Sustainability

      ACARA describes sustainability as "addressing the ongoing capacity of EARTH to sustain all life" ("The Australian Curriculum v4.2 Sustainability", n.d.). The Cross Curricular Priorities provide a benchmark to educate students on the importance of taking care of the world around us in a range of subject areas.

      The Holy Bible states in Genesis 2:31 "Then God looked over all he had made and he saw that it was very good!" (Tyndale House Publishers, 2004). God created the world perfectly to provide all the resources required for survival. Therefore it's the responsibility of humans to take care of the earth. This relates to one Cross Curricular key point regarding the future, and states that "Actions for a more sustainable future reflect values of care, respect and responsibility, and require us to explore and understand environments" ("The Australian Curriculum v4.2 Sustainability", n.d.). This link provides additional information: Australian Curriculum Sustainability.

      This video link below looks at sustainability issues:

      

      Environmental Sustainability

      www.utube.com/watch?v=Qp3eooTJkY4

      Andryck Toscano (2007)

      It's the responsibility of teachers to assist their students to acquire the knowledge, and encourage inquiry learning regarding conservation. This incorporates educating students to respect and value nature. This does require an understanding of how the natural world works together. If there is no respect for nature, animal and plant species will become extinct or decrease in numbers. Pollution will increase and ecosystems will be destroyed.

                                                                           
                                                                              An example of environmental abuse is littering.
                                                                              (The Southern News, 2013) describes the image, Fig 1 

as the turtle eating the plastic, thinking that it's food. This plastic then stays in the digestive system and over time causes stomach bloating. The turtle will eventually die of lack of nutrition and starvation. This is why it is so important to teach students about environmental conservation. A simple solution to this problem is to teach students is to put rubbish in the bin, and not leave plastic or litter where animals can consume it. This is easily incorporated in The Australian Curriculum.

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WE CAN ALL MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Fig 1: Sea Turtle eating plastic

CR4.GLOBALSPEC,com 

(The Southern News, 2013)

References:

The Australian Curriculum v4.2 Sustainability. (n.d.). Retrieved from
      http:/www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/CrossCurriculumPriorities/sustainability
The Pacific garbage patch | The Southern News. (n.d.). Retrieved from
      http://thesouthernnews.org/2013/02/22/the-pacific-garbage-patch/
Tyndale House Publishers (2004). Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Wheaton, Ill: Tyndale
      House Publishers.


Video:

Environmental Sustainability [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp3eooTJkY4