Studying it engages students in higher order thinking skills and links their studies with the real world of headlines and personal choices.
Students gain geographic skills, especially about human-environment relationships.
Writing and small group activities help students see broader connections among topics, analyze complex issues, respond to questions comprehensively, distinguish among facts, opinions and values, and support their ideas with facts. Topics include comparative economic development, energy and technology, impact of world religions on environmental ethics, the impact of culture on economic development practices, the environment as both resource base and biosphere, historical and contemporary problem solving. These materials are easily adaptable for beginning lessons as well as for all levels of students. Students demonstrated through their performance an understanding and application of the key concepts of sustainable development. The results of this assessment clearly support the conclusion that the inclusion of sustainable development concepts and strategies is a necessary element in the curriculum.