YES! Magazine: Earth Charter Curricular Module
YES! A Journal of Positive Futures Magazine, offers free teacher resources, including an online curriculum called “YES! Earth Charter Curricular Module,” which is written for students in grades 5-12.
The Earth Charter Curricular Module includes articles that “demonstrate the charter's principles through the stories of people—in the U.S. and around the globe—who are working on solutions to profound social and environmental challenges.”
The articles are organized into each of the Earth Charter’s four categories:
- (I) Respect and Care for the Community of Life
- (II) Ecological Integrity
- (III) Social and Economic Justice
- (IV) Democracy, Nonviolence and Peace
In addition to providing these free articles, the curriculum also includes questions and glossaries for students to help them make connections between the articles and their lives. The curriculum provides a “Table of Articles and Principles” which indicates the Earth Charter categories and principles each article covers and a “Lesson Plan Guide” for teachers to use. Additional resources are also listed to help teachers and students take action on environmental issues in their community.
This resource has the capability and possibility for reaching and being used by a large number of teachers and students. The curriculum is easily accessible and easy for teachers to use. There is the potential in the future for this curriculum to be linked to national, state, and county standards that teachers are required to follow.
YES! A Journal of Positive Futures Magazine , is a publication of the Positive Futures Network, chaired by David Korten, and located in Bainbridge Island, Washington. The Positive Futures Network is “an independent, nonprofit organization supporting people’s active engagement in creating a just, sustainable, and compassionate world.”
