There’s been a rush to make public schools environmentally friendly lately, so much so that polls show that students are afraid that the earth is going to melt before they make it to the prom. “Green schools reduce toxins while increasing attendance, lowering illness rates and raising test scores,” said Sean Miller, Director of Education at Earth Day Network. “Students fare much better with green schools and so does the planet.”
Meanwhile, actual knowledge of how the world works continues to disappear among public school students, so much so that half of all collegiates require remedial coursework. Don’t expect that trend to reverse itself anytime soon.
“Geography enables students to examine the physical patterns and processes that shape human use of the earth,” Anthony Jackson writes in the May 2009 issue of Middle School Journal. “In turn, students can examine how human presence on earth can have significant environmental consequences.”
“Students’ global awareness is strengthened, for example, through study of how human factors like population growth, migration, and urbanization have depleted water, soil, energy, and other resources.” Middle School Journal is published by the National Middle School Association.,p>
Jackson is an executive director of the Asia Society. In this capacity, he should be acutely aware of the state of geographic aptitudes today.
A few years ago, the Asia Society reported that at least a quarter of the students graduating high school could not identify the ocean between California and China.
Here’s a hint: It starts with a p. Jackson’s take on historic studies falls even
further from the mark. “History courses are enriched for middle grades students by understanding that the history of the world and of the United States are histories of global interactions,” Jackson suggests. “History courses also provide the opportunity to view current world events through different international perspectives and to connect current events to historical events in different parts of the world to illustrate themes and recurring patterns that cut across geographical boundaries.”
And in Middle School Journal, Jackson has a natural audience of teachers inclined to give instruction that way anyway. Unless, parents pass it on themselves, the next generation of pupils is as unlikely as the present one to know:
• Who fought in the Civil War?
• When?
• Who fought in World War II?
• Against whom?
If Jackson has his way, instruction in the physical sciences will soon be as corrupted as teaching in the liberal arts already is. “Teaching the global history of science shows the international dimension of scientific inquiry,” Jackson insists. “Moreover, by presenting global issues with scientific implications, students can better understand the interconnections between systems and forces that cross geographic boundaries and learn how to use the tools of science to solve problems.”
“ In Earth Science, for example, rather than simply memorizing facts and concepts from a textbook, students might be engaged in analyzing the causes and consequences of earthquake activity worldwide and propose solutions to minimize damage and loss of life,” Jackson urges. “And because scientists often now work in global teams, middle grades schools can provide students with opportunities to connect with others around the world to share data and discuss solutions to scientific problems—to learn science by doing science as today’s scientists do.”
Outside of the solar panels that apparently insulate public schools from the outside world, skepticism mounts in the scientific community about the value of environmental regulation. For example, “Australian Paleoclimate researcher Dr. Robert M. ‘Bob’ Carter dismissed New York Times reporter Andrew Revkin’s April 23, 2009 article ‘Industry Ignored Its Scientists on Climate’ as ‘strange, silly even,’” Marc Morano of Climate Depot reports. “Revkin wrote about the now defunct Global Climate Coalition and documents that suggest the group had scientists on board in the 1990’s who claimed ‘the science backing the role of greenhouse gases in global warming could not be refuted.’”
Morano formerly worked as an aide to U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla. Sen. Inhofe is the ranking minority member of the Senate Environment and Public Works committee.
Malcolm A. Kline is the executive director of Accuracy in Academia.
