Sustainability in Vermont’s

K-12 Standards-Based Curriculum Framework

Sustainability in Vermont’s

K-12 Standards-Based Curriculum Framework

Russell M. AgneRussell M. Agne

The University of VermontThe University of VermontRussell M. AgneRussell M. Agne

The University of VermontThe University of Vermont

http://www.uvm.edu/~ragne/

Outline of PresentationOutline of Presentation

• Standards Based Instruction in Vermont’s K-12 schools• The original Vermont Framework (1996)• Grassroots environmental organizations rally to change state educational curriculum regulations (1999)• Standards 3.9 “Sustainability” and 4.6 “Understanding Place”• A tour of exemplary sustainability projects• Assessment strategies to insure topics are taught• How might the enhancement process have been conducted more effectively?

The Vermont Framework of Standards & Learning

Opportunities (2000)

The Vermont Framework of Standards & Learning

Opportunities (2000)* Vital Results cut across all fields of

knowledge

Field of knowledge Standards

traditional disciplines

* Vital Results cut across all fields of

knowledge

Field of knowledge Standards

traditional disciplines

Vital Results Vital Results 1. Communication2. Reasoning and Problem Solving3. Personal Development * Worth and Competence * Healthy Choices * Communication

* Making Decisions (3.7-3.9) * Relationships * Workplace 4. Civic/Social Responsibility * Service * Human Diversity * Change (4.5-4.6)

1. Communication2. Reasoning and Problem Solving3. Personal Development * Worth and Competence * Healthy Choices * Communication

* Making Decisions (3.7-3.9) * Relationships * Workplace 4. Civic/Social Responsibility * Service * Human Diversity * Change (4.5-4.6)

Sustainability Standard 3.9Sustainability Standard 3.9

PreK-43.9 a. Identify items that they consume on a daily basis and 3.9 a. Identify items that they consume on a daily basis and analyze the resources used in producing, transporting, using,analyze the resources used in producing, transporting, using,and disposing of these items, including the origins of the resources;and disposing of these items, including the origins of the resources;

3.9 b. Distinguish between personal wants and needs and identify3.9 b. Distinguish between personal wants and needs and identifyhow marketing and advertising inform their consumption patterns;how marketing and advertising inform their consumption patterns;

3.9 c. Identify and practice ways to repair, re-use, recycle, and 3.9 c. Identify and practice ways to repair, re-use, recycle, and design and implement a plan to monitor personal resourcedesign and implement a plan to monitor personal resourceconsumption;consumption;

3.9 d. Explore local natural and human communities, identify3.9 d. Explore local natural and human communities, identifythe systems within them, and what is required for thesethe systems within them, and what is required for thesecommunities to be sustained.communities to be sustained.

PreK-43.9 a. Identify items that they consume on a daily basis and 3.9 a. Identify items that they consume on a daily basis and analyze the resources used in producing, transporting, using,analyze the resources used in producing, transporting, using,and disposing of these items, including the origins of the resources;and disposing of these items, including the origins of the resources;

3.9 b. Distinguish between personal wants and needs and identify3.9 b. Distinguish between personal wants and needs and identifyhow marketing and advertising inform their consumption patterns;how marketing and advertising inform their consumption patterns;

3.9 c. Identify and practice ways to repair, re-use, recycle, and 3.9 c. Identify and practice ways to repair, re-use, recycle, and design and implement a plan to monitor personal resourcedesign and implement a plan to monitor personal resourceconsumption;consumption;

3.9 d. Explore local natural and human communities, identify3.9 d. Explore local natural and human communities, identifythe systems within them, and what is required for thesethe systems within them, and what is required for thesecommunities to be sustained.communities to be sustained.

Understanding Place Standard 4.6

Understanding Place Standard 4.6

Grades 5-84.6 aa. Apply knowledge of local environment throughactive participation in local environmental projects;

4.6 bb. Explore the interrelationship between the localenvironment and the local community culture (e.g., settlement patterns, tourism, hunting, agriculture);

4.6 cc. Explore and participate in sustaining or buildingon unique and valued elements of past and presentcommunity heritage.

Grades 9-12 StandardsGrades 9-12 Standards

3.9 aaa. Prepare an impact assessment that analyzes the effect of a particular product’s or project’s life-cycle on the sustainability of a natural and human community. [sustainability]

4.6 bbb. Evaluate and predict how current trends (e.g., environmental, economic, social, political, technological) will affect the future of their local community and environment. [understanding place]

Sustainability and Sense of Place Project Exemplars Sustainability and Sense

of Place Project Exemplars Attentive to Standards

3.9 and 4.6 Connections beyond

lesson or unit Collaboration with others Experiential learning Conceptually rich Authentic work A rich history and a

promising future Serves diverse learners

Mount Mansfield

Environmental Learning for the Future (ELF)

Environmental Learning for the Future (ELF)

School program taught by parents and other community volunteers.

Hands-on natural science in direct support of education standards. Includes Standards 3.9 and 4.6.

Vermont Institute of Natural Science

VINS seeks standards additional to VINS seeks standards additional to Vital Results 3.9 and 4.6Vital Results 3.9 and 4.6

VINS seeks standards additional to VINS seeks standards additional to Vital Results 3.9 and 4.6Vital Results 3.9 and 4.6

Problem Solving: 2.2-2.3; 2.5; (process, types of problems, mathematics dimensions)Abstract and Creative Thinking: 2.10-2.14 (fluency; elaboration; flexibility; product/service; planning/ organization). Listening: 1.13-1.14 (clarification & restatement; critique).

Fields of Knowledge The Living World: 7.13 (organisms, evolution, and interdependence). History: 6.4; 6.6 (historical connections; being a historian). Artistic Process: 5.22; 5.24 (intent; artistic problem solving)

Vital Results

FEED Project: Northeast Organic Farming

Association

FEED Project: Northeast Organic Farming

Association Hands-on standards

based units introduce students to farm life, agricultural cycles, nutrition education, and history.

A “curriculum of place” Cafeteria, local foods

K-8

Hands-on standards based units introduce students to farm life, agricultural cycles, nutrition education, and history.

A “curriculum of place” Cafeteria, local foods

K-8Grinding flour

(http://www.nofavt.org/programs/vtfeed.php)

Vermont FEED

The Intervale The Intervale

Building Real Connections The renovation of this historic farmstead will provide a center for experiential learning, where interactive dialogue and education takes place around land, food and land-and-food-based commerce. Interactive learning and project demonstrations, workshops, lectures and tours will educate the general public about diversified and sustainable farming, composting, riparian restoration and value-added ventures -- everything from bio-diesel production to growing mushrooms on spent barley or attaching an ice-cream business to a small dairy. A youth garden, educational winter greenhouse and community kitchen are opportunities for hands-on, get dirty learning, eating and cooking.

Intervale 700 Acre working landscape

http://www.intervale.org/

Place-based LandscapePlace Based Landscape Analysis

Place-based LandscapePlace Based Landscape Analysis

GoalsProvide educators with information and strategies for creating place-based learning opportunities for their students.

* Cultural & natural history, web-based @ UVM

* Landscape interpretation

http://www.uvm.edu/place/

A Forest for Every Classroom: Conservation Study Institute

A Forest for Every Classroom: Conservation Study Institute

Students immersed in the interdisciplinary study of “place” are more eager to learn and be in stewardship of their communities and public lands.

Public forums Teacher workshops Curriculum Units

FFEC professional development program http://www.nps.gov/csi/trends/forest.htm

Landscape Change ProjectLandscape Change Project

Digital Archive of historic and current photo pairs

Winooski in 1927 Winooski in 2000

http://www.uvm.edu/perkins/landscape/

Sustainable Schools ProjectEducating for Sustainability

Sustainable Schools ProjectEducating for Sustainability

Understanding the Interconnectedness of the World

Knowledge of Place – human and natural communities

Awareness of one’s own ability to make a difference Students

engaged in creating sustainable communitiesSustainable Schools Project

http://www.sustainableschoolsproject.org/

The Living MachineChamplain Elementary SchoolThe Living MachineChamplain Elementary School

“The tank and its place in the center of the school are emblematic of the seriousness with which teachers and students here appreciate the issue of sustainability”

Classroom use of The Living Machine

Invented by John Todd

http://www.sustainableschoolsproject.org/curriculum/livingmach/lvngmach-intv-betsyp.html

Shelburne Farms Field trips

Shelburne Farms Field trips

Join the Flock! March

Spend a day on the farm during lambing season. Students will explore the life of sheep from theircare to the wonders of wool fibers. Students willcard, spin, and felt wool. Hands-on experimentswill help students investigate the amazing properties of wool. Educational Standards TaughtVisual Arts, 5.29-5.30; Natural Resources, 7.16(a-c and aa-cc); Understanding Place, 4.6 (a-c);Sustainability, 3.9 (d)

Shelburne Farms http://www.shelburnefarms.org/educationprograms

ECHO at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain

ECHO at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain

Hands on the Land Standard 4.6 bb. Gr. 4-7 45 minutes--change in the

Lake Champlain BasinHuman impacts including

hunting, intentional fires, forest cutting, agriculture, development, pollution, resource use

ECHO Lake Champlain

http://www.echovermont.org/

The Last Link/The Next Link: Building Sustainable

CommunitiesTim Kahn

The Last Link/The Next Link: Building Sustainable

CommunitiesTim Kahn

An educational documentary on Pete Camino, an83-year old shepherd who is one of the last Basquefarmers in Buffalo, Wyoming.The film is a tribute to family-based agricultureand the loss we are now facing in this country andaround the world with the disappearance of familyfarms. Narrated by Willie Nelson.Tim Kahn's Lesson Plans, Student Work Samples

http://www.uvm.edu/~smelcher/nextlink/

Here Lie the Bodies: A Look at Vermont’s Cemeteries and their

Place in the LandscapeJoan Alexander

Here Lie the Bodies: A Look at Vermont’s Cemeteries and their

Place in the LandscapeJoan Alexander

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As settlements grew, graveyards near churches and in towns were built…Sandstone and slate

were popular for gravestones; they were softer and easier to carve than boulders, and were

found locally.

As settlements grew, graveyards near churches and in towns were built…Sandstone and slate

were popular for gravestones; they were softer and easier to carve than boulders, and were

found locally.

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In cities outside Vermont, the “in” gravestone material changed from slate to white marble

during Victorian times (beginning about 1880), and Vermont followed the trend.

In cities outside Vermont, the “in” gravestone material changed from slate to white marble

during Victorian times (beginning about 1880), and Vermont followed the trend.

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“Who Am I?” CurriculumThe Sharon Academy

“Who Am I?” CurriculumThe Sharon Academy

How does place influence who we are?Essential Outcomes1) Gather and present evidence [town survey]2) Consider perspective [personality and lifestyle]3) Consider supposition [What might Sharon look like in

50 years without zoning laws?]4) Demonstrate social commitment [service learning]5) Make connections [language arts interviews, science]6) Consider relevance [how place influences their lives]7) Employ Creativity [Personal Special Places Map]

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The Minister’s LotThe Minister’s Lot

The Sharon Academy Minister's Lot Projecthttp://www.cmapgallery.org/gallery/TSA/index.htm

“You can’t get there from here..”

“You can’t get there from here..”

The Sharon Academy Middle Schoolers at The Minister’s Lot

Student Suggestions for

the Sharon Conservation Commission

Student Suggestions for

the Sharon Conservation Commission

* There are too many trees, too close together, and the land needs to be logged. I think there are too many maples and that there needs to be something done to prevent diseases, and forest fires.

* I think that the Minister’s Lot should be left alone. It is a good place for a preserve and not a good place for the public.

* I think that trails should be made for people to walk on whenever they choose.

* Making a campground, walking/cross country skiing trails, and leaving a habitat for the animals would benefit many people in different ways.

Assessment of “Who Am I?” CurriculumGrades 7-8

Assessment of “Who Am I?” CurriculumGrades 7-8

Learning and Teaching Activities Assessed

Place Journal

One week intensive geography class withclimb up Mt. Cardigan

x

Personal Special Places Map x

Map creation with VINS x

Map presentations to community

Town planning readings and discussions x

Values barometers and other activities to introduce place

x

Miles to Nowhere reading and worksheet x

AcknowledgmentsAcknowledgmentsPaul Bierman, The University of VermontChristine Massey, The University of VermontJoyce Morris, The University of VermontJen Cirillo, Sustainable Schools Project, BurlingtonGail Hall, Vermont Department of EducationMargo Ghia, The Nature Museum at GraftonDavid Alexander, ECHO Lake Aquarium & Science CenterJudy Moore, The Sharon AcademyAndrew H. Lane, The Sharon AcademyBruce Parks, Vermont Department of EducationSusan Agne, Central School, South BurlingtonSandra W. MacLeod, The University of VermontTim Kahn, South Burlington High SchoolJoan Alexander, GloverTracy Lavallee, Underhill ID SchoolAnne E. Watson, Montpelier High School February 14, 2005