http://www.epa.gov/superfund/students/clas_act/haz-ed/dglossary.htm
http://esl-green.blogspot.com
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Toxic Trespass
Toxic Trespass
Order this compelling DVD together with a guide full of groundbreaking information, become a part of the Women's Healthy Environment Network!
Order this compelling DVD together with a guide full of groundbreaking information, become a part of the Women's Healthy Environment Network!
Earth Week in ESL Centres
We spent Friday doing an activity around the colourful and informative Toronto Star GTA section chart about recycling in last week's paper (Tuesday, I think?). The students really got into it and it was an excellent language/awareness-raising activity. They had to ask and answer questions about what you are supposed to do with different items - compost, recycle or put in the garbage. I looked around and noticed that so many students now use plastic water bottles and that the old Chinese glass jar tea holders were fast disappearing. When I mentioned this, they said it wasn't convenient (new word this week!) because the glass breaks! Then I told them about the new island that was discovered in the Pacific and they eagerly wanted to know what country it belonged to. I said China was part owner, along with many other countries. The awareness raising continues! Anne
Here is what happened in my Literacy class last Friday. I was preparing my students for the 20 Minute Toronto Make-over, and I was explaining that many people from offices and children from schools all over the city were going to join in the clean up. Then one of my senior students commented: "Government help." It was an epiphany to me, comparable to your child's first word. I myself hadn't perceived it as a government business, but more as a citizen engagement, but thanks to my student I got to see the event from his perspective: it did come from the mayor - the event designation and time, organizing and advertizing of course, and he put it in those two words so well. This inspired me so much that during the next session, which happened to be in the computer lab, I seated them around my computer and we wrote a mail to cleanandbeautiful@toronto.ca (shown in the second slide of my presentation) thanking the city for organizing this event. My students felt very important and capable of writing to the government!
I can't wait for Wednesday to show them the reply from the City that came the very same day.
Such real life situations that often come unexpectedly are the most motivating in the process of language acquisition. I wish you a lot of joy and fun in creating them. Radmila
Here is what happened in my Literacy class last Friday. I was preparing my students for the 20 Minute Toronto Make-over, and I was explaining that many people from offices and children from schools all over the city were going to join in the clean up. Then one of my senior students commented: "Government help." It was an epiphany to me, comparable to your child's first word. I myself hadn't perceived it as a government business, but more as a citizen engagement, but thanks to my student I got to see the event from his perspective: it did come from the mayor - the event designation and time, organizing and advertizing of course, and he put it in those two words so well. This inspired me so much that during the next session, which happened to be in the computer lab, I seated them around my computer and we wrote a mail to cleanandbeautiful@toronto.ca (shown in the second slide of my presentation) thanking the city for organizing this event. My students felt very important and capable of writing to the government!
I can't wait for Wednesday to show them the reply from the City that came the very same day.
Such real life situations that often come unexpectedly are the most motivating in the process of language acquisition. I wish you a lot of joy and fun in creating them. Radmila
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Some Facts Related to the Meat Consumption
With the obvious exception of humans, it's odd to think that any animal could seriously damage the environment. Beef cows, however, are giving it a go, and apparently they've been successful. Conservationists now refer to the animals as "hoofed locusts," and not only because they trample, pollute, and destroy all land they graze. Studies also show that cows play significant roles in deforestation, soil erosion, water scarcity, global warming, depletion of fossil fuels, and loss of biodiversity. Odd as it may sound, the environmental impact of the cow is perhaps even more calamitous than the automobile.
Of course, the problem is not really with the cows, but with eating them. Every time you swallow a piece of beef, you consume both food and natural resources twice. The same land, labor, water, and fuel used to raise, slaughter, package, and transport livestock is also needed to grow and harvest feed grain. And this double use of resources leads to a seemly preposterous statistic: while the average vegetarian consumes between 300 and 400 pounds of grain per year, the average meat-eater consumes over 2000. Of course, eighty percent of the meat eater's total is first digested by cows, pigs, and chickens. Needless to say, this process is both and extravagant and inefficient.
Given the above, anyone environmentally conscious enough to recycle should also consider reducing his or her meat consumption. Doing so is arguably more beneficial to the environment, and, in many ways, easier. While it's no picnic sorting and recycling trash, not eating beef requires little or no work at all. You only have to pick something else on the menu.
Finally, here's a modest proposal. Why not cut beef production in half and convert the cattle ranches of America's tornado alley into wind farms? Given the growing scarcity of fossil fuels, surely the plan holds enough economic potential to offset resulting job losses in the cattle industry. Until that happens, though, here are a few facts to consider about the environmental impact of the beef industry.
* Nearly half of the total amount of water used annually in the U.S. goes to grow feed and provide drinking water for cattle and livestock.
* In the US, 33% of all raw material consumption is used solely in the production of meat, egg, and dairy products.
* The annual beef consumption of an average American family of four requires more than 260 gallons of fuel. The result is 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, or about as much as the average car over a six month period.
* According to some estimates, supplying the entire world with a western, meat-centered diet would deplete the planet's oil reserves within ten years.
* Cattle produce nearly 1 billion tons of organic waste each year. The average beef cow produces more than 47 pounds of manure every 24 hours.
* From 1995 to 1997, more than forty animal waste spills killed some 10.6 million fish.
* 85% of topsoil loss in the US is the result of livestock production, with each pound of steak resulting in 35 pounds of eroded US topsoil.
* 260 million acres of US forests have been cleared for cropland to produce grain for livestock.
* From 1960-1985 40% of the Central American rainforests were destroyed to create gazing land for cattle.
* According to the US General Accounting Office, more plant species in the United States have been eliminated or threatened by livestock grazing than by any other cause.
* In an effort to combat "nuisance" animals preying on livestock, in 1989 the US Department of Agriculture killed 86,502 coyotes, 7,158 foxes, 1,220 bobcats, 236 black bears, and 80 wolves. Four hundred pet dogs were inadvertently killed in the process.
* Cows produce significant amounts of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, three gases largely responsible for global warming. Through daily belching and flatulence, cows emit over twelve percent of the total methane released into the atmosphere per year.
Of course, the problem is not really with the cows, but with eating them. Every time you swallow a piece of beef, you consume both food and natural resources twice. The same land, labor, water, and fuel used to raise, slaughter, package, and transport livestock is also needed to grow and harvest feed grain. And this double use of resources leads to a seemly preposterous statistic: while the average vegetarian consumes between 300 and 400 pounds of grain per year, the average meat-eater consumes over 2000. Of course, eighty percent of the meat eater's total is first digested by cows, pigs, and chickens. Needless to say, this process is both and extravagant and inefficient.
Given the above, anyone environmentally conscious enough to recycle should also consider reducing his or her meat consumption. Doing so is arguably more beneficial to the environment, and, in many ways, easier. While it's no picnic sorting and recycling trash, not eating beef requires little or no work at all. You only have to pick something else on the menu.
Finally, here's a modest proposal. Why not cut beef production in half and convert the cattle ranches of America's tornado alley into wind farms? Given the growing scarcity of fossil fuels, surely the plan holds enough economic potential to offset resulting job losses in the cattle industry. Until that happens, though, here are a few facts to consider about the environmental impact of the beef industry.
* Nearly half of the total amount of water used annually in the U.S. goes to grow feed and provide drinking water for cattle and livestock.
* In the US, 33% of all raw material consumption is used solely in the production of meat, egg, and dairy products.
* The annual beef consumption of an average American family of four requires more than 260 gallons of fuel. The result is 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, or about as much as the average car over a six month period.
* According to some estimates, supplying the entire world with a western, meat-centered diet would deplete the planet's oil reserves within ten years.
* Cattle produce nearly 1 billion tons of organic waste each year. The average beef cow produces more than 47 pounds of manure every 24 hours.
* From 1995 to 1997, more than forty animal waste spills killed some 10.6 million fish.
* 85% of topsoil loss in the US is the result of livestock production, with each pound of steak resulting in 35 pounds of eroded US topsoil.
* 260 million acres of US forests have been cleared for cropland to produce grain for livestock.
* From 1960-1985 40% of the Central American rainforests were destroyed to create gazing land for cattle.
* According to the US General Accounting Office, more plant species in the United States have been eliminated or threatened by livestock grazing than by any other cause.
* In an effort to combat "nuisance" animals preying on livestock, in 1989 the US Department of Agriculture killed 86,502 coyotes, 7,158 foxes, 1,220 bobcats, 236 black bears, and 80 wolves. Four hundred pet dogs were inadvertently killed in the process.
* Cows produce significant amounts of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, three gases largely responsible for global warming. Through daily belching and flatulence, cows emit over twelve percent of the total methane released into the atmosphere per year.
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