EARTH DAY CELEBRATION AND SCREAMING DINOSAURS

It is that time of year where students at St. Thomas the Apostle School reflect and take account of our position on this planet as a species, just out of the 100,000-year-old caves, now finding ourselves on the brink of global upheavals.  Earth Day is a celebration of life on planet Earth.  It is a call to action for humanity to work to protect and preserve local ecosystems (air, water and soil) worldwide.

On Earth Day, students, K-8, advocate to all society the imperative to protect and preserve the existence of, as Carl Sagen once described our pale blue dot in the galactic cosmos.  A picture of Earthrise, taken by the crew on the Apollo 8 spacecraft, dramatizes our position on a beautiful lifeful planet. The sight of Earth hanging in the blackness of eternal space is an exclamation on this call to act.

Earth day brings to the forefront the need for action to help protect plant and animal species from extinction and to mitigate climate-changing upheavals that tax the ability of living organisms to survive.

Screaming dinosaurs is the metaphorical presentation of the consequence of inaction by humans and continued status quo with respect to climate change. Screaming dinosaurs were eliminated, as a species, on Earth due to dire environmental consequences caused by volcanic activity and an asteroid striking the planet.  Expressed in a student play production called Screaming Dinosaurs, is the impact of carbon dioxide emissions on Earth's ecosystem and the parallel outcome of Earth dominating species (dinosaurs and humans) being wracked by climate change.  The one and only difference expressed in this play is that humans have brought this wrath upon themselves. Dinosaurs had climate change served to them, and they had to deal with unstoppable consequences.  Humans, in our day and age, have a choice.

So, with advocation as the overriding theme of the day, on Earth Day students will proceed through a litany of activities and challenges designed to spark enthusiasm and to galvanize a sense of responsibility to help save our world. 

Technology, research and critical thinking are driving forces in learning environments, and it produces tremendous positive outcomes in children’s lives.  Success for this day is reflected in the upswell of laughter, participation and achievement in the many challenging staged events. The measures of success, expressed by students involved with Earth Day merit reasoned thought and collaborative efforts.

On Earth Day the sight of screaming and excited children taking on new challenges and enjoying the benefits of a life-fulling ecosystem is in sharp contrast to the remains of once screaming dying dinosaurs on a forsaken planet. On Earth Day we can both acknowledge what has been given to us and we can commit to help preserve this God-given gift of a life-giving planet for future generations of plants and animal species on Earth.

Pale blue dot:  Earth

from nearly the edge of the solar system (3.7 billion miles away from Earth)

Earthrise taken by Apollo 8 Astronauts as they circled the moon on Christmas day 1968.

 

CATASTROPHE

Excessive extraction of natural resources in our current economic system, capitalism, exploits weaknesses in human society through the exploitation of labor and the degradation of Earth’s ecosystems.  Capitalism exploits foundational nature of Earths ecosystems for the benefit of the few.  On a global scale the top one percent of the wealthiest populations consumes fifty percent of the Earth’s natural resources. Resources provided by actions of extractive consumption and inequality in wealth distribution among the populations on the planet are a basic tenant of this economic system. Accountability for most of the global environmental degradation of planetary resources is markedly pinned on societies in the Global North.

Catastrophic droughts, fires, floods, excessive temperatures and rising sea levels are threats to human civilizations. Global warming and climate change have pushed environmental conditions from a Holocene geological epoch (Age of Man) to an Anthropocene geological epoch (human activity having significant impact on planet’s climate and ecosystem) that is not conducive to human life on this planet. The difference being defined by observed increased desertification world-wide, increased frequency of flooding big rain events, wind damaging storms and degradation of forests and vegetation in general.

The ruination of soil vitality, heating of Earth’s atmosphere from excessive carbon dioxide pollution and destabilization of climate patterns that nurtured our existence for the past 10,000 years are consequences of excessive consumption of planetary resources and extreme extraction of minerals, water, air and soil without efforts to ensure sustainability into the future. 

This decade, already half-spent, presents a critical moment in history where humanity can answer the call for action to impact change.  Action taken now will reduce the need for drastic economic retraction in the future. We are now facing catastrophic environmental consequences that are cascading toward the demise of our species on Earth.

In the classroom, we teach methodologies that can mitigate the impact of climate change on ecosystems.  Students take a deep dive into scientific, engineering and societal challenges that impact their future on our planet as it relates to climate change.  Student research and documented plans of action include the following: implementation of green infrastructure installations in the community, promotion of green sources of energy to reduce carbon dioxide pollution and advocating for regenerative agriculture methodologies to help sustain the vitality of soil in the ecosystem. This effort by students leads to reducing the degradation of our ecosystem and resulting impact of climate change on our way of life.

Models of education that focus on conceptual understanding of climate change and its impact upon all living creatures on Earth are crucial to help instill innovative and creative thinking in our youth.  It is important that this most impacted generation of people be given essential skills and abilities and means to solve problems and implement changes that will lead to a more sustainable way of living on this planet.