Environmental Awareness Committee / Sustainable Agriculture

Dear Teachers,

The Environmental Education and Awareness Committee’s focus for the next few years will revolve around the concept of "MAKING PEACE WITH THE NATURAL WORLD." This is something that Dr. Sylvia Earle, world-renowned oceanographer, has been talking and writing about lately. In other words, as a civilization and a species, we are at a critical juncture where if action is not taken on a variety of fronts we will see more extinctions, runaway climate change, further deterioration of our seas, and a threat to our own existence as we know it.

Our theme for year one will be "Peace begins on your Plate." Future years might include making peace with the sea, the rainforest, the savannah, and so on. With this in mind, we will focus this upcoming year on SUSTAINABLE GARDENING and NUTRITIONAL LITERACY and the role of our diet on the environment. Please give this topic some thought, and while you are planning next year's curriculum, we hope you'll be able to include this subject in some way into your lesson plans.

We have several resources on this topic posted below.

Have a safe and relaxing summer.

Regards,

Keyla Treitman

Chair, OPUSD Environmental Education and Awareness Committee

Dr. Tony Knight

Superintendent

Recommended Sustainability Websites:

Basics about sustainable agriculture with great links:
http://www.gracelinks.org/246/sustainable-agriculture-the-basics

Water-Food-Energy Nexus Video

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uCAO8yga5NM#!

Agriculture in the Classroom

http://www.agclassroom.org/directory/search_result_details.cfm?PID=3178
http://www.agclassroom.org/directory/search_result_details.cfm?PID=2918

California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom

            http://www.cfaitc.org/

            http://www.cfaitc.org/imaginethis/ (Story writing contest)

            http://www.cfaitc.org/cropcircles/ (what crops grow in what seasons)

            http://www.cfaitc.org/agbites/ (activity packets –in classroom projects)

National Wildlife Federation Certified Gardens Projects

            http://www.nwf.org/How-to-Help/Garden-for-Wildlife.aspx

Miscellaneous

            http://www.eeweek.org/resources/garden_curricula.htm NEEF School Garden Curricula

            http://www.csgn.org/curriculum - CA School Gardens Network –lessons & curricula

            http://www.lifelab.org/about/ Resources for garden-based programs

            http://www.seeag.org/ - Students for Eco-Education and Agriculture