Example of Student Work on Ecological Footprint

"Affluenza: An In-Depth Look Into Consumer Culture, Its Causes And Effects"

     Kim Reynolds, an eighth grade language arts teacher at Mill Creek Middle School in Dexter, Michigan, developed a unit called "Affluenza: An In-Depth Look Into Consumer Culture, Its Causes And Effects." The unit was the final project in a graduate course called "Teaching for Sustainability." The course was developed and taught by staff from Creative Change and offered through Eastern Michigan University's Social Foundations of Education Program.

     Kim's unit began by having students explore the question, What is happiness? Through journals and reflection on Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree," students considered what makes them happy, where happiness really comes from, and how to distinguish between needs and wants.
To deepen this learning with a global perspective, students compared income, lifestyle, and levels of well-being among different countries using on-line data from the United Nations and the World Bank. Through this research, students came to understand that high levels of well-being and security are not necessarily dependent on material wealth.
     
      Students then assessed the impacts of their lifestyle using the "Ecological Footprint," a science-based, internationally-used methodology for measuring human impact on the environment (http://www.myfootprint.org). Students were surprised to learn, for example, that it would take the resources of four earths to support the world's 6+ billion people at typical US levels of consumption and waste production.
     
      To learn more about individual products, students researched, mapped, and wrote narratives of the lifecycle of a sport shoe, a bike, a can of cola, or another common item. For example, one student writing about the life of a pencil described the eraser made from Malaysian rubber, the ceramic lead from a French factory, and the wood from a US forest.

      Next, students examined the role of advertising in shaping the consumer culture. Through analyzing ads and a visit to a mall, students gained insight into marketing and sales techniques. With this knowledge, students created spoof ads that exposed the hidden truths behind products--such as the sweatshop origins of popular sport shoes.

     Throughout the unit, Kim's frequent assessment of students' work demonstrated how emotional learning went hand-in-hand with progress toward multiple standards. "Students reflected often on the impact of consumerism on their lives," says Kim. "They talked about what they observed in their families and at the malls or community, using words like 'sustainability,' 'persuasion,' 'advertising techniques,' and 'environmental impacts,' in class discussions." At the same time, Kim adds, "many students became frustrated, agitated, or enraged with the idea that their choices could potentially be causing harm or that they are so heavily influenced by the media."

      To steer these concerns into positive action, students next explored paths to well-being more focused on family, friends, and community--the key elements of happiness they originally identified. Students read Thoreau and related literature, and as a class developed a book of tips to make a difference. As a culminating assessment, students wrote proposals for projects to carry out within the community.

      In summing up her experience with the unit, Kim notes, "Students might look at their world with different eyes having the knowledge they now have."

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