A Step in the Right Direction: OTF "How Big is your Ecological Footprint?" Lesson Plan Review

So once we've all recovered from the collective groan and eyeroll caused by my punny title, let's start thinking about some of the goals we have for Ontario Social Studies lessons right now. Educators should strive for lessons that utilize inquiry or research (important 21st century skills that put the power of learning into the students' hands), field study when applicable (let's get up out of our seat and into the community please!), and innovative. 

The Ontario curriculum has a specific meaning in mind for "innovative"lessons. Lessons that use innovation allow students not only to make up their own ideas, inventions, or products, but use them in some way in the "real world". For example, if students make a design for a memorial for Hamilton Aboriginal war veterans, then they would actually submit that proposal design to the government rather than putting it up in the classroom and letting it collect dust. 

I found a lesson through the Ontario Teachers Federation that I deem to be innovative. You can access that lesson, and similar ones for other grades here. Below is a pretty chart, an overview of the lesson, and then my two cents on the matter. 

Name/Class section	Laura McClelland/003
Grade level/Strand	Grade 7/Natural Resources Around the World: Use and Sustainability
Topic	How Big is your Footprint?
Overall Expectation	Analyze aspects of extraction/harvesting and use of natural resources in different regions and assess ways of preserving them
Related concept of Social Studies, Historical or Geographic Thinking	Spatial Significance, Interrelationships
Big Idea	There is a relationship between Earth’s physical features and the distribution of natural resources and how people use them. The ways in which people extract and harvest natural resources can have social, political, and environmental consequences.
Framing Question to Foster Inquiry	Why might it be easier for some countries to extract and use natural resources in a sustainable way? Is the extractions and use of fossil fuels sustainable? What are some of the ways in which different countries are practising environmental stewardship?
Knowledge and Skills Categories Addressed	Knowledge, Thinking, Communication, and Application
Assessment Strategies	Minds On Assessment for Learning: student responses during discussions -are they able to articulate ideas around finite resources? -can students make links between finite land and the need to ensure we share equally and/or need to make sure there are limits to consumption -can students make connections back to the story of stuff, the cycle of consumption Activity Assessment for Learning: observation/notes during discussions -are students able to provide clear and realistic connections between consuming products that come from large distances and the size of their own ecological footprint? Consolidation Assessment for Learning: student-teacher conference regarding My Ecological Footprint -consider students’ ability to identify examples which create their ecological footprint -students’ ability to determine solutions/actions which reduce their ecological footprint
Materials and Resources	Apple and knife, use of available technologies e.g. computer, projector/screen, access to park/large field, chart paper, sheets “Ecological Footprint,” “My Ecological Footprint,” and “Ecological Footprint Resource.”

Concepts Addressed

What concepts of Disciplinary Thinking are addressed in this lesson?	Spatial Significance, Interrelationships
Where does this activity fit within the Citizenship Framework?	This activity fits well with the Active Participation section of the Framework, with a focus on influence and stewardship.
How does this lesson connect to current events and issues?	Reducing one’s eco-footprint is always a timely issue, but with the relatively recent Liberal win in the Federal Election, there is going to be an increased focus on the environment and climate change in Canada. Why not bring this issue up with your students, who may have seen interviews or commercials on TV regarding the renewed Canadian focus on the environment, and preserving our vast, but finite, natural resources?
Note whether this lesson provides an opportunity for field study?	This lesson allows for some field study, as it requires students to go outside and measure what a hectare is, but it is not an extensive part of the lesson.
What are the opportunities for cross-curricular and integrated learning	This lesson integrates expectations from Language (Media Literacy and Oral and Visual Communication), Math (Data Management, and Science and Technology
Note whether this lesson provides an opportunity to integrate environmental education?	Yes, to a large extent. This lesson is all about gaining spatial perspective when considering the Ecological Footprint and what can be done as alternatives to reduce that footprint and thus reduce our environmental impact.
Note whether this lesson provides an opportunity to address healthy relationships?	There is quite a bit of discussion in large and small groups, as well as with partners, which gives educators an opportunity to model and encourage appropriate behaviours for sharing ideas in the classroom respectfully.
Note whether this lesson provides an opportunity to address equity and inclusive classroom?	This lesson does not necessarily include much material from other cultures, religions, etc., but instead focuses on the individual student’s ecological footprint. But it is inclusive in that the students are reflected in the curriculum, their local community is considered and the broader environment is connected to both their community and themselves.
Note whether this lesson provides an opportunity to integrate financial literacy?	It would be possible to integrate information about how being green can save you money e.g. save money on hydro bill by turning off lights when not using the room
Note whether this lesson provides an opportunity to address 21st century skills?	This lesson addresses the skills problem solving, collaboration, and communication.

Lesson Review

            According to 21CLD Learning Activity Rubric’s criteria for innovation, this Ecological Footprint lesson is innovative. The last part of the lesson involves students being presented with a problem (their own Ecological Footprint) and then asks them to think up solutions to this problem that they could realistically enact in their lives. The problem is of course a real-world problem as it is directly based on the students’ lives, and they are required to innovate because beyond thinking up solutions or strategies to reducing their ecological footprint, students must actually utilize those strategies at home.

Although the innovation element of the lesson is small and deeply personal, I still think these types of innovative lessons are important and necessary. Many students (and adults too) often feel a sense of apathy or despair when faced with social problems because of how atomized Western societies are. Everything seems so large, that many people think, “I’m just one person, I can’t do anything so why bother?” without realizing that every movement, every change starts with one person and it is through the actions of many individuals that positive changes can occur. This lesson emphasizes the notion that what a student does individually matters. They can help create a greener community today, not through having a lot of resources, or a lot of education, but through making small changes right in their own lifestyles. Small daily changes can make a huge impact, maybe even more of an impact than some sort of grander gesture, like writing a letter to the Environment Minister (although it couldn’t hurt to do that too).  

This lesson is useful because it shows students in very visual ways the impact that humans have on the environment, first through the apple and then through the hectare measurement. It also has a good mixture of large group discussion, small group problem-solving, and individual reflection. The variety will help students stay interested and engaged. If I were to incorporate this lesson into part of a mini-unit or unit, I would probably have a follow-up, or some reflections ready for the students to do so they can think about the efforts they’re making to reduce their ecological footprint at home (and to remind them to actually do it!). I would also probably compare and contrast Western consumption with consumption and environmental impact of other cultures so students can see that the way we live is not only quite different from many areas around the globe, but also comes at a terrible cost for certain countries. We are able to live like kings because other regions struggle. This would be a sobering but incredibly important realization for students to make.

There are changes that I would make to this lesson if I were to use it in my own classroom to suit my style and personality, but overall, it is innovative and does address (or can address) the vision and many elements of the Geography curriculum. It gives educators quite a bit to work with and provides students with variety in their activities, assessment, and social interaction in the classroom.