Ms. Aira Camille Magadia Ms. Cecille Mercado Mr.

Jeremi Moreno

Ms. Loida Manongsong Ms. Roselyn Mendoza Ms. Wynona Maranca

 HOW ARE YOU TODAY?

AFFIRM YOURSELVES

I AM GREAT
I ACCEPT MYSELF
I AM EXCITED TO LEARN
I AM WORTHY OF A GREAT
LIFEE
I AM LIVING TO MY FULLEST
ECOLOGICAL LITERACY
30-Seconds Blah Blah Blah
 OBJECTIVES:
Describe ecological literacy
Differentiate one from the other:
environmental literacy, eco
literacy and ecological literacy.
 WHAT IS ECOLOGICAL LITERACY?

ECOLOGICAL/ECOLOGY
The word ecology was coined by the German
zoologist Ernst Haeckel, who applied the
term oekologie to the “relation of the animal both
to its organic as well as its inorganic
environment.” The word comes from the
Greek oikos, meaning “household,” “home,” or
“place to live.” Thus, ecology deals with the
organism and its environment. 
 WHAT IS ECOLOGICAL LITERACY?

Ecological literacy, or eco-literacy, is a term first used by

American  educator David W. Orr and physicist Fritjof Capra
in the 1990s, in  order to introduce into educational practice the
value and well-being  of the Earth and its ecosystems. It is a
way of thinking about the  world in terms of its interdependent
natural and human systems,  including a consideration of the
consequences of human actions and  interactions within the
natural context. Ecological literacy equips students with the
knowledge and competencies necessary to address complex and
urgent  environmental issues in an integrated way, and enables
them to help shape a sustainable  society that does not
undermine the ecosystems upon which it depends.
Ecological literacy is our ability to
understand the natural systems that
make life on earth possible.
Systems thinking

In order to become ecologically literate and to

live on this planet, we need to learn how to think
in terms of relationship among the various
members of the Earth household. A living
organism, ecosystem, or social system is an
integrated whole whose properties cannot be
reduced to those of smaller parts.
 Importance to Education:

Ecological literacy teaches students to look at the

world around them through an environmental lens,
to assess their own behaviors in respect to nature,
and to consider society's impact on the
environment. Students must explore social issues
on a local and global level in order to establish their
own model of individual responsibility for the
preservation and respect of our world in order to
become ecologically literate.
 “In the coming decades, the survival of
humanity will depend on our ecological
literacy – our ability to understand the basic
principles of ecology and to live
accordingly.”
Physicist Fritjof Capra
In the 1990’s Capra foresaw that ecological literacy
would become a critical skill for politicians,
business leaders, professionals in all spheres, and an
important part of education at all levels. Ecological
literacy and a living systems framework include
these key elements: living systems; design inspired
by nature; systems thinking; ecological paradigm
and the transition to sustainability; collaboration
and community building.
 Ecological Literacy's 5 Core Aspects
Core Aspects Definition
Principles of Living Systems Refers to understanding of the web of life, Earth systems cycles, material-
energy exchanges, etc.  The goal is to provide students with a "deep sense of
place and an understanding of their local environment."

Design Inspired by Nature  The application of our knowledge and understandings of natural systems to
the (re)design of human groups, systems, and goods in order to align with
ecological principles; e.g. "to transform how humans act in the world to
provide food, shelter, energy, materials, and seek their livelihood." 

Systems Thinking  A.K.A. 'holistic' or 'relational' thinking; it "involves applying a way of

thinking that emphasizes relationships, connectedness and context." 

Ecological Paradigm and the Transition to Sustainability with a focus on ethics, this aspects focuses on understanding how humanity
is part of the larger ecological picture and
"needs to take responsibility for the social and environmental consequences
of our activities."

Collaboration, Community Building and Citizenship collaboration and partnership are integral to living systems and
require the ability to associate, create links, draw on collective
distributed intelligence of many individuals. "Ultimately,
sustainability is a community practice."  
WHOOSE GARDEN IS THIS?
Building a Lasting Foundation in Ecological Literacy in
Undergraduate, Non-majors Courses
By: Jennifer S. Powers (Departments of Ecology, Evolution, and
Behavior and Plant Biology, University of
Minnesota) © 2010 Nature Education 

Ecological issues permeate our lives, whether or not we are aware

of them. The same is true, of course, for other sciences such as
physics or chemistry. However, in an age of rapid and global
environmental changes, it seems particularly important to
cultivate a society of citizens (including both voters and
politicians) who are well educated with respect to ecological
processes and concepts.
Many frameworks for ecological literacy have been proposed in the
academic literature (Jordan et al. 2009), as well as lists of core ecological
concepts that comprise ecological literacy (Klemow 1991b). Jennifer S.
Powers  goals as an educator are to equip students with tools and concepts
they will take with them in their lives beyond college, whether they are
thinking about local issues, such as where to locate a proposed park, or
global issues, such as biodiversity loss. Because the field of ecology is
broad and interdisciplinary, it is not feasible to cover the whole field in
one semester. She advocate focusing on a few divergent topics, and
making explicit linkages between these ecological concepts and how they
can serve as a framework for interpreting the world from an ecological
perspective. These concepts include trade-offs, succession, population
dynamics, element cycles, and global ecology.
 Trade-offs

The notion of trade-offs (i.e., two traits that cannot

simultaneously be maximized), underlies the evolutionary and
physiological bases of life history strategies, and makes intuitive
sense to students: for example, students easily grasp why a single
female elephant cannot have 100 baby elephants given their long
gestation time. Trade-offs are also inherently obvious in the land-
use decisions societies make (Foley et al. 2005). Land uses that
provide ecosystem services, such as biodiversity preservation and
carbon sequestration, tend to have lower amounts of crop
production, and vice versa.
 Succession

Succession is directional change over time in ecological

communities as resources change, and includes both stochastic
and deterministic components. This concept challenges the
students’ view of ecological communities as basically static,
and underscores the role of life history variation and
disturbance in community assembly. I discuss this topic by
speculating on what would happen to your yard if you stopped
mowing it. What would it look like in 5 or 50 years? What
types of species would replace others, and why?
 Population dynamics
The populations of organisms can shrink over time, remain
the same, or increase. Exponential and logistic growth,
processes that regulate population size and carrying capacity,
are essential concepts for discussing both the conservation of
threatened species and human population trajectories over
time.
Element Cycles
Ideas about how energy and matter flow among different
compartments in ecosystems, and global biogeochemical
cycles, are fundamental to an understanding of how ecological
communities function, and also provide a platform for
discussing many current environmental issues, including
climate change and the effects of nitrogen pollution from
agricultural runoff.
 Global Ecology
Many students are simply unaware of the magnitude and
diversity of human modifications to the planet. The list of
topics is extensive: biodiversity loss, land-cover change and
habitat fragmentation, biotic invasions, ocean acidification,
and the effects of increasing green house gas concentrations
in the atmosphere.
 WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY, ECOLOGICAL
LITERACY, ECO-LITERACY, ???
  term environmental literacy was first used 45 years ago in an
issue of the Massachusetts Audubon by Roth (1968) who inquired
“How shall we know the environmentally literate citizen?” Since
then, the meaning of the term has evolved and been extensively
reviewed.
 The notion of environmental literacy has been and continues to be
promoted through creative and intensive discourse from a
diversity of perspectives. The most widely accepted meaning of
environmental literacy is that it comprises an awareness of and
concern about the environment and its associated problems, as
well as the knowledge, skills, and motivations to work toward
solutions of current problems and the prevention of new ones
(NAAEE 2004).
 the term ecological literacy was first publicly used 27 years
ago by Risser (1986) in his Address of the Past President to
the Ecological Society of America. Risser (1986) urged
ecologists to ponder, debate, and arrive at consensus as to
what comprises basic ecological literacy, adopt a vigorous
stance, and embrace their responsibilities as promoters of
ecological literacy in their students and the general public.
Since then, characterization of ecological literacy within the
field of ecology has evolved considerably focusing on the
key ecological knowledge necessary for informed decision-
making, acquired through scientific inquiry and systems
thinking.
Cont….
 Eco-literacy was first published 16 years ago by Capra
(1997), who founded the Center for Eco-literacy, a
nonprofit organization dedicated to education for
sustainable living (Center for Ecoliteracy 2013a).
Drawing heavily on the work of Orr (1992), Capra and
others in the broader humanities have advanced
ecoliteracy, with a focus on the creation of sustainable
human communities and society.
Cont.

*Environmental literature is writing that

comments intelligently on environmental themes,
particularly as applied to the relationships
between man, society and the environment
*Ecological literacy, according to Garrett Hardin,
is the ability to ask, "What then?" In a sense,
ecological literacy is about understanding how our
activities--including reading and writing--not only
impact the earth but fit into the complex web of
ecological relationships within which we live.
Cont…
"To become ecologically literate," Orr continues,
one must certainly be able to read and, I think,
even like to read. Ecological literacy also
presumes as ability to use numbers, and the ability
to know what is countable and what is not, which
is to say the limits of numbers. . . . Ecological
literacy also requires the more demanding capacity
to observe nature with insight, a merger of
landscape and mindscape. *an ecologically literate
person is aware of the inter- connected nature of
the Earth and all its parts, has the capacity to
understand and respond to the ecological
relationships between places and their inhabitants,
including human beings, and can make informed
decisions
Cont….

An ecoliterate person is prepared to be an effective

member of sustainable society, with well-rounded
abilities of head, heart, hands, and spirit,
comprising an organic understanding of the world
and participatory action within and with the
environment.
GET UP & DANCE WITH
“The plain fact is that the planet does not need more
successful people. But it does desperately need more
peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and
lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well
in their places. It needs people of moral courage
willing to join the fight to make the world habitable
and humane. And these qualities have little to do
with success as we have defined it.”
― David W. Orr, 
Ecological Literacy: Educating Our Children for
a Sustainable World
“WITHOUT THE SOARING BIRDS, THE GREAT
FORESTS, THE SOUNDS AND COLORATION OF THE
INSECTS, THE FREE-FLOWING STREAMS, THE
FLOWERING FIELDS, THE SIGHT OF THE CLOUDS
BY DAY AND THE STARS AT NIGHT, WE BECOME
IMPOVERISHED IN ALL THAT MAKES US HUMAN.”
– Father Thomas Berry
“IN YOUR SIMPLE WAY YOU
ARE CAPABLE TO MAKE A
CHANGE”

IT STARTS NOW!!!
 References:
https://foxhavenfarm.org/ecological-literacy/
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/ES13-000
75.1
http://www.freshvista.com/2016/ecological-literacy-the-path-to-huma
n-survival/
https://www.123helpme.com/essay/Teaching-Students-Ecological-Lite
racy-In-the-Secondary-34968
http://exploreandgoboldly.blogspot.com/2015/02/ecological-literacys-
5-core-aspects.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPtn3xDAwRM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJHPuv3Z3qI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgFdtIkDvSU
Building a Lasting Foundation in Ecological Literacy in Undergraduate,
Non-majors Courses | Learn Science at
Scitable (nature.com)