Professional development day was terrific. I had the pleasure of listening to Brian Pataky from PGSS talk about climate change especially concerning the “Path for future to Reduce Fossil Fuel Emissions.” I also attending a workshop presenting “Be the Change Earth Alliance.” Not only was I exposed to interesting facts, learning opportunities, and climate change resources, but also registration with Be the Change Earth Alliance which enables me to use a great list of teachers tools, learning modules, unit packages, and student resources. Probably the most valuable piece of the day was the student leadership for change aspect of the Earth Alliance website.

Brian Pataky’s discussion on fossil fuel emissions and the attention he paid to global impacts we can achieve by modifying our personal lives minimally was intriguing. Besides reducing the amount of fossil fuels we use for house-hold chores, he also suggested using old car batteries and conversion devices to change AC power into DC power for home use. He went even further to suggest the purchase and use of solar panels to help charge personal devices, lights, and the like. Furthermore, I was under the impression that solar panels were reasonably expensive, but he informed us the price for solar panelling has dropped significantly over the last 20 years. Using pieces of knowledge like this could easily translate into cross-curricular unit designs for creating a renewable energy sustaining classroom.

Concerning the climate change piece, Pataky also discussed Canada’s commitment to eliminate the production and sale of fossil fuel emitting vehicles by the year 2040 and a global shift away from hydro electric power and refocus on solar, wind and geothermal energies as we move unto the future. Moving through more climate change observations, he introduced us to weather anomaly called a “precipitation bomb,” one of the many dramatic climate change phenomena we are seeing in our age. Never mind the increasing frequency of powerful storms, droughts, the spread of disease and the unusual migration and spreading of normal and invasive species of life.

Be the Change Earth Alliance Student Leadership for Change (SLC) really allows students to starting making changes in their own life to lead us into the future. The SLC allows students to connect with global sustainability value at a local level (Be the Change Earth Alliance n.d.). Currently this organization is working towards re-shaping their curriculum to better fit with BC’s new curriculum and although it may not line up directly regarding the core competencies and the praxis model, it focuses strongly on UNBC’s signature pedagogy People Place and Land. I feel that First Peoples Principles of Learning, although not explicitly referred to throughout all the lessons, modules, and action packs the content could easily be synthesized to parallel these values in BC’s new curriculum easily.

References:
Be the Change Earth Alliance (n.d.). Welcome to Student Leadership from Change. Retrieved
October 23, 2020, from https://slc.bethechangeearthalliance.org/