Unit 6: Sustainable Design and Technology
Understandings and Goals
Enduring Understandings
In this unit, the student will do the following:
- Grasp the story behind the things we buy, use, and toss in order to help us to consume in ways that improve our lives and the lives of others.
- Gain the knowledge and skills to help them be informed and empowered consumers.
Essential Questions
- What does “sustainability” mean?
- What is the difference between “going green” and “sustainability”?
- Which is more important to our economy, environment, and/or society?
- Does either “green” or “sustainability” concepts affect you?
- Should you be concerned about “sustainability”?
Vocabulary
Identify and review the unit vocabulary:
Archaeology: The study of past human life and cultures by an analysis of artifacts and materials
Climate change: Change in the statistical properties of the climate system when considered over periods of decades
Culture: The behavior, art, beliefs, and traditions of a group of people
Ecological footprint: A measure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems. It compares human demand with planet Earth's ecological capacity to regenerate.
Ecology: The branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.
Environment: The surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates
Environmental justice: An equitable spatial distribution of burdens and benefits to groups such as racial minorities, residents of economically disadvantaged areas, or residents of developing nations
Incinerator: An apparatus for burning waste material, esp. industrial waste, at high temperatures until it is reduced to ash
Landfill: The disposal of refuse and other waste material by burying it and covering it over with soil
Lifestyle: The way in which a person or group lives
Luxury: A material good or service that is not essential to a person’s life; an extravagance
Material Consumption: The purchase and use of resources and products
Midden: A trash pile
Natural resources: Materials or substances such as minerals, forests, water, and fertile land that occur in nature and can be used for economic gain
Necessity: A material good or service that is essential to a person’s life; something that is required
Population: All the inhabitants of a particular town, area, or country
Recycling: Convert waste into reusable material.
Sustainability: Of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged
Sustainable design: The philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment and services to comply with the principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability
Waste disposal: The act of getting rid of unwanted materials