National Science Education Content Standard F
Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
(grades 9-12)
Linkages with Energized Learning
Personal And Community Health
Hazards and the potential for accidents exist. Regardless of the environment, the possibility of injury, illness, disability, or death may be present. Humans have a variety of mechanisms--sensory, motor, emotional, social, and technological--that can reduce and modify hazards. [See Content Standard C (grades 9-12) ]
Population Growth
Populations can reach limits to growth. Carrying capacity is the maximum number of individuals that can be supported in a given environment. The limitation is not the availability of space, but the number of people in relation to resources and the capacity of earth systems to support human beings. Changes in technology can cause significant changes, either positive or negative, in carrying capacity.
- An extension of the existing exercises would involve extrapolating current US average per-capita greenhouse-gas emissions to the entire global population, and determining the overall change in annual emissions. Relevant discussion would include the relative roles of growing population and/or affluence in increasing emissions, versus the potential for emissions reductions via improved energy efficiency and correspondingly lower per-capita use of energy. What degree of energy-efficiency improvement would be required to offset the emissions growth that would occur if all people of the world represented emissions levels typical of those in the US?
Natural Resources
Human populations use resources in the environment in order to maintain and improve their existence. Natural resources have been and will continue to be used to maintain human populations.
- In the case of energy, the use of the resource (coal, oil, gas, solar energy, etc) does not in itself improve existence. The efficiency of use in a critical intermediate factor that determines the useful “energy services” yielded. An exercise entitled “Energy Services – A Central Concept” on p. 20 of our report provides a conceptual foundation for the systems perspective on the nature and value of energy for society in general, and the relationship between raw energy and the ultimate services provided in particular.
The earth does not have infinite resources; increasing human consumption places severe stress on the natural processes that renew some resources, and it depletes those resources that cannot be renewed.
Humans use many natural systems as resources. Natural systems have the capacity to reuse waste, but that capacity is limited. Natural systems can change to an extent that exceeds the limits of organisms to adapt naturally or humans to adapt technologically.
- The climate change discussion is relevant here. The potential for human adaptation has been studied in some depth, as have the interactions between adaptation and the related objective of sustainable development. See http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg2/641.htm
Environmental Quality
- Regarding this and the subsequent sections: As energy use is the single greatest source of anthropogenic greenhouse-gas emissions, the Energized Learning exercises provide insight into the sources and manageability of these emissions. The implications of anthropogenic climate change are described in detail via the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. See http://www.ipcc.ch. One possible extension of the existing exercises would involve extrapolating current US average per-capita greenhouse-gas emissions to the entire global population and determine the overall change in annual emissions. Relevant discussion would include the relative roles of growing population and/or affluence in increasing emissions, versus the potential for emissions reductions via improved energy efficiency and correspondingly lower per-capita use of energy.
Natural ecosystems provide an array of basic processes that affect humans. Those processes include maintenance of the quality of the atmosphere, generation of soils, control of the hydrologic cycle, disposal of wastes, and recycling of nutrients. Humans are changing many of these basic processes, and the changes may be detrimental to humans. [See Content Standard C (grades 9-12) ]
Materials from human societies affect both physical and chemical cycles of the earth.
Many factors influence environmental quality. Factors that students might investigate include population growth, resource use, population distribution, overconsumption, the capacity of technology to solve problems, poverty, the role of economic, political, and religious views, and different ways humans view the earth.
Natural and Human-Induced Hazards
Normal adjustments of earth may be hazardous for humans. Humans live at the interface between the atmosphere driven by solar energy and the upper mantle where convection creates changes in the earth's solid crust. As societies have grown, become stable, and come to value aspects of the environment, vulnerability to natural processes of change has increased. [See Content Standard D (grades 9-12)]
Human activities can enhance potential for hazards. Acquisition of resources, urban growth, and waste disposal can accelerate rates of natural change.
Some hazards, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and severe weather, are rapid and spectacular. But there are slow and progressive changes that also result in problems for individuals and societies. For example, change in stream channel position, erosion of bridge foundations, sedimentation in lakes and harbors, coastal erosions, and continuing erosion and wasting of soil and landscapes can all negatively affect society.
Natural and human-induced hazards present the need for humans to assess potential danger and risk. Many changes in the environment designed by humans bring benefits to society, as well as cause risks. Students should understand the costs and trade-offs of various hazards--ranging from those with minor risk to a few people to major catastrophes with major risk to many people. The scale of events and the accuracy with which scientists and engineers can (and cannot) predict events are important considerations.
Science and Technology in Local, National, and Global Challenges
Science and technology are essential social enterprises, but alone they can only indicate what can happen, not what should happen. The latter involves human decisions about the use of knowledge. [See Content Standard E (grades 9-12)]
- The analytical results derived by the students can form the basis of classroom discussions on what “should” happen in the realm of energy savings and efficiency. Relevant thematic areas include regulation and standardization (e.g. in housing design), and national energy policy objectives and debates e.g. concerning the relative merits of investment in energy production versus efficient utilization.
Understanding basic concepts and principles of science and technology should precede active debate about the economics, policies, politics, and ethics of various science- and technology-related challenges. However, understanding science alone will not resolve local, national, or global challenges.
- The “Getting Started” exercise provides extensive consideration of economic analysis of energy saving investments. This provides fodder for discussion of “technical” versus “economic” (cost-effective) potential for energy savings. A natural extension of the existing exercises would involve the students determining the cost for each unit (e.g. ton) of carbon dioxide emissions reductions, followed by classroom discussion about the public policy implications of their results. Students can also estimate national per-capita greenhouse gas emissions from residential energy use and compare that to the rates for other countries. More mathematically challenging methods of assessing cost-effectiveness can be utilized with advanced students.
Progress in science and technology can be affected by social issues and challenges. Funding priorities for specific health problems serve as examples of ways that social issues influence science and technology.
- An extension of the existing exercises would be to have students analyze and evaluate trends in US energy policy and federal research funding in the energy arena.
Individuals and society must decide on proposals involving new research and the introduction of new technologies into society. Decisions involve assessment of alternatives, risks, costs, and benefits and consideration of who benefits and who suffers, who pays and gains, and what the risks are and who bears them. Students should understand the appropriateness and value of basic questions--"What can happen?"--"What are the odds?"--and "How do scientists and engineers know what will happen?"
- An extension of the existing exercises would be to have students analyze and evaluate trends in US energy policy and federal research funding in the energy arena.
Humans have a major effect on other species. For example, the influence of humans on other organisms occurs through land use--which decreases space available to other species--and pollution--which changes the chemical composition of air, soil, and water.
The effect of global climate change on species can form the basis of active classroom discussion. See, for example, the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s in this area:
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