Sustainability lesson (for any Geography class Grade 9 and above)
Focus: The difference between sustained and sustainable development.
Resources:
 Ppt. “Lessons of Easter Island”

The last 3 minutes of a youtube segment of David Attenborough talking
about Easter Island http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hO-vCPuuQQ

Two segments from the DVD “End of the Line” (about overfishing –trailer is
available on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bedirwk95Oc).
The 2 pieces refer to what happened (and why) to the the fishing situation I
Newfoundland in the early 1990s.

Worksheet – “Areas of sustainability” 1 per student (printed on “4 up”, and
cut up, in advance, so that each student is using only ¼ of a page- even better
if it is copied on GOOS paper).

Recording sheet (one per group) to record ideas from above discussions.
Steps:
 Begin with teacher asking students what they know about Easter Island.
Expect answers related to the stone statues (Moai) and, possibly, how the
islanders ran out of resources.

Move directly to the powerpoint, asking questions as you go. Switch to the
youtube section (Attenborough) and “End of the Line” DVD as indicated by
the ppt slides.

On finishing the second “End of the Line” segment and slide #19, ask
students what’s the connection between Easter Island (circa 1600s) and
Newfoundland (20 years ago/today). Consumption vs limited resources.
Point out how technology in the case of N’land turned out to be more of a
curse than a blessing.

Stop at slide #26 (definition of sustainability).Invite discussion.

Give out the worksheet. It’s up to the teacher how s/he wants to organize the
group discussion – everybody working on the same areas or assigning
specific areas to specific groups. My preference is for a compromise – each
group works on the first two (home and school) and then assign Gp 1 to look
at 3s 3-5, Gp.2 to look at 6-9 etc.

Allow 5-10 minutes at the end to take up suggestions from the group
discussion.
The ppt covers more material which you may wish to take up in a later lesson.