To quote directly from ToK advice found within the ESS subject guide ” What effect does a highly sensitive political context have on objectivity?” The current wrangling over the decision by Penn State University to host a lecture by the climate change scientist Michael Mann and the backlash this has received on facebook provides a great opportunity to bring Tok directly into the ESS class. AS a knower what issues are involved in this current whirlwind and is climate change possibly becoming Environmental Science teaching’s own Little Rock. Have a read and just discuss.
Triple A Learning IB Blogs
Environmental systems and societies (ESS)
Welcome to the Triple A Learning blog for DP Environmental systems and societies. The most recent blog posts are listed below and you can access the blog archive by following the appropriate link in the panel on the left.
February 6, 2012
January 17, 2012
Professional development with Triple A Learning’s cost-effective online workshops
There is still time to take advantage of Triple A Learning’s cost-effective online workshops. Over the last three years we have trained over 4000 IB teachers on our IB authorised workshops, at both category 1 and category 3.
Follow the links below to see the range on offer. Our next session begins on FEBRUARY 20th. Do not miss out on these…book now to update your professional training. Our interactive workshops and resources will help take your career to the next level and support your classroom practice. Our courses cover subject-specific and whole-school topics and make the in-service training budget go further.
January 7, 2012
Looking for data
On of the most frustrating things about teaching teaching a subject that changes as rapidly as ESS is finding usable, current and reliable data that can be built into case studies and scenarios. A resource that I continually forget about but always seem to end up going back to is the European Environment Agency’s website. This is a wonderful resource grouped around themes that include: Air pollution, Biodiversity, Chemicals, Climate change and Environment and health among others. Each theme contains publications, articles, multimedia as well as a wealth of data and maps that are all very much usable in ESS.
Have browse
December 5, 2011
When Green Might Not be Good!!
The Ecologist magazine and web site today carries an article about research that suggests t yet again that the current drive to adopt biofuels is leading to major land grab exercises by multinationals in developing countries such as Brazils remaining rainforest areas. The research questions the ability of biomass to act as a substitute for fossil fuels given that it already has ecological functions to carry out vital to the planet.
3.3.2: Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of two contrasting energy sources. leads to a debate between what has traditional been seen as renewable v non-renewable, the economic value being placed on biomass at present creates an interesting dichotomy when teaching this part of the course. Might it lead to students answering that Coal is more environmental friendly energy source than biomass. Certainly something to add to the ToK questions that can be raised around this.
December 2, 2011
Finding the right resources
How frustrating is it to have to trawl through the internet to find updated and pertinent resources. Well a site that i often wander back to as a starting point can be found within the Instructional Material for Science Education webpages. They have a dedicated ecology resources page with lots of links to resources and ideas. Not every one on it is brilliant but lots are very good. Worth checking.
November 24, 2011
Triple A donates new computers to One Laptop Per Child cause
Here at Triple A Learning, we’ve always supported the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) cause. With a mission to “empower the world’s poorest children through education“, who could fail to be moved by its ideals.
What OLPC believes
November 23, 2011
November 12, 2011
Access to research
One of the hardest things I find being an ESS teacher is that so often in a school library, staff or faculty room that the pedagogical journals that you may come across have very little focus on teaching a course with a foothold in ecology and environmental science. It is often possible to find journals dealing with research in science education per se that sometimes carry articles of direct interest, but rare to find ones that are specific. A former school that taught in did subscribe to Environmental Education Research traditionally the place you went to look, but a subscription to a very specific journal is an extremely expensive luxury for many schools.
So is there anything out there?
November 11, 2011
No not the fact that its called Rainbow Warrior
Greenpeace has started sea trails of the new Rainbow warrior vessel. Whether you agree with the aims and methods of GP the one thing that can be said about this new vessel is its efficiency – especially the use of a new sail architecture. Have a read about how ocean travel can become a lot more energy efficient – the Guardian has a nice interactive about this state of art technocentric green ship.
November 7, 2011
What do we teach?
Every now and then I find myself stumbling across a resource that at first sight might not appear brilliant but the more you read the more you find things to firstly just tink about and secondly that are just usable. Teaching Environmental Issues and the Affective Domain is one such resource. From the “On the Cutting Edge – Professional Development for Geoscience Faculty” which I have dabbed backwards and forwards into a few times in the past. Certainly worth taking a look at as like most of the other resources from OTCE it leads to more resources many of which are very adaptable to the ESS classroom.
