The Loss of Awe and Ecophobia

Yes, another post about environmental science, but from a different perspective. This time, I am going to talk about environmental education. I started thinking about this because of something that Judy Aron said over at Consent of the Governed. She mentioned that some of the science education about global climate change was "scaring little children."

I am also preparing a talk for the National Association for Gifted Children annual conference about the uses of wilderness awareness curricula for meeting a variety of goals in the education of gifted children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. So ideas about environmental education are fresh in my mind.

First, a few definitions. The first two are from dictionary.com:

Awe: n.
A mixed emotion of reverence, respect, dread, and wonder inspired by authority, genius, great beauty, sublimity, or might: We felt awe when contemplating the works of Bach. The observers were in awe of the destructive power of the new weapon.

Natural history: n
1. The study and description of organisms and natural objects, especially their origins, evolution, and interrelationships.
a. A collection of facts about the development of a natural process or entity: the natural history of early hominids as revealed in the fossil record.
b. A work or treatise containing such facts.

This last one is defined by David Sobel in his book Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the heart in Nature Education.

Ecophobia n.: a morbid fear of one's home or morbid or excessive fear of ecological disaster or deterioration.

So what is the problem? School-based science curricula have been developed to teach children about the prospects of global warming, the destruction of the rainforest, and the movement of pollutants through the food web while at the same time they do not teach children about the natural wonders in their own backyards. Children as young as first grade are taught about rainforest ecology and the loss of habitat in which they learn that in the time between recess and lunch "tens of thousands of acres of rainforest will be cut down in order to make way for fast-food 'hamburgerable' cattle," as Sobel puts it.

There are several problems with this approach to teaching about the environment. To begin with, small children need hands-on instruction in science. When a person has been on the planet only six or seven years, he has had little chance to experience the vacant lot next door or the woods outside of town, let alone be required to worry about the end of nature. Most of them, in North America at least, have never seen a rainforest and they have little idea of where one is or what it might look like.

Secondly, the science of ecology requires the student to understand a large number of complex biological interactions that happen at the organismal, community and ecosytem levels. These interactions between species, and between species and the environment require a basic understanding of non-biological concepts such as energy, and laws of conservation. And you can't see or touch these interactions. Although there are probably a few, highly gifted first and second graders who could imagine these large ideas, most little children would be better off without them for a while longer.

Does this mean little children cannot learn about ecology and the environment? Not at all. But why not go local? For one thing, it is right in front of us. Take the kids out and show them how the bees and butterflies pollinate flowers, which develop into fruits that we can eat. In this way, a small child will learn about the vital role that pollinators play in the environment. And the schools will not need to buy expensive curricula with all the bells and whistles. All a teacher would need is some library books, some inexpensive hand-lenses, and access to the outdoors over a period of time. A guest speaker from the university biology department who will talk to the kids for free would be an added bonus.

Really, the first thing we want to teach our small children about the environment is as close as the door garden, the trees at the back of the schoolyard, the garden, or the desert across at the edge of town. Because what we want to teach them is wonder and awe. We want them to have time to satisfy their curiosity about how a tadpole becomes a frog and what makes a plant grow 'big and strong.'

There will be plenty of time for them to learn about species interactions in rainforests far away, once they have experienced the joy of watching ants follow their little trails of formic acid to get food and bring it safely back to the anthill. They will be better equipped to take responsibility for whole ecosystems after they have taken responsibility for the family aquarium or birdfeeder. The study of rainforest ecology is much more appropriate for mid-schoolers and high schoolers, who have developed at least some ability for abstract thought.

Richard Louv in The Last Child in the Woods notes that most scientists started out their careers as small chasers of snakes, catchers of spiders and collectors of leaves. The great natural historians of the past began like E.O. Wilson, who spent the days of his childhood roaming the shores of Mobile Bay, bringing home shells and starfish, and exulting in the power of the waves and the awesome winds of storms. Or like the 'grand old man of Rocky Mountain Geology, David Love, who grew up roaming the mountains of Wyoming, testing his mettle against the blizzards and the droughts.

When I was a child roaming the woods and fields of Central Illinois, I did not imagine that I would be an ecologist who would do statistics at the computer. In fact, the only computer I knew of took up a whole floor of the IAA building downtown, and was kept behind glass windows in a clean room. No, I imagined being a geologist, roaming the hills and mountains, collecting rocks. Or a paleontologist, spending my days running the soft shales of the Morrison formation in my hands, finding the spectactular fossil of my dreams. Or as a Naturalist, studying how the plants and animals of the tall-grass prairie made a living.

It is not necessary to induce ecophobia into our kids in order to get them to care about nature. In fact, it may even be counter-productive. Inducing unnamable worries into the hearts of our children may even cause them to avoid thinking about nature. It may make them feel like aliens who don't belong to the earth. As the naturalist Robert Pyle wisely observed: "What is the extinction of a condor to a child who has never seen a wren?"

As homeschoolers, we have taken the power of our children's education into our own hands. We don't need to let them be taught to fear nature. We are there with them, day after day. Take the little ones outside. Let them experience the power of the sun's heat, the smell of rain on a dusty road, the softness of freshly turned soil in their hands on a spring day in the garden. Take them outside every day and teach them awe and wonder.

Bal Taschit and Tikkun Olam: Jewish Environmental Ethics

Today is blog action day.

And although its late already, we thought we'd get in on the action.

So first, a story:

When G-d was creating space and time, G-d formed many universes, but each one was not quite what G-d had intended and so G-d recycled the materials for another go at it. Finally, G-d made a universe that was just what G-d had wanted, and in that universe, our universe, in the outer third of the spiral arm of a rather ordinary galaxy, G-d put a lovely blue planet. And then G-d formed Adam (the human being) from the Adama (the red earth) and breathed into Adam the breath of life. And G-d placed the human being on this garden planet, lush and full of all good things to work with it and to protect it (lit: l'avda u'lshamra). And G-d said to the humans: "Remember, I made you human from the humus (soil) and you belong to this land. The land is your mother. Take care then to protect and care for her, and do not destroy her, for if you do destroy then who will make her whole for you again?" (A Midrash on Genesis 2: Gan Ayden--translated and retold by Elisheva).

From this we learn that we are placed on this earth as part of creation. We did not create the earth and we cannot remake her should we destroy her. As humans beings, we are unique in creation in that we have "eaten of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" and we therefore can choose between good and evil. We cannot claim the role of innocent bystanders to whatever happens on our lovely blue planet because we literally know better.

In Judaism, we have numerous laws and ethical requirements toward animals and nature. Here at Ragamuffin Studies, we have decided to focus on two of them. They are Bal Taschit--do not destroy--and Tikkun Olam--repair of the world.

Bal Taschit and Tikkun Olam by N

Bal Taschit is a commandment from Torah:

"When in your war against a city you have to beseige it a long time in order to capture it, you must not destroy (bal taschit) the trees, laying the ax against them. You may eat of them, but you must not cut them down. Are the trees of the field like a human that can withdraw before you into the beseiged city?" (Devarim, Parashat Shoftim--Deuteronomy 20:19)

This pasuk is about how to treat trees during a war, but in the Talmud our rabbis expanded the meaning of Bal Taschit to mean that you may not destroy anything that G-d has made just because you want to destroy it. You can kill animals to eat them, but you must not waste them just to get the best parts or because you want to show what a great hunter you are. You can cut down trees for the wood to make your house, but you must not waste anything. Even throwing paper away and not recycling it would be to break the commandment not to destroy. I think what our rabbis meant was that the earth is not ours to do whatever we want to it. It belongs to the One who gave life to everything that lives here. We are part of the earth and not above it. So we have to find ways to "walk more lightly" on the earth as Tom Brown says.

Tikkun Olam means to repair the world. Mom will tell you the story of these words. I will tell you what I think it means. As I said above, G-d made the earth and it belongs to G-d not to human beings. But G-d did put us here to do more than just stop destroying things. We are also creative, like G-d is, since the story of creation says that we are "b'tselem Adonai". That means that we are in the image of G-d. And G-d is creative. So it is our job to fix up the world and make it better. We are creative when we find new ways to live on the earth, like inventing PV (photovoltaics) so that we can catch the sun's energy directly to make our electricity or use the sun to heat our water for showers and baths.

At our house, we do Bal Taschit by turning off lights we are not using, recycling more than we throw away, using a set-back thermostat for our heater, heating most of the house with a pellet stove, and by being very careful with water. Mom and Bruce are always saying things like "Turn off the water while you brush your teeth. We live in a desert, you know!" We also try to consolidate our errands when we go into to town so that we do not have to drive in as often. And whenever we can, we take the Focus instead of Henry the Big Red Truck.

We are also doing Tikkun Olam. For one thing, we take care of our trees on our acre by taking care of deadfall and thinning them so that they get the most sunlight and put more oxygen into the air. We also take a bag with us when we walk so that we can pick up litter. You'd be surprised at how many people litter in the mountains. We have even found old coke bottles that have filled with dirt! We went to the Solar Fiesta right after Rosh Hashanah because we are getting more creative. Mom and Bruce and I are going to install a PV system so that we can use the sun for some of our electricity and put some back in the grid. Mom is talking about rainwater harvesting for some of our fresh water and compost toilets to save water, too. So we are doing some things right now to help the environment and we are working on doing more. And it is kind of neat that some of the Tikkun Olam that we are doing will also help us with Bal Taschit. For example, to use PV for electricity, Bruce says that you have to get very good at not wasting any of it either.

Back to you, Mom!

It looks like N. has explained things very thouroughly. As he promised, I will tell the story of the words Tikkun Olam.

In the Jewish mystical tradition it is written that G-d first created light and then created vessels to contain that light. But when G-d poured the light into the vessels, they were too weak to contain it. The vessels shattered and the shards make up the material world that we commonly experience. But everywhere in the material world are hidden sparks of light. They are within you and me, plants and animals, rocks and earth. It is our job to gather these sparks and raise them up whenever we find them, bringing the material world closer and closer to the world of Holiness and Oneness. This job of gathering sparks is called Tikkun Olam--the repair of the world.

There are many meanings to this story, as is true of all good stories. But I think the one important for today is that everything in the world contains sparks of holiness. We just don't see it because we notice only the broken shards. When we look beyond only the material, we uncover the beauty and the spirit in everything. And we want to preserve and protect, "tend and till," and fulfill our role as creative stewards of Creation.

Jews believe that Creation itself is the sign of a covenant between G-d and all of the universe. We are not responsible only for ourselves alone, but for the care and protection of all of creation. When we learned of the knowledge of good and evil, and of life and death, we were pushed out of the womb of creation and born into a role of responsibility as stewards of creation. We have a duty to maintain the covenant of creation itself.

And if we do destroy our birthright wantonly, then who will make whole again?

Sandia Mountain Bear Watch: Wildlife Stewardship

On Thursday mornings, East Mountian residents who subscribe to the Albuquerque Journal get the Mountain View Telegraph delivered with it.

Last Thursday, N. and I opened our copy and saw this picture in the paper.

It is a young female black bear in a tree near an elementary school in Edgewood. Black bear is her species, not her color.

Now bears usually come down from the mountains in drought years, when food is scarce, and usually in the late summer as they are feeding up for their winter sleep. Young two-year old males usually are seen in towns or in rural places migrating from one mountain range to another, when their mother's kick them out in order to prepare for new cubs. But this year, which is a wet spring, four bears so far have been seen in town. One young male in Rio Rancho actually entered a hospital clinic through the automatic door and got stuck in a bathroom. Fish and Wildlife had to remove him. I don't think he even paid his co-pay! :)



These stories, and the story of the city boy from Dallas who came across a bear while hiking in the Sandia Mountain Wilderness--in his panic he did all the wrong things--peaked N.'s interest in bears and the wildlife of the Sandia Mountains. So yesterday afternoon, we went to the Sandia Mountain Bearwatch annual meeting--pleasantly conducted outdoors at Doc Long picnic grounds on the Sandia Crest Road.

They had a talk about Bears from a Park Service biologist, and a talk about Cougars (North American Mountain Lions) from a representative of Animal Protection of New Mexico.
N. learned some interesting things about how to deal with bear encounters. Bears are not predators, of course, so the Dallas city boy had it wrong--he thought the bear was stalking him. Most likely, he crossed the bear's path and startled it. His response was to run, and the curious bear followed him, probably looking for food. Bears do not generally attack, but if you scare one, it can harm you. Like an irritable dog, it is best not to challenge a bear by staring it down, it is best to back away slowly and get out of its way. And like with a dog, if you run from a bear, it will chase you.

Cougars, on the other hand, are predators. They will stalk your chickens and goats and sheep and dogs, and small children. They generally do not go after adults, but if you encounter one, your response must be to stand your ground, protect little ones, make yourself look bigger, throw things, make noise and generally let it know that you are not dinner. Of course, since cougars are predators, you are not very likely to ever even see one. And it would be very rare to be attacked by one. They usually avoid groups of people.


As mountain dwellers, we live in bear and cougar habitat. I have not encountered a bear in the Sandia Mountains, but I have elsewhere. I was startled, but it was in a tree and so I just backed away at an angle and got out of its path. No problem, just a rapid heartbeat and extreme caution for the next half-hour or so!

We have seen cougar tracks on the wilderness trails above our house, so we know we have a cougar in the area. Since their range is large, and they avoid people, it is likely that we will not ever see it.

The Bear Watch meeting was informative and we learned about how the Sandia Mountain Bear Watch has finally gotten the Manzano hunt stopped. We learned about mapping and the uncertainty of numbers for bears and cougars in our area.

N. joined the Bear Watch and has volunteered to be a wildlife steward for our neighborhood. His job is to read two books that he was given, and then distribute literature to the people in our neighborhood. It is literature that tells them how to avoid bear incursions--'a fed bear is a dead bear'--as well as how to co-exist with other common wildlife in our mountains and deal with them without killing them.

He can get community service credit in Boy Scouts by doing this, and he will use what he is learning from his Kamana program, as well. This is another real life learning opportunity and community service opportunity that is in an area of great interest to him. He will need to do more reading and then communicate what he has learned to others in order to educate them on how to co-exist with the animals who share our mountains.

Think of the content and skills that he will practice with this project:

• detailed content about bears and other wildlife in our area
• an understanding of the ecological niches wildlife occupies and community ecology
• an understanding of species interactions in our mountain ecology (predation, commensalism, mutualism, and competition)
• Formal and informal writing skills (written communication with neighbors and with Bear Watch)
• Formal and informal speaking skills (direct communication with neighbors and a speaking engagement at the neighborhood watch meeting)

And this is a project of his own choosing, in an area of his passion, and one that matters to other people and one that benefits our community and the natural world.

Pretty cool!