EDA3046

[Document subtitle]

Exam Date: 15 October 2018

Define the following concepts:
• Holistic Environment

Holistic: Dealing with or treating the whole of something or someone

and not just a part of it.

A holistic environment can be divided into four parts; Political,

Economic, Biophysical and Social.

▪ Political: Democracy (Power, Policy and decisions)

▪ Economic: Development (Jobs and Money)
▪ Biophysical: Conservation (Living things and life support systems)
▪ Social: Peace (Living with people)

The environment is more than just nature, everything around us is part

of our environment. We must decide how important it is for us to
conserve it and whether we want to conserve it. The space created by
personalities influences perceptions, attitudes and behaviour in the
environment. Aggression, love, helpfulness etc influence people’s
attitude towards the environment and others.

• Environmental Education

Environmental education can be considered as ‘Education FOR the

environment’- not about. Environmental education deals with
education, that is, creating positive attitudes towards the environment.
It is concerned with actions taken or skills learned to prevent
environmental problems.

• According to the (IUCN 1972) Environmental Education is a process

during which values are discovered and concepts explained in order
to develop skills and attitudes pertaining to an appreciation of the
relationship between man, his culture and his biophysical environment.
Environmental education also includes the practice of decision making
and the formulation of a personal code of conduct on matters
affecting the quality of the environment.
• Ozone Depletion

▪ Ozone depletion is the reduction in concentration of ozone in

the ozone layer.
▪ Free radical catalysts can also deplete the ozone.
▪ Chlorine atoms are capable of destroying ozone molecules.
▪ CFC’s (chlorofluorocarbons)
▪ The ozone layer has been damaged through the excessive use
of chlorine-based compounds.

• Alien Species

▪ A species introduced outside of its normal distribution.

▪ Alien species may threaten local species with extinction.
▪ Species from another country that can take over the habitat of
ours.

• Recycling

▪ To convert waste into reusable material.

▪ Recycling involves the extraction and reprocessing of usable
material.

• Nuclear Winter

▪ A period of abnormal cold and darkness predicted to follow a

nuclear war, caused by a layer of smoke and dust in the
atmosphere blocking the sun’s rays.
▪ Hypothetical climate effect of nuclear war.

• Sustainable Development

▪ Economic development that is conducted without depletion of

natural resources.
▪ Ensuring the dignified living conditions with regard to human
rights by creating and maintaining the widest possible range of
options for freely defining life plans.
 ▪ The principle of fairness among and between present and future
generations should be taken into account in the use of
environmental, economic and social resources.

• Urbanisation

▪ The process of making an area more urban. (built up/ non-rural)

▪ The mass migration of people from rural areas to the city.

• Desertification

▪ The process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a

result of a drought, deforestation or inappropriate agriculture.
▪ A type of land degradation in which a relatively dry land region
becomes increasingly arid, typically losing its bodies of water as
well as vegetation and wildlife.

• Depletion of Natural resources

▪ The consumption of resources faster than it can be replenished.

▪ Resources that are under threat or over exploited.

Choose the correct answer.

Design an environmental education lesson where you indicate how an
environmental theme can be taught in a subject of your choice. The following
should receive attention:
Discuss the negative impacts that the existence of human kind on earth has
on the following aspects of the environment.

• Biodiversity

▪ The rate of extinction has increased dramatically and is

estimated to be 1000 to 10 000 times greater than before human
intervention.
▪ By 1992 the extinction rate had accelerated to over 40 000 per
year.
▪ Most of South Africa’s 2000 threatened plants are found in
fynbos.
▪ There are 17 threatened mammals, 26 threatened birds, 21
threatened reptiles and amphibians and 21 different species of
fish threatened in south Africa alone.
▪ Human destruction is so serious that millions of species are
doomed to become extinct before even named.
▪ The earths biological diversity is more threatened now than over
the past 65 million years.

• Habitats

▪ Growing human populations requiring land for agriculture,

industrial and urban development are destroying species’
habitats on a huge scale.
▪ Many countries have lost substantial parts of their wetlands and
forests.
▪ Forests are often exploited by commercial organisations, which
have very little sympathy for the environment.
▪ Various forms of pollution contribute to the loss of plants and
animals

• Water

▪ Various forms of pollution contribute to the loss of plants and

animals.
▪ Depletion of natural resources (like water).
▪ Water wastage, over use of freshwater.
▪ Marine turtles are often killed through waste pollution when they
mistake floating plastic bags for jelly fish.
 • Ecosystems

▪ Changes made to the ecosystem directly or indirectly by

humans, such as global warming. (Humans burning fossil fuels
and producing too much carbon dioxide for the ecosystem to
handle.
▪ Mass extinction, humans have taken part in poaching and taking
over the land of certain animals.
▪ Overpopulation, humans are multiplying so much to the point
that there is not enough place for everyone which leads to
building over more natural grounds.
▪ Pollution, turning natural grounds into rubbish dumps.

• Air

▪ Humans contribute to the release of chemicals, particulates or

biological materials that are harmful towards humans and the
ecosystem as a whole.
▪ Air pollution such as the above-mentioned details causes ozone
depletion.

List six key international environmental events that influenced the

development of environmental education and education for sustainability.

1. In 1946 UNESCO (United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural

Organisations) was establish as a part of the broader United Nations
Enterprise. - Only concerned with education in a developmental context, but
through contact with bodies (IUCN) it became part of the process of
developing environmental education.

2. IUCN Conference in Paris 1948 - The International Union for the

conservation of Nature and Natural resources Conference was held at
Fontainebleau from September 30 to October 7, 1948. - The established the
Inter-national Union for the Protection of Nature. - The term “Environmental
Education” was first used.
3. Founding of IUCN in 1949 - This organization is an ideological actor, they
take conservation action, producing and circulating a definition of what
constitutes conservation.

4. The term “Environmental Education” was first used in the U.K Conference
held at Keele University in 1965.

5. The Paris Biosphere Conference of 1968 - Conference was held in Paris,

France, September 4-13, 1968. - UNESCO planned the first conference
between States which had the same aim to have a good balance between
environment and development, creating sustainable development.

6. International Working Meeting on Environmental Education and the School

Curricula (1970) - This event was held June 20 to July 11 in 1970 at the Foresta
Institute, Carson City, Nevada in the USA. - IUCN / UNESCO event was
attended from people from the South, - This meeting formulates and adopt
the definition of Environmental Education (EE) and they also worked out a
plan on the integration of environmental education into the whole school
curricula at different levels.
What natural resource is at the heart of the issue discussed above?

The natural resource that is the main topic of this discussion is Coltan, a
refined mineral. This metallic mineral consists of a combination of Columbite
and Tantalite which is where the name “Coltan” originates from.

Where and how is the resource obtained?

Coltan is said to be found in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
particularly the mines of the Eastern Congo. The DRC is known to hold the
largest Coltan reserves and is said to be extracted under dreadful working
conditions namely child labour.

From the passage identify two (2) issues for each of the following
environmental dimensions:
Social: (PEACE; people living together)

This involves the sustainability of building human relationships and

interactions. With regards to social sustainability, this passage highlights the
issues of human rights. It indicates that the human rights of children in the
DRC have been violated due to using the school children as child labour by
forcing them to work in the Coltan mines. As a result, this also affects the
childrens schooling and therefore violates their right to an education.
This passage also states that in regard to exploiting or using cheap labour
(school children) (minors- pardon the pun), disagreeing with this practice is
risky and can be dangerous as it is said that there have been “several
assassinations” over the past few years. Leslie Grange says that “only
international pressure may stop this development.” And this is where Denmark
comes in. After becoming a member of the security council in the Unites
Nations, the Danish Government stepped forward in promoting peace and
stability and also to focus on the role played by natural resources as it is the
cause of many conflicts. The NGO’s also intend on taking part in the resolving
of these conflicts.

Political: (DEMOCRACY; power, policy, and decisions)

This considers power being applied in an equitable manner with regards to
the principles of democracy. The resources mined, and the profits thereof are
used to maintain the local military force who also happen to financially
benefit from these resources. This is what leads to Denmark getting involved
of which the Danish government try and promote peace and stability in
Africa. The political issue arises in the fact that the local military are not
treating people (or children) fairly, yet they reap the benefits whereas the
Danish government that’s trying to make a difference has less of a say. The
minister of foreign affairs is summoned by the Non-Governmental
Organisation to discuss the issue and to work for effective tools so that
punishment can be handed by the UN to those who use conflict resources as
a means of making profit.

Economic: (DEVELOPMENT; jobs and money)

The economic system provides employment and jobs to make an income.

Coltan, the refined mineral is what creates the components that are used to
control the flow of electricity in mobile phones. Nowadays most people have
a mobile phone, even young children. Therefore, more Coltan is being used
and is needed in order to produce/manufacture mobile phones as they are
highly popular in this day and time and people are always wanting the “next
best thing”. This leads to the depletion of natural resources and is an example
of unsustainable resource management. Along with the increased demand
for Coltan, this is resulted in the increase of child labour. The profits made
from this resource is used for maintaining the local military force as mentioned
before. The income of natural resources often is the cause of armed conflicts
which is funny considering that the military force is those who take part in the
armed conflicts, yet they are paid with the profits made from these natural
resources.

What has been the effect in the Eastern Congo of using child labour in coltan
mines?

The effect of child labour is that in some areas of the DRC, an estimation of
about thirty percent of the DRC’s school children have been forced to mine
coltan due to the high demand of cell phones throughout the world. This in
turn affects the childrens schooling negatively. (violating their right to an
education.)

What happens to most of the profits that a made from selling coltan to outside
countries?
The profits made from selling Coltan to outside countries is used to sustain the
civil wars in Africa, especially the DRC, by maintaining their local military
force.

What other natural resources are the cause of many conflicts in Africa?
Other natural resources that cause or “fuels” armed conflicts in Africa involve
the income and profits made from; oil, ivory, export woods and diamonds.

Define the following concepts:

• Ecosystem

All living things from plants and animals to microscopic organisms

which share an environment.

• Pesticides

a substance used for destroying insects or other organisms

harmful to cultivated plants or to animals.
 • Global warming

A gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's

atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect
caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, CFCs, and other
pollutants.

Choose the correct answer

List eight key international environmental events that influenced the
development of environmental education and education for sustainability.

1. In 1946 UNESCO (United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural

Organisations) was establish as a part of the broader United Nations
Enterprise. - Only concerned with education in a developmental context, but
through contact with bodies (IUCN) it became part of the process of
developing environmental education.

2. IUCN Conference in Paris 1948 - The International Union for the

conservation of Nature and Natural resources Conference was held at
Fontainebleau from September 30 to October 7, 1948. - The established the
Inter-national Union for the Protection of Nature. - The term “Environmental
Education” was first used.

3. Founding of IUCN in 1949 - This organization is an ideological actor, they

take conservation action, producing and circulating a definition of what
constitutes conservation.

4. The term “Environmental Education” was first used in the U.K Conference
held at Keele University in 1965.

5. The Paris Biosphere Conference of 1968 - Conference was held in Paris,

France, September 4-13, 1968. - UNESCO planned the first conference
between States which had the same aim to have a good balance between
environment and development, creating sustainable development.
6. International Working Meeting on Environmental Education and the School
Curricula (1970) - This event was held June 20 to July 11 in 1970 at the Foresta
Institute, Carson City, Nevada in the USA. - IUCN / UNESCO event was
attended from people from the South, - This meeting formulate and adopt
the definition of Environmental Education (EE) and they also worked out a
plan on the integration of environmental education into the whole school
curricula at different levels.

“Environmental education is the process of recognizing values and clarifying

concepts in order to develop skills and attitudes necessary to understand and
appreciate the interrelatedness among man, his culture and his biophysical
surroundings. Environmental education also entails practice in decision-
making and self-formulation of a code of behaviour about issues concerning
environmental quality.” (IUDN, 1970). (Palmer-1998;)

7. The United Nations Conference (1972). - It was an intergovernmental

conference held in Stockholm, Sweden, 5 to 16 June 1972. (Stockholm
Conference). - The conference produced the declaration on the Human
Environment. - Rich and poor nations came together to discuss matters of
environmental concerns. - This conference made the recommendation on
Environmental Education (EE) worldwide and decisions were made to create
the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). - This conference
declared that “Education in environmental matter for the younger
generation as well as adults. giving due confederation for the
underprivileged is essential” (Palmer, 1985;) .

8. The International Workshop on Environmental Education in 1975 (Belgrade

Charter). - This workshop was held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia by UNESCO/UNEP
in October 13–22 in 1975. - The United Nations Environmental Programme
(UNEP) together with UNESCO, founded the UNESCO/UNEP International
Environmental Education Programme (IEEP). - The IEEP was launched at this
international workshop and IEEP created the first intergovernmental
statement on Environmental Education where the aims, objectives, key
concepts and guiding principles was prepared in a document at the
meeting called The Belgrade Charter - A Global Framework for Environmental
Education. This was known as the Belgrade Charter.
The best way educators can introduce environmental learning in their
teaching is to use specific learning strategies that are best suited to it. Name
and describe four learning strategies that are appropriate for environmental
learning.

• The first strategy is considered to be an active learning approach. To learn

about the environment, it requires more than just listening to lectures and the
process of mentally learning, but rather to experience things and issues at
hand, allowing for exploration and creativity. This strategy enhances the
development of understanding, to acquire skills, attitudes, values and
knowledge that will enable their understanding of environmental problems as
well as facing them.

• The second strategy is authentic learning. This strategy consists of learning

about the real-life threats and problems that our environment is facing.
Authentic learning requires one to seek realistic solutions to these challenges.
One can only really understand the issues and challenges by experiencing
them actively and at hand.

• Problem solving, and decision making is the third strategy to environmental

learning. This strategy is important to make sure that the experience of
learning about the environment has meaning to it or a reason behind
learning certain facts.

• The fourth or last strategy as stated in the prescribed textbook is critical

thinking. The act of critical thinking requires intense evaluation and analysis
with reason. This means to think beyond the way of usual ‘thinking’ – ‘out of
the box’. To be able to take part in critical thinking, one needs to be
knowledgeable about the topic. Critical thinking as a strategy to
environmental learning is a skill that one will be able to accomplish after
information and knowledge about our environment is taught effectively and
correctly. The act of critical thinking involves looking at things from different
perspectives which can only be done if you have background knowledge
about the environment. Critical thinking is the key to environmental
education.
A very important conference that dealt with one of the most pressing global
environmental problems was held in Durban in December 2011. Name the
conference and briefly explain what was discussed during the conference.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, Durban 2011, delivered a

breakthrough on the international communities’ response to climate change.

Choose the correct answer

Define the following concepts

• Land pollution

▪ Land pollution is the deterioration (destruction) of the earth’s

land surfaces, often directly or indirectly as a result of man’s
activities and their misuse of land resources.
 Soil contamination is caused by the presence of xenobiotic
(human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil
environment.

• Habitat

the natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other

organism.
the natural home or environment of an animal, plant or other
organism
the place where a person or thing is usually found

• Greenhouse effect

the trapping of the sun's warmth in a planet's lower atmosphere,

due to the greater transparency of the atmosphere to visible
radiation from the sun than to infrared radiation emitted from the
planet's surface.
▪ refers to the natural warming effect that certain gases have on
the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere under normal
conditions.

Choose the correct answer

What is the agricultural product that is at the heart of the issue discussed
above?
Cocoa Beans.

Where and how is the product produced?

The worlds largest cocoa largest cocoa producers are in The Ivory Coast and
Ghana and is made by trafficked and enslaved children.

From the passage identify two (2) issues for each of the following
environmental dimensions:

• Social: (PEACE; people living together)

This involves the sustainability of building human relationships and

interactions.

The passage highlights the issue regarding the social dimension, that is
that the right of children (human rights) is violated by using them or
forcing them into child labour and forcing them into slavery. These
children have been trafficked to work in this industry and are being
exploited against their own will.
 On that same note, the childrens right to an education have also been
violated due to the fact that they have been forced to work instead of
being able to attend school.

David Greenwood says that it’s difficult to identify whether children

are held as slaves or if they are bonded workers as most plantations
were family businesses in which children traditionally laboured
alongside their parents.

• Political: (DEMOCRACY; power, policy, and decisions)

This considers power being applied in an equitable manner with

regards to the principles of democracy.

The Ivory Coast and Ghana have been found guilty by the United
Nations and U.S congress of exporting Cocoa which has been made
by trafficked and enslaved children. The Confectionary Manufacturers
Association cannot confirm that the chocolate sold in Australia has
passed through the hands of child slaves, but also cannot guarantee
that it has not.

The Salvation army’s anti-slavery coordinator, social justice director

Captain Danielle Strickland, says that David Greenwood’s approach of
not being able to identify child slaves or bonded workers as not good
enough and believes that the manufacturers are responsible for finding
out who produces their cocoa or how it is produced.

The Ivory Coast Government has pledged to reform its cocoa sector
before the end of March of 2008.

• Economic: (DEVELOPMENT; jobs and money)

The economic system provides employment and jobs to make an

income.

More than 100 000 children work in the Ivory Coast under child labour
and that about 10 000 of those children are slaves. This means that the
children the children are forced to work against their own will and
make barely if any money at all, resulting in the industry making a huge
profit.
 In the Ivory Coast, farmers earn less for 1kg of cocoa beans, that what
we would pay for a snickers bar.

What has been the effect in the Ghana and Ivory Coast of using child labour
in cocoa production on the children?

The international chocolate manufacturers have pledged to introduce a

form of approved labour certification for cocoa farmers and the Ivory Coast
Government has pledged to reform its cocoa sector and has frozen the bank
of coffee and cocoa farmers development fund. Citing corruption and
embezzlement of money meant for growers.

What is the environmental responsibility of chocolate producers?

Manufacturers have the urgent responsibility to find out who produces their
cocoa, if you are producing something, you have the responsibility to find out
what you are buying.

What is the environmental responsibility of chocolate consumers?

Chocolate lovers need to start thinking about the suffering behind the
indulgent treat, it is our responsibility to be aware.