Today I had the opportunity to teach my Spain equivalent of 12th grade about Earth Day. As many of you know, Earth Day was first celebrated in April 22nd, 1970, and on such an important year for climate talks in Paris later this year, I wanted to make sure my students knew a little more about our planet.
For starters, I am lucky enough to have a high-level English speaking class and today I wanted to see how Earth savvy they were. Therefore, I decided to teach them a bit about population growth and how such a phenomenon leads to more resource consumption as developing countries catch up economically to the developed world. Although they were pretty silent for most of the time, they were immersed in my lecture and a Ted Talk video I showed by Hans Rosling. When it came time for general class discussion, they were shy but participating. Answers like green technologies, more education and self-awareness were pleasant to hear among 16 to 18 year olds.
I can only hope that the students took something out of it; that whenever they either brush their teeth they will remember to close the faucet or waste less when they shop at the supermarket. In any case, seeing as today we commemorate our planet, we ought to stop and think about our actions and learn a little more about the environmental movement underway with the many organizations out there like Greenpeace, 350.org and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Happy Earth Day.
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