0.2 Part two: special topics  (Page 15/39)

When you're done with this assignment and your mentor says you're "Ready," continue onto Part Three of this course: Designing andImplementing Your Service Project.

The seamless whole

Some people know they are part of the seamless whole. There is no separation between humans and nature - for we are nature, along with plant life, animals, rocks, trees, minerals.

Some people grow up in cultures attuned to the winds and the waves, to the land - where the tiniest shifts in the landscape are noticed- an overturned rock indicating a passerby. At the same time, there are people in cultures who leave urban centers to take "retreats" into thewilderness in order for young people to know the grandeur of which we are naturally a part.

Environmental education may have varying degrees of exploration for different cultures. There is, however, a common thread,and it is this: to develop an awareness and a reverence for the earth and its inhabitants.

This module introduces you to the concept of "deep ecology" - the study of how we are connected - to ourselves, with oursurroundings, with our fellow sojourners.

This module connects you with ideas and organizations doing essential work in environmental education and it introduces you tothe skills of observation, questioning, listening, and attunement important to its study. To take these skills and to apply them to a communityneed is our goal.

Observation

"How many times I have wished that I could look out onto the world through the eyes, with the mind, of a chimpanzee. One such minute wouldbe worth a lifetime of research." - Dr. Jane Goodall

Dr. Jane Goodall has been known for her pioneering research with chimpanzees. One key to Jane Goodall's success while she wasat Gombe was her ability to be a keen observer. Although most people will not have an opportunity to observe wild chimpanzees, we need to be sharpobservers because careful observations are the foundation of environmental inquiry. Also, keep in mind - what we observe and how weobserve determines the questions we ask.

To get a feeling for the power of observation, here is an excerpt from Jane Goodale's writing In The Shadow of Man :

"At about noon the first heavy drops of rain began to fall. The chimpanzees climbed out of the tree and one after the other ploddedup the steep grassy slope toward the open ridge at the top. There were seven adult males in the group, including Goliath and David Greybeard, severalfemales, and a few youngsters. As they reached the ridge the chimpanzees paused. At that moment the storm broke. The rain was torrential, and thesudden clap of thunder, right overhead, made me jump. As if this were a signal, one of the big males stood upright and as he swayed and swaggeredrhythmically from foot to foot, I could just hear the rising crescendo of his pant-hoots above the beating of the rain. Then he charged off, flat-out downthe slope toward the trees he had just left. He ran some thirty yards, and then, swinging round the trunk of a small tree to break his headlong rush,leaped into the low branches and sat motionless.