Ecological Foot Printing Workshop - by Marcie Kameta
Trevor Ballance, an educator and textbook writer, of Josai International University in Chiba, led a workshop on Ecological Foot Printing. Ecological foot printing is a dramatic way of showing how much nature we need to “fund” our lifestyles. The idea is simple but lends itself to a wealth of ideas that can not only be used in environmental education classes, but also in English-language classes in which teachers may be looking to spice things up a little.
He led the participants through a series of activities that included a warm up, a variety of activities introducing concepts and vocabulary and then a quiz that showed students the impact that their lives make on the planet. Each activity he had the participants work though could be directly used in the classroom, in essence providing a sample lesson plan. He also provided sample materials that could be taken home and a variety of resources on the internet for further individual research.
The workshop also led to a deeper discussion of ecological issues concerning the world today between the participants. Trevor was armed with facts on the environment and full of ideas of how each person can make a difference. It was an engaging and inspiring workshop.
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