Facing the Future* is pleased to announce the upcoming release of Understanding Sustainability, a flexible 1-2 week curriculum for Washington middle school science educators to teach sustainability issues.  Thanks to designated funding, the unit is available electronically free of charge to classroom educators through 2007.  This curriculum features hands-on activities that explore sustainability issues, such as energy consumption, water scarcity, and transportation choices, and potential solutions.

Understanding Sustainability is aligned with Washington middle school science GLEs and includes updated previously released Facing the Future lessons, as well as new lessons and supplementary readings.  The unit includes a sequence of activities for each day, student readings, homework assignments, critical thinking questions, and assessment rubrics.  Lessons link to relevant and easy-to-implement action projects, including a framework for conducting energy, water, trash, and transportation audits at your school.

Understanding Sustainability will be released this summer.  It will be debuted at the OSPI Summer Institutes.  To reserve your free copy of the unit, e-mail laura@facingthefuture.org.  When the units are available this summer, teachers can either pick up their copies or pay minor shipping fees and have them shipped.

*Facing the Future: People and the Planet is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating young people about global issues and positive solutions.  We develop hands-on lessons and accompanying textbooks and also provide instructional in-services for educators.

To learn more about Facing the Future, visit www.facingthefuture.org.