ESL etc.

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 […]

[Read more →]

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 […]

[Read more →]

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 […]

[Read more →]

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 […]

[Read more →]

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.

[Read more →]

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

[Read more →]

I just saw this photo essay looking at farming in America. It was done as a Thanksgiving piece in the New York Times, and looks at a variety of food-related issues, albeit in a fairly simple way. I like the fact that it focuses on students, though (including a neat project called The […]

[Read more →]

Here are a bunch of quick links that I have been meaning to post for a while:
Strange Maps is a great blog that features, well, strange maps. The pictures are really interesting, and the accompanying text is usually informative. A Road Map to Success and Bridge to Nowhere: a Map of Golden Gate […]

[Read more →]

A while ago, I wrote about The Story of Stuff, a great animated short about consumption. A reader just shared a link to a version with Japanese subtitles, which could definitely be useful for folks teaching in Japan. Enjoy!
(Thanks Jason!)

[Read more →]

One Man’s Trash is a neat article in the NY Times about Phoenix Commotion, a construction company run by Dan Phillips that makes low-income housing using discarded building materials and other types of “trash”. The article isn’t too long, and could easily be used as part of an activity on consumerism or natural building. […]

[Read more →]