Teaching Notes
Example Output
Grade Level
Learning Goals
After completing this chapter, students will be able to:
- download and import a dataset into My World, a geographic information system (GIS) application
- analyze the data in a table to rank countries for environmental sustainability
- visually analyze country-level ESI data on a world map
- use GIS to map multiple ESI components for correlation and comparison
- visually analyze country-level data for environmental sustainability on a world map
- analyze differences between countries in terms of performance on different factors that contribute to environmental sustainability
Rationale
In working to analyze and understand the complexity that the ESI represents, students build on skills and understanding in domains such as map reading, geography, and earth science, social studies and ecology. Connections between these skills and understandings are applied to carry out the comparisons, correlations, and other analyses involved in investigating the ESI using GIS.
The techniques for data analysis that are learned in this chapter can be used to analyze various types of scientific data and to visually present results of the analysis in various formats. The chapter also fosters discussion on the data, on techniques used for data analysis, and on interpreting the results of the analysis.
Background Information
The full report on the 2005 ESI is available from the Environmental Performance Measurement Project web site at http://www.yale.edu/esi/. The ESI was also calculated in 2001 and 2002.
The report describes the rationale and methodology of calculating the ESI in detail, and describes the main findings. The appendices are also of interest, especially Appendix B, which is profile of each of the 146 countries. Each country's score on the 21 components and 5 core categories are shown. [Include example here]. Appendix C contains a short description and ranking of countries for the 76 data sets used to calulate the ESI.
Instructional Strategies
The chapter may be presented to students as an exercise for the classroom or the laboratory. In a classroom setting, each step of the analysis may be presented and described to students, followed by questions and discussions on what is demonstrated by the intermediate results.
Within a laboratory setting students may work individually or in teams that each focus on a particular country or continent. Each individual or team may present the results of their analysis to the class, followed by an interpretation and discussion of the results.
The following questions might be useful to consider while completing the chapter and during subsequent classroom discussions:
How can environmental quality be measured?
How do different countries compare in making progress towards environmental sustainability?
How do individual component indicators contribute to the ESI?
Learning Contexts
This chapter engages learners in scientific inquiry by providing an opportunity to analyze scientific data on environmental sustainability. The 21 aggregated measures of the 76 component data sets of the ESI represent a wide variety of topics relevant to science and social studies. In-depth investigations of factors connected to earth science, ecology, economics, government, geography, and history can be designed for the ESI. Opportunities for interdisciplinary connections are inherent in the interdisciplinary nature of the ESI.
Science Standards
The following National Science Education Standards are supported by this chapter:
Show remainder of standard 4FSPSP4.1
HideEnvironments are the space, conditions, and factors that affect an individual's and a population's ability to survive and their quality of life.
Causes of environmental degradation and resource depletion vary (8FSPSP2.3)
Causes of environmental degradation and resource depletion vary from region to region and from country to country.
Many factors influence environmental quality (12FSPSP4.3)
Factors that students might investigate include population growth, resource use, population distribution, overconsumption, the capacity of technology to solve problems, poverty, the role of economic, political, and religious views, and different ways humans view the earth.
Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data. (8ASI1.3)
The use of tools and techniques, including mathematics, will be guided by the question asked and the investigations students design. The use of computers for the collection, summary, and display of evidence is part of this standard. Students should be able to access, gather, store, retrieve, and organize data, using hardware and software designed for these purposes.
Geography Standards
The following U.S. National Geography Standards are supported by this chapter:
1. How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective
2. How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context
3. How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on earth's surface
Environment and Society
14. How human actions modify the physical environment
15. How physical systems affect human systems
The Uses of Geography
18. How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future
