Secrets unravelling

Aliens have been encountered! Temples unearth! Exotic treasures with mystical properties discovered. Mutations abound. Extinct species seemingly reincarnated.
Watch out - not all your former classmates are now as they once were.
Seek out adventure if you want to find the secrets to Matainui. For you see, you have all been there before... Time has indeed been twisted, but you are not in the past.
The outcomes of your Sustainability study have meant that you are now some of the only humans left alive on Earth!!!
Seek out the answers on your classmates blogs. Some of them have uncovered the majority of the tale... but no one knows everything yet!

I have drawn you some clues in a graphic novel. If you are interested I will bring it to school for you to see...

Captive alien

Evolving creatures

Mathematical clues

Collection agents

Major Clue

Making a personal difference

As a result of our inquiry into sustainability and how we make an impact on the Earth with every choice we make, I would like you to do the following:

1. Make a commitment to reduce your ecological footprint in three ways.
2. Create a "footprint diary" on your sustainability blog.
3. Monitor your progress honestly - don't feel bad if you find it difficult - just do your best.
4. Evaluate your choices weekly and estimate which of your three is the most effective.

So make some suggestions here as to what you may try and why. Then start your "diary" on your sustainable blog.

We'll see who has made the biggest difference to the Earth in Week ten.

Incredible social science learning

Click on the "tiny url" http://tinyurl.com/orkncq


to access a really neat ppt that has 60+ slides with a weblink on each taking us to interactive learning sites [games] relating to sustainability, globalisation, etc.


Try out the games and leave comments here stating which ones were fun, useful and why you recommend them in relation to our studies.


:-)

The Story of Stuff

This outstanding web-based resource tells us all about the real environmental and social costs of our wasteful society...

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

The Seas of Plastic

As a consequence of our throwaway society, where we waste so many resources, there is a disgusting and unacceptable level of pollution growing in our oceans.
The video by Captain Charles Moore from "TED" is about this disturbing phenomenon...

BrainPop on the Environment

Here is an interactive research site for you to enjoy learning about how fragile our environment is.

:-)

Enjoy your compulsory studying, kidlets.

BRAINPOP !!!

Permaculture Tea versus Industrial Tea

A model to compare industrial methods versus permaculture methods :-)
We will discuss this in class so don't fret if you don't get it.

Eco house design

Each of you needs to research the concept of eco-house design, be able to explain the fundamentals [on your blog and in person], and create your own design for your Matai Islands home.
Experts might actually build a model for extra credit.

The River on Matai Island

Check out the river on our island.
Does it have qualities that may be useful for sustainable use?
Consider power generation, food sources, transport, etc.
How about a maori name based on it's qualities?

Sustainability links

These links are to reading materials for our research into living sustainably.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/29/fossil-fuels-trillion-tonnes-burned

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/mar/05/ecobuild-green-eco-homes-building-renovation-show

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/biofuels

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/wave-tidal-hydropower

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/windpower

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2009/apr/24/climate-change-catholic-church

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/renewableenergy

Resource links for Sustainability

Here are links to websites and Google search results for relevant information.
We will evaluate, analyse and synthesize these sources. They may not all be reliable. Some opinions may differ and "facts" could contradict each other.
Information from these sources will form material for our guided reading activities.
There may be ideas for projects embedded within the sites...

Sustainability NZ Govt

University of Canterbury

Sustainability Council of NZ

Google Search results:

"What Does Sustainability Mean?"

"Environmental Sustainability"

"Global Warming"

"Environmental Sustainability - Video results"

"Ecological Footprint"

Sustainability in Term Two

Our Team Theme for Term Two is Sustainability. We will have to work in with what we plan as a team, but if we use an inquiry method of learning, we should be able to find questions that interest us that we can pursue in our own ways, to some degree.
Their will be key concepts and contexts that we need to understand and we need to actually achieve something real and meaningful to us, in order to make the learning worthwhile.
So, what is Sustainability? Add your own thoughts on the topic and how you would like to learn about it. If you know experts we could talk to or have really good ideas for projects we could try, say so here. Perhaps start a Sustainability blog for your project work, resource gathering, etc.

Wikipedia says:

Sustainability

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Blue Marble composite images generated by NASA in 2001 (left) and 2002 (right).

Sustainability, in a broad sense is the ability to maintain a certain process or state. It is now most frequently used in connection with biological and human systems. In an ecological context, sustainability can be defined as the ability of an ecosystem to maintain ecological processes, functions, biodiversity and productivity into the future.^[1]

Sustainability has become a complex term that can be applied to almost every facet of life on Earth, particularly the many different levels of biological organization, such as; wetlands, prairies and forests^[2] and is expressed in human organization concepts, such as; eco-municipalities, sustainable cities, and human activities and disciplines, such as; sustainable agriculture, sustainable architecture and renewable energy.^{[citation needed]} Many sustainable practices are being identified as "green" initiatives.

For humans to live sustainably, the Earth's resources must be used at a rate at which they can be replenished. However, there is now clear scientific evidence that humanity is living unsustainably, and that an unprecedented collective effort is needed to return human use of natural resources to within sustainable limits.^[3][4]

Since the 1980s, the idea of human sustainability has become increasingly associated with the integration of economic, social and environmental spheres. In 1989, the World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission) articulated what has now become a widely accepted definition of sustainability: "[to meet] the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”^[5]

Sustainable development

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scheme of sustainable development: at the confluence of three constituent parts.^[1]

Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for future generations to come. The term was used by the Brundtland Commission which coined what has become the most often-quoted definition of sustainable development as development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."^[2][3]

Sustainable development ties together concern for the carrying capacity of natural systems with the social challenges facing humanity. As early as the 1970s "sustainability" was employed to describe an economy "in equilibrium with basic ecological support systems."^[4] Ecologists have pointed to the “limits of growth”^[5] and presented the alternative of a “steady state economy”^[6] in order to address environmental concerns.

The field of sustainable development can be conceptually broken into three constituent parts: environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and sociopolitical sustainability.