Topic: Basic views on humans’ relations with the environment

Target group

2nd‑grade students of high school or technical school

Core curriculum

XIII. Man and the geographical environment – conflicts of interest: the impact of human activity on the atmosphere on the example of smog, hydrological investments on the geographical environment, agriculture, mining and tourism on the geographical environment, transport to living conditions and degradation of the natural environment, urban and rural development on the cultural landscape , man's conflict of interest – environment, processes of revitalization and pro‑ecological activities. Pupil:

8. identifies conflicts of interest in man‑environment relations and understands the need to solve them in accordance with the principles of sustainable development and gives their own proposals for ways to resolve such conflicts.

General aim of education

To familiarize students with the most important views regarding the relationship between man and the environment.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• you explain the concepts of determinism and geographical nihilism;

• you will describe how geographic posobilism tries to reconcile two contradictory attitudes towards the relationship between man and the environment;

• provide examples of activities consistent with the mainstream of geographic posybilism.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion;

  • snowball method;

  • trash and suitcase method.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Volunteers get acquainted with the content of the abstract and prepare a knowledge quiz for their colleagues.

Introduction

• The teacher initiates a conversation introducing the topic.

  • What do you know about ...?

  • Have you ever met ...?

• The teacher plays the recording of the abstract. Every now and then he stops it, asking the students to tell in their own words what they have just heard.This way, students practice listening comprehension.

Realization

• The teacher assigns students who will bring the concept of determinism and geographic nihilism closer to the classroom. If necessary, the facilitator completes the students' statements with the necessary information.

• The teacher asks to raise the hands of a person whose position is closer to geographical determinism and writes down the number of supporters of geographical determinism on the board. Then he asks volunteers to justify such a position. After a while he asks for raising the hands of a person whose position is closer to geographical nihilism and also records their number on the board, and also asks students to justify their position. If there are abstainers in the class, the teacher asks them to give reasons for the decision.

• An willing student defines the concept of geographical possibilism . The teacher explains that this trend originated at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and was based on observations that showed that in the same geographical conditions, the development of societies can be drastically different and run completely differently, depending on many extra‑geographical factors such as social system.

• Working with the snowball method, students wonder whether the views on the relationship between man and the environment, created by the posibilists, are timeless and in line with the current concept of sustainable development. Students first think about this problem individually, then in pairs and in larger groups. At the end of this stage, one of the students presents a position developed by the whole class.

• Students, working individually or in pairs, carry out interactive exercises to check and consolidate knowledge learned during the lesson. Selected people discuss the correct solutions for interactive exercises. The teacher completes or corrects the statements of the proteges.

Summary

• The teacher asks: If there was going to be a test on the material we have covered today, what questions do you think would you have to answer? If the students do not manage to name all the most important questions, the teacher may complement their suggestions.

• The teacher carries out a summary part of the lesson using the trash and suitcase method. The teacher hands out small pieces of paper in two different colours (e.g. green and yellow). On the green pieces of paper the students write down the useful knowledge and skills they acquired during the class. The yellow pieces of paper are used to write down things the students did not find useful or interesting. The teacher reads students’ reflections.

Homework

• Develop a lap book containing issues learned during the lesson and bring your work to the next class.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Basic views on humans’ relations with the environment

At the beginning of the 21st century, we still depend on the laws of nature. The rotation of the Earth determines our daily rhythm of activity, and the Earth’s orbit, producing the seasons, impacts our activity in a longer perspective, e.g. by regulating the times of sowing and harvesting. The climate and soils determine the possibilities for crop cultivation. In high mountains, we must remember about the scarcity of oxygen, while the depths of the oceans are almost unknown to us because of the darkness and pressure. Even one volcanic eruption can paralyse air traffic over Europe with its advanced technology – this happened e.g. in 2010. The concept of high human dependence on nature is geographical determinism.

However, on the other hand, we fly into space, reach the bottom of the oceans, build cities above the polar circle, and extract resources at depths of many kilometres. We light the darkness with lamps, and machines have completely replaced draught animals. We cure diseases, create new varieties of plants and animals; we are able to modify genetic codes. These are arguments in favour of geographical nihilism, i.e. a concept that people are not dependent on nature.

An attempt at reconciling these two extreme concepts is geographical possibilism – humans depend on nature but are able to modify it to a significant degree, appropriately for their needs. For examples, thanks to greenhouses for food production, we do not have to take the seasons into account, and a deficit of daylight is supplemented with artificial lighting. We build houses to free ourselves from weather conditions, but the construction material, the size of windows or the roof slope depend on the environmental factors.

• The human‑environment relations are described by 3 concepts: geographical determinism, nihilism and possibilism.

• The main factors which impact the modern human‑environment relations are of economic, social and environmental nature.

• The principle of sustainable development is a call to make sure that there are enough resources on our planet for the next generations.