Lesson Plan

Global Environment: Considering U.S. Policy

The policy options in this online lesson plan are excerpted from Global Environmental Problems: Implications for U.S. Policy. This is a one-week unit that explores the relationship between public policy in our country and the health of the planet.

Choices curricular resources are designed to be used in an interactive format that engages students in active consideration of historical and current background material and then places them in the role of decision-makers as they explore divergent policy alternatives. After exploring divergent views, students should deliberate together on the merits and tradeoffs of each. Finally, students should be given an opportunity to express their own considered judgments on future policy direction. We recommend that you use a similar approach to the resources posted here.

Resources

The Policy Options presented in this material are not intended as a menu of choices. Rather, they are framed in stark terms to highlight very different policy approaches, the values that underlie them, and the critiques. (Note: Critiques come from the perspective of supporters of the other Options.)

It is important that students understand that no one Option as it is framed here reflects the views of any one organization or national leader. It is the students' job to sort through the three Options, think about their concerns and values, discuss these with their peers, and then frame an "Option 5 " that reflects their own views.

DAY I—Preparation and Presentation of the Options

Break your class up into five groups. Assign four of the groups a Policy Option (one for each group). Assign the remaining group the role of the President and his advisors or of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Options Presenters: Their task will be to review their assigned Option, consider the values that underlie it as well as the tradeoffs involved, and then develop a short presentation to give to the class. This presentation should make the best possible case for this Option.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee: Their task will be to review each of the Options presented in the material and prepare clarifying questions to ask of the "advocates" of each Option after their presentation. The intent is to make sure that the Options, as they are written, are fully understood prior to deliberation on their merits, risks, and tradeoffs.

Foreign Representatives: If your class is large, you may want to assign some students the role of representatives of other nations. They can be asked to present their views on the Options after all of them have been presented.

DAY II—Shared Deliberation and Individual Judgment

With the Options presented and understood, students have a foundation for deliberation on the merits and the tradeoffs of each. Ultimately students will articulate their own perspective on the issue.

Deliberating on the Options: Begin your deliberation by asking students to identify the things they like and the things that concern them about each of the options presented. Encourage students to listen carefully to each other rather than to try to "win" the argument. The intent of deliberative discourse is to see that all perspectives are heard and considered and that all participants have a place at the table. The outcome should involve a more sophisticated understanding on the part of all participating. See Guidelines for Deliberation. You may also find Deliberating "Pros" and "Cons" of Policy Options a useful activity.

Articulating Their Own Views: After students have deliberated together on the merits and tradeoffs of the Options presented in this lesson, give all of the students an opportunity to come to terms with their own views on this issue. What should we do? Have them articulate their own considered judgments on the issue by framing their "Option 5 " using the format of the Options presented. As they develop their Option 5, students should consider the following questions:

  • How important are environmental problems compared to other problems facing us today?
  • Which parts of the world pose the greatest threat to the global environment? Why?
  • What responsibility does the developed world have to protect the global environment? What responsibility does the developing world have?
  • What is the likelihood of global consensus on environment issues?
  • What should our long-term goals be?
  • What values are important to you?
  • What are the pros and cons of this option?

Online Ballot: Finally, students are encouraged to participate in an online ballot activity focused on the overarching question of the role of the United States in the world. The U.S. Role in the World Ballot provides an opportunity for students to express their beliefs and concerns after considering alternative views on a range of international issues. A report on student views will be developed periodically and disseminated to elected officials.

Let Your Voice Be Heard: Encourage your students to express their views to elected officials. Students can find contact information for the White House at www.whitehouse.gov/contact and their U.S. Senators and their Representatives at thomas.loc.gov.

Additional Resources

Global Environmental Problems: Implications for U.S. Policyis a one-week unit that explores the relationship between public policy in our country and the health of the planet. Background readings prepare students to thoughtfully consider the policy choices facing our country. A lesson on environmental science is also included. The policy options presented in this online lesson plan are excerpted from this unit. Global Environmental Problems: Implcations for U.S. Policy is recommended by the National Science Teachers Association in NSTA Recommends.

POV Borders Environment is a PBS site that provides background on environment issues, discussions with professionals in various roles within the environmental field, links to a rich array of other resources, and a series of lesson plans on "earth, air, and water." The site map is particularly helpful.

See Supplemental Resources for additional resources on this topic.