The Home, School, and Neighborhood as Mini-Environments
And, I believe that it is my role to establish a learning climate in which my students can acquire not only basic, measurable skills and knowledge, but also the less easily measured but equally important critical judgment and environmental concern so necessary for responsible citizenship.
Finally, I believe that the survival of humanity depends on the emergence of a new generation educated to question its attitudes and values, to respect and protect diversity wherever it occurs in natural and human communities, and to modify its behavior in conformity with an ethic which sees people as part of the natural world--not its masters.
- APS Teacher
A City In Miniature
Your home, its surroundings, and your neighborhood with its people form a small ecosystem which resembles a city in miniature.
This section looks at three major components of your home, school, and neighborhood as a way for students to study the larger environment.
Part 1: The Natural Environment
The plants and animals in yards and vacant lots, as well as the people in your home, school, and neighborhood, are affected by the physical elements of their immediate environment.
Worksheet/Activities
Part 2: The Built Environment
Buildings affect the quality of the larger community's environment by their design, by the demands made on energy and material resources, and by the wastes they generate.
Worksheets/Activities
- A Closer Look at Your School
- What is Your School's Impact on the Environment?
- How Does the Community Serve You?
Part 3: The Human Environment
Your mini-environment interacts with the outer world in a continuous, ever-changing succession. Today's city was spawned in the past. Seeds for a future Albuquerque are planted in the present.
Worksheets/Activities
- "ME" The Environment of Self
- How Well Do You Treat Your Inner Environment?
- How Can You Get Something Done?
