"Right now in the amazing moment that to us counts as the present, we are deciding, without quite meaning to, which evolutionary pathways will remain open and which will forever be closed."
(Kolbert, E. 2014)
It's a Man's World
(but it wouldn't be nothing without plankton, pollinators and frogs)
planet as we know it.
This is a story of cause and effect, of evolution and discovery, and the rise of the human species above and at the expense of, all others, spanning eons. This account opens our eyes to a larger reality, invisible to most, not just of our current situation but how our actions and the reactions within ecosystems, the biosphere, have put us on a precarious path to the future.
Like the documentary film, Eleventh Hour, co-produced and directed by sisters, Leila Conners Peterson and Nadia Connors, The Sixth Extinction is a wake-up call. Well researched and meticulously written, the importance of this book is one of scientific and scholarly revelation and a summons for environmental concern and social action. When given this information we are forced to ask important questions about our own "species-centric" way of life and how it is altering the planet's environment.
Because for many middle and high school students, reality is no larger than their i phone screens, films and books like these are vital as educational resources.
These types of media can provide a "sense of place" that is wider than students are exposed to on a daily basis - wider indeed than most of our imaginations. Educators and students alike can recognize the importance of STEMS education, within the pages of The Sixth Extinction, because it is science, technology and engineering that have allowed us to come this far in "dominating" our environment and it is these three combined with social sciences and a strong sense of place, that will bring us back, to sensible and sustainable living. The study, the research, the assessment and dispersement of information used in these media are all based in STEMS.
This is a call for radical change in education. STEMS and community-based learning is part of that change. A high priority and interest in STEMS in classrooms, can be a starting point. If we are to help our students become "self directed, confident, participating citizens and environmental stewards" STEMS combined with community based project learning and a strong sense of place and belonging, is needed. (Smith, G. & Sobel, D. 2010)People who possess STEMS skills, who are concerned with their "place" and about the living systems of that place, are the ones who will make a difference, for the future. It is these sorts of educators who will ready our children for issues they will be tasked to grapple with. Our classroom STEMS should be steeped in what we know about the world around us and in our knowledge of the problems that need solving if we are to go on as a species, sharing a clean, beautiful, life supporting planet with other species.
Other Educational Media for STEMS Curriculum:
- An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore
- Queen of the Sun, Taggart Segal
- Food Inc, Robert Kenner
- Who Killed the Electric Car, Chris Paine
- Island Earth (film trailer) Cyrus Sutton
- Videos on Vimeo by Charles Eisenstein, author of Sacred Economics
References
Kolbert, E. (2014). The sixth extinction. New York, NY: Picador.
Smith, G. & Sobel, D. (2010) Place and community-based education in schools. New York,
NY: Routledge.
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