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The Ecological Footprint: Stepping Towards Sustainability

The scale and impact of human-environmental interactions affect the stability of the planet and everyone on it. This program examines humanity’s impact on the planet, the science behind this, and the cultural and policy factors affecting the path to sustainability. Take a program tour.

Topics: human-environmental interactions; energy, water, atmosphere (The “Commons”); global/regional issues; culture and equity; consumption; biomes; population; technology; climate issues

Audience: grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, higher ed, adult ed

Disciplines: environmental science, earth science, biology, geography/global studies, history, civics, language arts, math

Career Connections: climatology, geology, geography, international studies, law, environmental policy, government, demographics, statistics

Additional Resources:

"Loop Scoops" is a collection of short videos with lessons for grades K-4 to "help kids think about the stuff in their lives." Developed by WGBH (Boston) with Creative Change as content consultant.

"Sustainability and Economics 101," an article by Creative Change's Executive Director, Susan Santone. The beginning of the article has an overview of ecological economics that is useful for any reader; the last part identifies teaching strategies for elementary.

Bring The Ecological Footprint to your classroom or organization.

Get instructional materials in our Curriculum and Resource Center, or combine that with a professional development package to support the revision of units, courses or programs.

Interested in getting a quote? Complete the Interest Form for K12 Institutions or Higher Education.

Engage students in interdisciplinary explorations of human and environmental systems.
Increase rigor and relevance by integrating science, geography and culture while linking content to students’ lives and communities.
Move beyond recycling and engage students in school and community projects focused on energy efficiency, habitat restoration, local food systems, waste audits, and more. Perfect for after school or service learning programs.

Infuse classroom instruction or after school programs with hands-on academics and career-related projects on energy efficiency, habitat restoration, local food systems, waste audits, and more. Perfect for service learning programs.
Access complete units for credit recovery and innovative drop-out prevention programs.
Integrate literacy and relevance into science and social studies content instruction.
Create interdisciplinary “makeovers” for existing science and social studies units or courses.

Access complete units for credit recovery and innovative drop-out prevention programs.
Integrate literacy and relevance into science and social studies content instruction.
Reframe history courses through a lens of human-environmental-cultural interactions.
Create interdisciplinary “makeovers” for existing science and social studies units or courses.

Get the instructional materials you need in our Curriculum and Resource Center, or combine that with a professional development package to support the revision of units, courses or programs.

Higher education/teacher education faculty

Reframe science or social studies methods courses to emphasize interdisciplinary content, literacy across the curriculum, place-based learning, and inquiry-based instruction.
Access complete modules with hands-on instruction and real world projects--perfect for geography or environmental science courses.
Integrate environmental literacy into business and economics courses.

Learn more about professional development packages to reach these or other goals.