Lesson Plan: Sustainable Development

Objective To get students thinking about the nature of sustainable development and how to apply it to their world. Background There are number of issues now in active circulation through municipal, state and federal administrative systems about how to implement sustainable development in the following areas: in the treatment and distribution of water through public infrastructure in how best to protect and maintain wildlife populations in quickly developing areas of the country in how to develop the best energy grid for supplying American households in how to design new housing communities for the most sustainable long-term results for residents Any background reading on these issues will come in handy in helping students make sense of these issues. Setting Up Break up the class into four groups and assign each group one topic from the list: water resources wildlife housing energy Let students discuss their topics in groups, and pose questions like: Who should be in charge of how these areas are handled and how policy is made? What will be best for the human (and wildlife) populations involved? What are current options for administrating these resource issues? Then allow students a day to come up with their own resources on the above questions with fact sheets, etc. showing some statistical data as well as a variety of viewpoints from pundits and public figures. Classroom Activity Students will debate each topic, building their own arguments about how to practice sustainable development in each topic area. These debates might best be handled in a series of presentations where groups of students can collectively demonstrate their viewpoint.  Part of each group should be assigned to “Pros” and the other part to “Cons”.  Explain that students need not stick to their own views, but try to effectively show their assigned side of the issue. Break down the debate into a central polemic: Water: should water be distributed through a public system or by the previous well-based system for households? Wildlife: should wolves and other endangered species be kept in captivity or preserved in the wild? Housing: Does high-density housing as it is proposed in new communities represent the best standard for efficient energy use? Energy: should the energy grid be regulated and should the government encourage energy suppliers to sell renewable energies on the grid? Let students present each side, then allow class time for further discussion. Follow Up Students can prepare reports on alternatives or suggestions for their assigned topic using the resources they have found.