Parents/Guardians

(Photo from: http://conscious-hospitality.com/tag/sustainability-in-hotels/) 

Good afternoon Parents/Guardians! 

My name is Ms. Houze and I am very excited about our upcoming educational journey. We are about to begin our new Geography unit that focuses on Sustainability! Throughout this unit, we are going to look at the various characteristics of a sustainable community in order to understand how we can make a difference in our community, but also how we can apply this knowledge on a global scale. I will introduce the new topic of sustainability by first looking at our localized efforts to be sustainable. Students will be able to draw on their own knowledge and experiences to relate to this new idea. Perhaps they have seen a wind turbine? What are we doing in the school to be more sustainable? Maybe your family recycles or composts? By allowing students to connect a new idea to prior knowledge, they will be able to develop a deeper understanding of sustainability. Once students grasp the key features of sustainability, we will apply this knowledge to the world as a whole. Why it is necessary in our world today, for society to be more sustainable? What initiatives are currently in place? My goal is for students to develop a sense of ownership over their actions as they will understand how they influence sustainability on a daily basis through their community, and apply this knowledge to a global perspective. Focusing on the student-centered classroom, students will be the main contributors of their learning during this unit as they will participate in a variety of activities and teach each other. This gives students a chance to delve into deep conversations about various sustainable concepts. This unit will cover several curriculum expectations in the grade 8 Geography unit which are listed below. Please refer to the Ontario Curriculum Document for more details.

Overall Expectations: (pg. 178)

A1. Application: Analyze some significant interrelationships between Earth’s physical features and processes and human settlement patterns, and some ways in which the physical environment and issues of sustainability may affect settlement in the future.

A2. Inquiry: Use the geographic inquiry process to investigate issues related to the interrelationship between human settlement and sustainability from a geographic perspective.

A3. Understanding Geographic Context: Demonstrate an understanding of significant    patterns and trends related to human settlement and of ways in which human settlement affects the environment.