produce, transpose, dispose of, etc.  Examples (handouts) What resources are needed to make a burger, fries, and Coke? The Life Story of a Potato Chip

Ecological Footprint A tool for measuring humankind’s impact on nature  Estimates the area of land and ocean required to support consumption of food, goods, services, housing, and energy and to assimilate wastes.  Expressed in "global hectares" (gha) or "global acres" (ga) 1 Hectare = 2.5 acres  Categories: carbon (home energy use and transportation), food, housing, and goods and services.

Overshoot (ecological deficit): Living Beyond Our Means  Taking more resources than Earth can provide, or using them faster than they regenerate  Putting more wastes into the ecosystem than the earth can absorb.  Ecological productive land available for each person on Earth: 1.89 hectares (4.5 acres)  Current average usage: ~ 2.2 hectares (5.5 acres) (~ 20% overshoot).

Can Earth support the lifestyles of a growing world population ?

How Big is YOUR Footprint?