Holistic

Education
 Learning Outcomes…
• Students must be able to clearly articulate what
Bio Diversity in their own words.

• Relevance of Bio Diversity and detrimental

impact on the Biosphere if ecological
preservation is not attempted.

• Relevant and related areas such as organic

farming, sustainable agriculture etc…

• What bio diversity means from their immediate

neighborhood – Micro / Macro levels.
 Bio Diversity – Proposed Lesson
Plan
• The faculty can state the standard definition
made by Walter and Rosen - “Variety of life
within the biological world ”. However, the
concept has assumed a larger meaning from
the days it was coined i.e. year 1985.
Bio Diversity – Proposed Lesson Plan
• Students should deliberate on the relevance of
Bio Diversity based on the following aspects:
 
– Healthy Ecosystem.
– Importance of Food chain.
– Preservation of water bodies.
– Pollution free atmosphere.
– Preservation of endemic flora and fauna.
 After a discussion on the above-mentioned points
certain specific issues current and relevant in
Bangalore are to be taken up such as:
1. Large scale felling of trees in and around Bangalore on
the pretext of road development. What should get
precedence – Preservation or Development?

2. If felling of trees is an important pre-requisite - are

there efforts to plant fresh saplings and protect the
saplings till they are on their own?

3. Lake destruction due to pollution. Both natural and

manmade. Case of fresh water fish death reported in
city lakes – Ulsoor lake.
 Contd…
4. There were more than 2000 lakes in
Bangalore Now less than 150.What are the
possibilities to reclaim or atleast preserve
those which are facing imminent destruction.

5. Garden city Bangalore is becoming Garbage

city-Are we losing the greenery, grasslands,
pastures, forests to real estate mafias?

6. Over exploitation of ground water through

bore wells.

7. Sand mining in river basins.

 Contd…

8. Indiscriminate uses of plastic esp. carry bags and their

detrimental effect on the environment.

9. Drainage near My sore road and Adugodi carrying domestic

and industrial pollutants are quite destructive while on their
course enters a fresh water body.( case of River Yamuna where
it is having Dissolved Oxygen Contnent (DOC) as zero).

10. Expansion of monoculture ie Plantation crops in agricultural

regions of Karnataka its impact on Bio Diversity.

11. Shifting of habitat of sparrows.

 After the discussion…
• On these topics faculty can seek the help of students
to enlist ways to proactive suggestions that should
have awareness building and concrete action plans.
As students what are the areas they could be
involved?
 
• Students should be guided from micro level issues
concerning the immediate neighborhood their day to
day lives to macro issues and their impact.
 
• US and other countries in the developed world
continue to criticize India and China for chemical
pollution. To what extend is this criticism justified?
 Some of the prompting questions for
students…
• Why all members in a ecosystem are important?

• What happens when one member of the eco system no longer

exists?

• Impact on predators if a particular species of fish become

extinct?

• Some of the relevant and related topics

– Sustainable Agriculture.
– Organic farming
– Genetic Bridge
– Isolation –Genetic and Geographical
 Pose questions like…
Qn1. When students move out of the class with
lights and Fans on…
Qn2. When they litter their surroundings…
Qn3. When plastic Carry bags are used to
discard food wastes and leftovers…
Qn4. When they use papers indiscriminately…
…..are they aware that they too are
contributing to the ecological problems and
threat to BioDiversity.
 Suggested solutions…
Ans1. Incremental use of electricity will overload
the generator leading to more capacity of
reservoirs and therefore displacement of flora
and fauna.
Optimal utilization of electric energy.

Ans2. Proliferation of rodent population such as

rats, mice and mosquitoes, etc.. Which feed on
these litter.
Organic treatment of bio-degradable wastes.
 Contd…
Ans3. Stops or reduces the seepage of water leading
to flood or inundation. Eg: Mumbai floods.
Plastic carry bags should give way to paper
& cloth bags.
Ans4. Indiscriminate use of paper leads to wastage
resulting in more tree felling.
Use of recycled papers be given priority.

(Paper recycling plant in our Christ University Campus)

 Initiatives from Christ University
• Green Army of CU, under Dr. P. U. Antony
conducted seminal studies on Preservation of
Lakes. Agara Lake, Puttannahalli Lake, Madiwala
Lake, etc.

• Avian Diversity in the wetlands of Bangalore

• Lead(Pb) detection drive in bore wells / open

wells with the support of Quality Council Of India
and St. John’s Medical College, Bangalore.
• Green Army also conducts several nature
camps and biodiversity studies.
 Some suggested students’
initiatives

• Organisations like ‘treesforfree.org’ Started

in 2005 by Janet S K Yegneswaran, the
group consists of a group of volunteers plant
trees around the City.
• NCC, Christ University initiative in Lalbagh
plastic free zone.
 Projects suggested…
1. How Christ University campus could have
an enhanced presence of flora.

2. Design a questionnaire to have an

assessment of student life style in campus
so that improvements or positive impact
could be ushered in the realm of
environmental consciousness.
 Sum up…

• Make a strong resolution towards the

cause of preservation of Bio Diversity.