WHAT SHOULD WE SAVE FIRST, OUR CHILDREN'S INTELLIGENCES OR OUR PLANETARY ENVIRONMENTS? K-12 ENVIRONMENT-BASED LEARNING AROUND SOIL EROSION AS A MILIEU TO SAVE BOTH

Any attempt to reverse environmental degradation without elevating the awareness about the significance of the planetary entity beyond the human economic perspective is a lost cause. A renewed human conscience is necessary to devise a rescue plan. Such plan must begin by rebuilding an integral connection between humans (particularly the new generation) and the planet where we live, a connection that must transcends the lucrative realm, a connection that cannot be established if we continue to act according to the current paradigm of environmental and human destruction.

We have devised an environment-based, experiential education strategy rooted on the use of soil as an ubiquitous natural entity that offers infinite possibilities to advance K-12 teachings of geology as the science of the planet. While environmental education emphasizes how to live correctly in the world, experiential education teaches the natural world through the senses. The latter is particularly important in reestablishing the connection between children and the natural realm, in this era of electronic acquisition of knowledge via sophisticated digital media. The central theme of this educational strategy will be an exploration of soil erosion out of the classroom. This program should develop the necessary intellectual competences in our children so as to allow them to utilize the “eight intelligences” (Linguistic, Logical-mathematical, Kinesthetic, Musical, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Spatial, and Naturalist) in collectively constructing a new paradigm based on the appreciation of the interconnectedness that characterizes Earth systems. We have chosen soil erosion for various reasons: 1) soil is the central processing unit of the environment, an interface between the spheres where many process of the Earth Machine are controlled; 2) the systematic study of soils/soil erosion necessarily leads to the exploration of geologic (from parental rock to geomorphic process), climatic, biological, and historic phenomena; 3) the human enterprise and life in general are strongly dependant on the health of our soils; and 4) anthropogenic perturbations of natural soil’s dynamics have introduced changes that may bring the skin of the planet back to pre-Silurian conditions with the expected catastrophic consequences.