School Presentation:
Environment and Population
by Bruce Bridgeman
I begin by asking the students to identify environmental problems that concern them personally. These usually include air pollution, water pollution, loss of forests, global warming, and waste disposal. I show how each of these problems that they have identified is created or made worse by population growth. A large population is a cause of environmental stress, and environmental problems are the effects.
A six-minute video shows how the world’s population has grown; we then do an interactive demonstration to show how family size relates to population growth, using groups of students as family members. I ask students to offer suggestions for solving the environment/population problem, and after examining the solutions that are unworkable or inhumane, we look at small families as an attainable permanent solution. We look around the world to compare countries that have already achieved stable populations, and contrast them with countries whose populations are growing rapidly. The comparison suggests practical steps to stabilize the population and the environment worldwide, and give students hope for the future.
The length of my talk can vary from about forty minutes to an hour and a half, depending on available time, and can emphasize curriculum in a particular subject. For mathematics classes we look at exponential growth, and figure out how much a reduction in resource use (such as becoming vegetarian worldwide) changes the human pressure on the environment. Classes in natural sciences can hear more about the mechanisms of pollution, recycling, and the importance of endangered species. For social studies classes, we can emphasize the responses of different societies to the resource crunch, with China as the example that is usually of most concern to students.
Get in touch with me if you are interested in having me come to your school.
Bruce BridgemanProfessor of Psychology
and PsychobiologyUniversity of California
Social Sciences 2
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
USA
Office: 831 459-4005
Fax: 831 459-3519
E-mail: bruceb@cats.ucsc.edu
