Eco-Literacy Module PDF

This module entails acquiring knowledge about climate change, pollution, loss of natural habitats and biodiversity as well as the impacts of environmental problems on human lives. Moreover, solutions on how these environmental problems could be addressed and measures for conservation must be practic...

This module entails acquiring knowledge about climate change, pollution, loss of natural habitats and biodiversity as well as the impacts of environmental problems on human lives. Moreover, solutions on how these environmental problems could be addressed and measures for conservation must be practiced. Teachers and students need to develop awareness of the environment. (GURO 21, 2020). Similarly, the issues on environmental concerns have been spreading through the decades. The human population is becoming aware of the importance of world eco-literacy due to both the non- governmental and governmental organizations environmental drive and initiatives to save planet earth. The educational institutions must be concerned about educating the young people or the students to environmental issues and in so doing will reflect personal desire to act on concrete interventions or plans to address the problem. Learning Outcomes At the end of this module, students should be able to: 1\. Define the meaning of Eco-Literacy; 2. Determine and identify the environmentally literate people and the five (5) practices in eco-literacy; and 27 3\. Make concrete plan of actions to participate individually in the conservation of natural resources and how to be active in the drive to save mother earth. Lesson 1. Meaning of Eco-Literacy Eco-Literacy is the ability to demonstrate proficiency of the environment and the conditions affecting it, especially as it applies to climate, land, air, energy, food, water and our ecosystems. It means students: Understand society's influence on population growth, development, resource consumption growth and much more. Study and assess environmental issues, and make precise conclusions about beneficial solutions (Medium, 2017). Lesson 2. People as Environmentally Literate Take both independent and communal action towards tackling challenges such as participating in global endeavors, and creating solutions that encourage action on environmental issues (Seen Magazine, n.d.). Environmentally literate people are: 10 percent more likely to conserve energy in the home 10 percent more likely to obtain environmentally safe products 50 percent more likely to recycle 50 percent more likely to avoid using chemicals in yard care Ninety-five percent of American adults (95 percent are parents) believe environmental education should be taught in schools. Lesson 3. Eco-literate "Eco-literate" is our shorthand for the end goal of this kind of learning, and raising Eco literate students requires a process that we call "socially and emotionally engaged Eco literacy"---a process that, we believe, offers an antidote to the fear, anger, and hopelessness that can result from inaction. As we saw in Wright-Albertini's classroom as cited by Goleman, 28 Bennett,  Barlow (2013), the very act of engaging in some of today's great ecological challenges---on whatever scale is possible or appropriate---develops strength, hope, and resiliency in young people. Eco-literacy is founded on a new integration of emotional, social, and ecological intelligence---forms of intelligence popularized by Five Ways to Develop Ecoliteracy. (Goleman et al., 2013). While social and emotional intelligence extend students' abilities to see from another's perspective, empathize, and show concern, ecological intelligence applies these capacities to an understanding of natural systems and melds cognitive skills with empathy for all of life. By weaving these forms of intelligence together, eco literacy builds on the successes---from reduced behavioral problems to increased academic achievement---of the movement in education to foster social and emotional learning. And it cultivates the knowledge, empathy, and action required for practicing sustainable living (Goleman et al., 2013). Lesson 4. Five (5) Practices in Eco-literacy To help educator's foster socially and emotionally engaged eco literacy, we have identified the following five practices (Greater Good, 2013; Goleman et al., 2013). These are, of course, not the only ways to do so. But we believe that educators who cultivate these practices offer a strong foundation for becoming eco literate, helping themselves and their students build healthier relationships with other people and the planet. Each can be nurtured in age-appropriate ways for students, ranging from pre-kindergarten through adulthood, and help promote the cognitive and affective abilities central to the integration of emotional, social, and ecological intelligence. 1\. Develop empathy for all forms of life. At a basic level, all organisms---including humans---need food, water, space, and conditions that support dynamic equilibrium to survive. By recognizing the common needs we share with all organisms, we can begin to shift our perspective from a view of humans as separate and superior to a more authentic view of humans as members of the natural world. From that perspective, we can expand our circles of empathy to consider the quality of life of other life forms, feel genuine concern about their well-being, and act on that concern (Greater Good, 2013; Goleman et al., 2013). 29 2\. Embrace sustainability as a community practice. Organisms do not survive in isolation. Instead, the web of relationships within any living community determines its collective ability to survive and thrive (Greater Good, 2013; Goleman et al., 2013). 3. Make the invisible visible. Historically---and for some cultures still in existence today--- the path between a decision and its consequences was short and visible. If a homesteading family cleared their land of trees, for example, they might soon experience flooding, soil erosion, a lack of shade, and a huge decrease in biodiversity (Greater Good, 2013; Goleman et al., 2013). 4. Anticipate unintended consequences. Many of the environmental crises that we face today are the unintended consequences of human behavior. For example, we have experienced many unintended but grave consequences of developing the technological ability to access, produce, and use fossil fuels. These new technological capacities have been largely viewed as progress for our society. Only recently has the public become aware of the downsides of our dependency on fossil fuels, such as pollution, suburban sprawl, international conflicts, and climate change (Greater Good, 2013; Goleman et al., 2013). 5. Understand how nature sustains life. Eco literate people recognize that nature has sustained life for eons; as a result, they have turned to nature as their teacher and learned several crucial tenets. Three of those tenets are particularly imperative to eco literate living (Greater Good, 2013; Goleman et al., 2013).