Introduction to the Ecological Footprint: Appropriate for all teachers

The Ecological Footprint and Food Systems: For science, economics, and history teachers

The Ecological Footprint and History: For history teachers

Learn about the benefits of teaching about the Ecological Footprint, or view examples of teacher-created units and student projects resulting from these programs.

For related content, see also "Designed by Nature," our middle school program on environmental product design.

Our programs are competitively priced, and schools often use federal or state funds to pay for them. Contact us to discuss your needs and get a quote.   

Introduction to the Ecological Footprint

Audience: all teachers grades 3-12 (especially interdisciplinary teams)

Workshop Outcomes: Our approach models hands-on strategies teachers can replicate in the classroom. Participants walk away with knowledge, instructional resources, and teaching strategies they can use to help students:

Understand the relationship between human and natural systems. Measure the environmental impacts of lifestyle choices with the Ecological Footprint calculator. (Elementary teachers, see the adapted calculator for younger students.) Analyze scientific research on global ecosystems. Explore cultural influences on consumption patterns. Develop strategies to reduce one's impact on the environment. Top of page

The Ecological Footprint and Food Systems

Audience: science, economics, and history teachers grades 3-12 (especially interdisciplinary teams)

Format: full-day workshop w/ the option to add an additional day focused on effective unit design. This will give teachers the skills and support needed to create unit "makeovers" that will impact student achievement.

Workshop Outcomes: Our approach models hands-on strategies teachers can replicate in the classroom. Participants walk away with knowledge, resources, and strategies to help students

trace the path food takes from field to table, and identify the environmental impacts of each step compare and contrast energy usage and enviornmental impacts of locally-grown and imported foods understand the history of how our modern-day food system developed identify sources of locally-grown foods in the community develop projects to promote more sustainable food choices Top of page

The Ecological Footprint and History:Using Human-Environmental Interactions as a Context for Historical Investigations

Audience: history teachers grades 5-12

Format: full-day workshop w/ the option to add an additional day focused on effective unit design. This will give teachers the skills and support needed to create unit "makeovers" that will impact student achievement.

Workshop Outcomes: Teachers will learn to frame historical content through a lens that emphasizes human-environmental interactions and the social, economic, and political systems that support them. Through this lens, teachers can meet standards while helping students understand history's relevance to their lives. The resources, frameworks, and teaching strategies provided will help students

• Understand the the development of economic and political systems.
• Critically analyse historic decisions.
• Identify key historic events that have influenced the state of the world today.
• Understand the impacts of geography and culture on social and economic systems.

Benefits of teaching about the Ecological Footprint

     The Ecological Footprint integrates geography, ecology, global issues, governmental policies, cultural studies, and history, making it a perfect lens for social studies courses. Science teachers can use the Ecological Footprint to study global ecosystems, carrying capacity, and other environmental topics. Math teachers can the use Ecological Footprint data as the basis for analysis, graphing, and other skills. Language arts teachers can explore the the future, human relationship to the environment, and related themes in literature. All teachers will appreciate that students find the Ecological Footprint relevant and important to their lives.
     In short, the Ecological Footprint is an appropriate topic for educators from across the curriculum, as a focus for integrated instruction, or as a theme for team teaching.

Top of page | Back to Eco Footprint main page

View other introductory professional development programs.

Learn more about our custom professional development programs, designed for schools interested in substantive professional growth through on-going learning, support, evaluation, and peer-driven replication.