From Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring to today's Anthropocene
The project “Ecological Alphabets” is a bottom-up action organised by the Ecological Education Network, a group of teachers, school leaders and scholars who believe that the Italian school system is in urgent need of an ecological reform. This is the invitation letter to ask Italian teachers to participate with an ecological lesson. I participated with 4 classes of the Aldini-Valeriani institute, in co-presence with their curricular teachers Prof. Maria Cristina Paolini (English teacher), Emanuele Cassarino (Italian and history teacher), Nicolò Zanotti (Math teacher) and Miriam Pistillo (Math teacher).
The lesson I gave started with the analysis of the first two pages of "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson, then focussed on the changes provoked by the introduction of DDT and, to conclude, ended with a discussion on what we can do to stop, or at least contain, the destructive effects of the Anthropocene.
Introduction
Students are introduced to Rachel Carson and receive a handout with the first two pages of "Silent Spring" (1962). They read it silently and underline what they don't understand.
Text analysis
Students are helped understand the text through a dialogic, interactive text analysis. Pragmatic, semantic, morphological and lexical aspects of the text are discussed, adapting the focus according to the students' questions and observations. This interactive approach to text analysis effectively supports students in developing critical thinking skills.
Pairwork and discussion
Students receive a worksheet and use it as a guide for discussion. They work in pairs to explore the content of the text, which is the story of a fictional American town that one spring transforms dramatically from an idyllic place to a place of death and sickness for animals, humans and plants. Students first analyse the changes occurred, and then make hypotheses for the reason of the changes and look for clues in the text.
Some students notice in the text "patches of granular powder" and ask what it is.
It was DDT. Teacher gives historical and environmental data about DDT, now forbidden in many countries, and asks students what sort of contemporary contaminations they know of. Students compare their ideas. The discussion ends with students' opinions on possible solutions.
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Conclusions
Various related topics have been developed in a transdisciplinary way to pollution and the broader concept of ecological pollution. Some of the conventional competences and knowledge areas listed here were developed in an integrated way during the lesson:
English language - enhanced linguistic competence, strengthened communicative skills, developed critical thinking skills, improved lexical analysis, enhanced text comprehension
Chemistry - basic elements of contamination - the molecule of DDT and its effects on the biosphere
Geography - references to countries polluted by intensive agriculture and resource exploitation
Geopolitics - localisation of "victim zones", understood as areas of the world where inhabitants suffer more from pollution than others due to resource exploitation and uncontrolled infrastructure development
Agronomy - The use of pesticides in intensive agriculture
Biology - The effects of pesticides on some endangered insect species and the resulting impact on the food chain
Read about the "Ecological Alphabeths" project in the news:
https://ambientenonsolo.com/una-riforma-in-chiave-ecologica-della-scuola-italiana/
SCUOLA, LEZIONI ECOLOGICHE AI TEMPI DELLA CRISI CLIMATICA – Teachers for Future Italia
L'extraterrestre pagg 2 e 3.pdf
https://www.pressenza.com/it/2024/03/al-via-le-lezioni-ecologiche-autopromosse-dagli-insegnanti/
https://www.italiachecambia.org/2024/03/alfabeti-ecologici-scuole-italiane/
https://comune-info.net/scuole-aperte/lezioni-ecologiche/
Conclusions
Various related topics have been developed in a transdisciplinary way to pollution and the broader concept of ecological pollution. Some of the conventional competences and knowledge areas listed here were developed in an integrated way during the lesson:
English language - enhanced linguistic competence, strengthened communicative skills, developed critical thinking skills, improved lexical analysis, enhanced text comprehension
Chemistry - basic elements of contamination - the molecule of DDT and its effects on the biosphere
Geography - references to countries polluted by intensive agriculture and resource exploitation
Geopolitics - localisation of "victim zones", understood as areas of the world where inhabitants suffer more from pollution than others due to resource exploitation and uncontrolled infrastructure development
Agronomy - The use of pesticides in intensive agriculture
Biology - The effects of pesticides on some endangered insect species and the resulting impact on the food chain