TEACH GREEN: LESSON FOR THE DAY

RYAN T. SANTOS Today’s students live in a world where environmental issues — global warming, organic farming, and recycling, to name a few — exist all around us. Although some ecological issues come with a degree of politics and thus the extra need for sensitivity in the classroom, teaching students how to help clean up the planet and live responsibly is not just an opportunity, but a necessity.

Numerous nonprofit and government organizations provide lesson plans and other resources for educators designed to make teaching ecology as easy. Part of the idea is to help learners understand how their own lives impact the planet — recyclable items not only include cardboard and cans but food and computers, too. There’s even a skit called “The Garbage Diet,” in which students act out a story about methods for reducing the waste they generate. Many lessons and activities explore ways kids can make their own schools more green and less wasteful.

Environmental Protection provides numerous internal links related to the agency’s own efforts, including education about Superfund sites and cleanup efforts, information on forestry, the familiar reduce-reuse-recycle mantra, and how to conduct a science fair. External links include information on clean air, composting in schools, and yearlong environmental curricula. — oOo— The author is Administrative Officer III at DepEd Division of City of San Fernando, (P)