Earth Law and the Rights of Nature: A New Generation of Laws …
Earth Law and the Rights of Nature: A New Generation of Laws Built for Nature Wilson, Grant, Kayman, Lindsey, Bartlett, Paul, and Milena Popov John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Earth Law Center, Environmental Education Fund Forget doom and gloom. Let’s educate students about the Rights of Nature, an inspiring, evolving legal development which is gaining traction in the US and around the world, and which can promote the cultural shift needed to address our overlapping intersecting environmental crises — climate change, accelerating species extinction, and ecosystem collapse. The Rights of Nature is one aspect of Earth Law. Some of the other specific movements falling under the banner of Earth law are nonhuman rights for animals, defining ecocide as a crime, rights of future generations, legal guardianship for nature, and Indigenous legalities. In most countries, Nature has the legal status of mere property. The Rights of Nature recognizes that humans and Nature are in a relationship, rather than Nature merely providing a hoard of natural resources for indiscriminate human use. The legal structures discussed in Rights of Nature literature codifies the details of this restored relationship, rather than actually creating it. Nature becomes a legal entity with basic rights: the right to exist, flourish, thrive and regenerate. The Rights of Nature can also complement Indigenous rights by empowering Indigenous peoples to serve as legal guardians of their traditional territories. This poster and a companion open access CUNY Commons webpage and repository will provide links to curated video clips, films, case studies, a course book, a graduate level course syllabus, mock trial workshops, and written materials that can be used for incorporating the Rights of Nature and complimentary legal movements concepts into curricula.
This list of carefully selected books for grades K-5 highlights nonfiction about …
This list of carefully selected books for grades K-5 highlights nonfiction about climate proxies, those preserved physical characteristics, such as fossils, that scientists use to reconstruct past climates. Also highlighted are a few books that provide information about two past climatic events -- the last ice age and the Dust Bowl. In each issue of the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, the virtual bookshelf recommends books that accurately portray the theme drawn from the principles of climate sciences.
This highly informative site explores five different ecosystems and the public health …
This highly informative site explores five different ecosystems and the public health issues that have arisen in each. Students can explore the different ways that ecosystem services that address air quality, heat hazard mitigation, recreation and physical activity, water hazard mitigation, and water quality impact many health conditions.
This lesson is about the flow of energy in ecosystems. The setting …
This lesson is about the flow of energy in ecosystems. The setting is Plimoth Plantation, a living history museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA, where students will learn about the first Thanksgiving meal in America, celebrated in 1621 by early American settlers and Wampanoag Indians. By examining this meal and comparing it to a modern day Thanksgiving celebration, students will be able to explore the way in which food energy moves and is transformed in an ecosystem. The learning goals focus on the movement of energy from one feeding level to the next within a food web, the way in which energy changes form, and the inefficiency of energy transfer, which in turn affects the availability of food energy for organisms at the highest feeding level. The lesson is directed at high school level biology students. Students should be familiar already with food webs, food chains, and trophic (feeding) levels. They should also be familiar with the general equations for photosynthesis (CO2 + H2O => C6H12O6) and cell respiration (C6H12O6 => CO2 + H2O), and understand the basic purpose of these processes in nature. This lesson can be completed during one long classroom period, or can be divided over two or more class meetings. The duration of the lesson will depend on prior knowledge of the students and on the amount of time allotted for student discussion. There are no supplies required for this lesson other than the downloadable worksheets (accessed on this BLOSSOMS site), paper and some glue or tape.
In the world of ecology, the only constant is change - but …
In the world of ecology, the only constant is change - but change can be good. Today Hank explains ecological succession and how ecological communities change over time to become beautiful, biodiverse mosaics.
Chapters: 1. Primary Succession :1 2. Secondary Succession 3. Climax Community Model 4. Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis :1
The major goal of this lesson is to provide students with some …
The major goal of this lesson is to provide students with some of the tools they will need to analyze and solve the many complex problems they will face during their lifetimes. In the lesson, students learn to use Flow Charts and Feedback Diagrams to analyze a very complex problem of ecological sustainability. The lesson looks at a specific case study—from my home town in the Philippines—of the Live Reef Fish Trade now threatening survival of the Coral Reef Triangle of Southeast Asia. Live reef fish have long been traded around Southeast Asia as a luxury food item, but in recent decades trade in fish captured on coral reefs has expanded rapidly. Although the trade has provided communities with additional income, these benefits are unsustainable and have come at considerable cost to the environment. This lesson begins by having students analyze a familiar or personal problem, using Flow Charts and Feedback Diagrams, and then moves on to the application of those tools to a complex environmental problem. The lesson could be completed in a 50-minute class session, but using it over two class sessions would be preferable. Everything needed for the lesson is downloadable from the BLOSSOMS website, including blank Flow Charts and Feedback Diagrams, as well as articles on the Philippines case study from the World Wildlife Fund and the United States Agency for International Development.
Communities are dynamic and change over time, and we can observe this …
Communities are dynamic and change over time, and we can observe this process with particular clarity after a disturbance or on new land. Learn about primary and secondary succession, as well as pioneer species. Created by Sal Khan.
This short lesson was designed in collaboration with a 7th grade Life …
This short lesson was designed in collaboration with a 7th grade Life Science teacher (Paul Jeffery). The idea behind the lesson is to help students better understand ecological and geographical classifications by teaching them at the same time in their Life Science class and their Geography class. Teaching the two classifications together will help reinforce the idea of classification. While this lesson would best be taught outdoors it can also be adapted to the indoors.
This course provides a review of physical, chemical, ecological, and economic principles …
This course provides a review of physical, chemical, ecological, and economic principles used to examine interactions between humans and the natural environment. Mass balance concepts are applied to ecology, chemical kinetics, hydrology, and transportation; energy balance concepts are applied to building design, ecology, and climate change; and economic and life cycle concepts are applied to resource evaluation and engineering design. Numerical models are used to integrate concepts and to assess environmental impacts of human activities. Problem sets involve development of MATLAB® models for particular engineering applications. Some experience with computer programming is helpful but not essential.
We will cover fundamentals of ecology, considering Earth as an integrated dynamic …
We will cover fundamentals of ecology, considering Earth as an integrated dynamic system. Topics include coevolution of the biosphere, geosphere, atmosphere and oceans; photosynthesis and respiration; the hydrologic, carbon and nitrogen cycles. We will examine the flow of energy and materials through ecosystems; regulation of the distribution and abundance of organisms; structure and function of ecosystems, including evolution and natural selection; metabolic diversity; productivity; trophic dynamics; models of population growth, competition, mutualism and predation. This course is designated as Communication-Intensive; instruction and practice in oral and written communication provided. Biology is a recommended prerequisite.
Ecology: Population Growth is a Canadian adaptation of Connecting Concepts: Interactive Lessons …
Ecology: Population Growth is a Canadian adaptation of Connecting Concepts: Interactive Lessons in Biology by Robert Jeanne and Jan Cheetham (University of Wisconsin). It includes interactive lessons on exponential growth focusing on the zebra mussel population, logistic growth using fish as an example, and elephant population growth. / Croissance des populations est une adaptation canadienne de Connecting Concepts: Interactive Lessons in Biology de Robert Jeanne et Jan Cheetham (University of Wisconsin). Ces leçons interactives portent sur la croissance exponentielle à l’aide d’une population de moules zébrées, la croissance logistique selon l’exemple des poissons et la croissance d’une population d’éléphants.
Introduction to the basic principles of ecology and evolutionary biology emphasizing quantitative …
Introduction to the basic principles of ecology and evolutionary biology emphasizing quantitative approaches and hypothesis testing. Scientific reasoning, computer literacy, and writing skills are developed in the laboratory.
Ecology For All! Is an ecology text designed in modules so that …
Ecology For All! Is an ecology text designed in modules so that instructors can choose the pieces that make sense to assign in their context. This book has been in development for several years and is a collaborative effort of authors at Gettysburg College, Franklin & Marshall College, and University of Pittsburgh. The textbook covers a wide range of topics including Introduction to Ecology, Evolution, Adaptations to the Physical Environment, various ecological communities, Population Ecology, Behavioral Ecology, Species Interactions, Ecological Succession, Biogeochemical Cycles, Landscape Ecology, Biodiversity, Conservation Biology, and Human Impact on Global Climate among others. The authors have presented on it at the Ecological Society of America meeting and the book continues to evolve.
Ecology is the study of how living things interact with each other …
Ecology is the study of how living things interact with each other and their environment. This includes living things (biotic factors) and non-living things (abiotic factors).
This video focuses on the conifer forest in Alaska to explore the …
This video focuses on the conifer forest in Alaska to explore the carbon cycle and how the forest responds to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide. Topics addressed in the video include wildfires, reflectivity, and the role of permafrost in the global carbon cycle.
Word Count: 74439 (Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by …
Word Count: 74439
(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)
This activity is an open-ended inquiry investigation in which students analyze and …
This activity is an open-ended inquiry investigation in which students analyze and predict how an environmental change will affect the visitation rates of insects. Students will ask a question, develop multiple hypotheses, run a scientific investigation, and report their findings to their "colleagues".
This 16-page resource, from Wisconsin Fast Plants, provides a "complete Open Source …
This 16-page resource, from Wisconsin Fast Plants, provides a "complete Open Source investigation into ecosystem dynamics that can be adapted to any grade level." In this Google Document, readers will find the investigation includes a lesson plan, descriptions of standards alignment, tips for designing and implementing the experiment, Fast Plants planting protocol (instructions), as well as worksheets for data collection and developing evidence-based explanations.
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