INCREASING STUDENT AWARENESS OF DISAPPEARING NATURAL RESOURCES IN INTRODUCTORY EARTH SCIENCE COURSES AT PASADENA CITY COLLEGE

Introductory earth science courses at Pasadena City College begin discussions of natural resources on the first day of class by examining world population statistics. Students learn that there are 2.5 more people alive on earth every second. To make this information more tangible to the students, an internet population clock is launched, showing them that at the end of their 2 hour class period there are 18,000 more people alive on the planet than there were when the class period started. Also in that time period, seven species became extinct, thanks mostly to deforestation of rain forests. The ensuing discussion of earth’s limited natural resources is suddenly more relevant as students think about the current population expansion. Topics include strategic metals, estimated supplies of ore resources, living in the “Oil Age” (i.e., combustion of fossil fuels accounts for 80-90% of worldwide energy use but will be gone in a few generations), and options for alternative (and renewable) energy sources. Hopefully these students, most of whom are not science majors and may not take another geoscience course, will benefit from these discussions by becoming more informed citizens as global resource issues become important in their communities and an unavoidable part of their lives. About 50% of enrolled students in these courses are also pre-service (K-8) teachers who could incorporate these topics into their classroom curriculum to educate today’s newest generations about these important issues.