ESL etc.

Facing the Future is offering Buy, Use, Toss, a 10 lesson unit on consumption, for free download. It looks very good, and features some old favorites like The Story of Stuff and Chris Jordan. It’s aimed at grades 9-12, and seems like it would be perfect for adult ESL learners. The lessons ask students to [...]

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The Choices Program has just published a free lesson on the Gulf oil spill based on political cartoons. I love using political cartoons with students, as they are often very efficient ways to understand complex issues. The lesson includes a handout on analyzing political cartoons, a slideshow of the eight cartoons, and links to a [...]

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Downfall is a new gameshow on ABC that tosses un-won prizes off the side of a building. Cars, TVs, motorcycles smash on the street below. It is unbelievable that, in 2010, ABC thought a show glorifying such environmental and economic waste was a good idea. To make it even more surreal, it’s hosted by a [...]

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Dancing Rabbit is an intentional community in northeast Missouri that is dedicated to living sustainably. They eat (and grow) local, organic food, practice natural building techniques, and host educational seminars. I stayed there for three weeks a couple of years ago and loved it. It is truly something worth supporting. Their website also features past [...]

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EarthPulse is a great website by National Geographic that provides an overview of many global issues. It starts with a series of essays by Thomas Hayden. He takes a much more strongly anti-consumerism stance than I expected from National Geographic. …here we are, too far into the new century to pretend any longer that a [...]

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Af-flu-en-za n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by dogged pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth. 4. A television program that could change your life. Affluenza is a [...]

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I’m a fan of statistics as conversation / writing prompts, and Worldometers features a bunch of interesting stats. The main page provides real-time stats on a variety of issues, including consumption (military expenses, car production etc.), the environment (CO2 emissions, forest loss, etc.) and food (number of overweight people, number of people who died of [...]

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The Institute for Humane Education has a great collection of activities, many of which could be used with English language learners. Most of them are aimed at younger learners, but many could also be used effectively with adults. I haven’t yet had a chance to go through the whole site, but I took a look [...]

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Larry Ferlazzo recently posted two Christmas themed infographics. The first focuses on the economy. The second looks at a broader range of statistics. Either (or both) could be used to introduce a variety of global issues around the holidays.

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Perhaps it’s just the collapse of Copenhagen, but this slideshow seems quite relevant this time of year. It addresses the consequences of travel, trees, gifts and food, among other things. Strangely, though, the food section does not mention anything about eating meat. Sorry to be a scrooge! Thanks Larry

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