The first world conference meeting on Education for Sustainable Development
was held in
Children are our future; education for sustainable
development needs to start with children. By educating children about
sustainable development they learn about human rights and how to prevent
the individual's human and civil rights from being violated. They learn how to
take care of the planet to prevent loss of the earth's natural and
environmental resources.
It is easier to teach children the concepts of
change, than trying to teach adults. Adults often resist change; therefore,
teach the children when they are young and they will grow up with an attitude
that everyone deserves equality. They will learn that the planet is alive and
needs to be taken care of, rather than allowing it to degrade to become
an uninhabitable planet. It is easier to teach children about the effects of
global warming and how to stop it through the use of renewable energy, rather
than continuing to use forms of energy that create greenhouse gases. Children
accept change easier than adults, and they often help to educate their parents.
The old adage that education starts at home is true, and the premise is no
different in education for sustainable development.
Young children learn an interdisciplinary approach
to education for sustainable development through real life hands-on projects,
and other learning tools. Through education for sustainable development,
children learn how global warming has affected the polar bear population in the
arctic. The ice is melting so fast that polar bears are losing their habitat;
and by the year 2040 the arctic will be completely free of ice which means that
the polar bear will become extinct.
Many adults are still in doubt that global warming
is a reality. They believe that this warming trend is nothing more than
a natural cycle. In order to change the way the world thinks about our planet
is to educate the children. Education for sustainable development has shown
that the highest warming trends have taken place in the 20th century to the
present time. Due to climate change glaciers are melting, and in the oceans
some of the coral reefs are dying. Due to extreme temperature changes forest
fires start up spontaneously, and wildlife suffers as a result. Through
education for sustainable development, it will be the children of today who
will make the changes that will save their planet for the generations that
follow them.
COMPREHENSION
1. Which one would be the best title
for the text?
- Sustainable Development and social change q
- The history of
sustainable development q
- Sustainable
development strategies q
- Early childhood education for sustainable
development q
2. Complete the following
table with the necessary information.
The |
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Place |
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Time |
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Number of experts |
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Headed by |
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Objectives |
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3. Decide if these statements are true or false; then, justify your
answer.
a. Adults accept
change easier than children.
Truer Falser
………………………………………………...………………………...…......................…………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………...
b. Education for sustainable development does not necessarily need to start
with children.
Truer Falser
………………………………………………...………………………...…......................…………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………...
c. By educating children about sustainable development
they respect other people and their rights.
Truer Falser
………………………………………………...………………………...…......................…………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………...
4. Answer the following questions briefly, in your own words as far as
possible.
a. What do children learn through education for sustainable
development?
………………………………………………...………………………...…......................…………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………...
b. What has happened in the
………………………………………………...………………………...…......................…………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………...
5. Match the following words
with their definitions.
Word |
|
Definition |
1) Reduce |
A) To refuse to accept or be
changed by something. |
|
2) Violated |
B) A gradual increase in world temperatures
caused by polluting gases such as carbon dioxide which
are collecting in the air around the Earth and preventing heat escaping into
space. |
|
3) Resist |
C) Broken and not respected. |
|
4) Uninhabitable |
D) To make something smaller in size, amount,
degree, importance, etc. |
|
5) Global warming |
E) The most northern part of the world, which is
very cold. |
|
6) The |
F) Not now
existing. |
|
7) Habitat |
G) Not habitable (=
suitable to live in). |
|
8) Extinct |
H) A wise
saying. |
|
9) Adage |
I) The natural environment in which an animal or
plant usually lives. |
|
10) Melting |
J) Turning from something solid into something
soft or liquid. |
6.
What do the underlined words in the text refer to?
- They
(Paragraph 2) :
…………………….……….…………
- It
(Paragraph 2) :
…………………….….………………
c. They
(Paragraph 4) :
…………………….….………………