We're looking forward to the start of this summer's Woodrow Wilson
Environmental Science Institute in Princeton. Leslie Giffen, Ed Wells
and I are completing the program organization and everything should be
well in hand before you arrive. Linda Eyster, who previously wrote as
the other project academic director, has some health problems and may
not be able to participate.
Ed directs the environmental studies program at Wilson College and has
been concentrating on linking social issues to the general theme of
global climate change. Leslie teaches at Piner High School in the
Fulton Valley Prep Learning Community and is concentrating on the
pedagogic approaches that we will be using at the Institute. I direct
the environmental health program at Bowling Green State University and
am focusing on the science of global warming.
We want to hit the ground running and have identified some reading that
we would like for you to complete before you arrive (homework!).
Garrett Hardin, "The Tragedy of the Commons." 1968. Science
162 pp. 1243-1248. Or, you can find it on the Web at:
http://www.dieoff.org/page95.htm
Curt Suplee, "Unlocking the Climate Puzzle." May, 1998.
National Geographic 193(5) pp. 38-71.
Another pre-institute assignment is to select at least one text or other
material on global climate change (or a related topic) to bring to
Princeton. We will have a session discussing textbooks and other
classroom materials and need to build on our combined experiences. So
please bring whatever good materials you have with you.
You also should still be thinking about the student or professional
development activities you could present to the group. These should be
activities that you are currently familiar with and think work well. We
are programming time for participants to share these activities. We'd
like to build on these successful approaches (not necessarily dealing
with global climate change) in developing new teaching activities about
climate change during our summer program. You are not limited to a
single activity. We may have time for individuals to share a variety of
approaches. So please bring your materials with you. (We will have
mailing instructions soon for those who wish to transport their teaching
aids this way.) We have a list of teacher interests on our Web page -
go take a look at:
http://www.woodrow.org/teachers/es/institutes/1998/p/people/activities.html
Our program's schedule should be linked to the ESI home page within the
next couple of days. We also are finalizing our mission statement, which
also will be on the home page.
We're looking forward to meeting you and working together in Princeton.
We should be writing regularly with additional information, but let us
know if you have any questions as you prepare.
Sincerely,
Gary Silverman
Gary Silverman, Professor and Director
Environmental Health Program
102 Health Center
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH 43403
(419) 372-6062 372-2897 (fax)