This discussion-based activity introduces students to a range of environmental ideologies in the media. Environmental ideologies are core beliefs about the relationship between humans and the more-than-human world. Ranging from anthropocentric to ecocentric, environmental ideologies are usually taken for granted but are at the root of how we value and act upon the environment. These ideologies are commonly conveyed through “stories we live by,” which are narratives shared among individuals across a culture that shape their collective understanding. Students discuss and evaluate media texts from advertising, popular culture, entertainment, and news media to identify different environmental ideologies and to critique them according to eco-ethical values.
Learning outcomes
- Identify and understand the concepts of environmental ideology and stories-we-live-by.
- Differentiate between anthropocentric and ecocentric environmental ideologies and their respective worldviews.
- Recognize that worldviews influence what is considered knowledge and what is valued in relation to the environment.
- Analyze and interpret media content to identify environmental ideologies conveyed through stories-we-live-by.
- Evaluate the range of environmental ideologies present in the media, from anthropocentric to ecocentric perspectives.
- Understand the relationship between environmental ideologies and eco-ethics, including the values associated with different ideologies.
- Critically assess the impact of environmental ideologies in shaping individuals’ beliefs and actions toward the environment.
- Reflect on personal environmental ideologies and how they may influence individual perspectives and actions.
Common Core standards
English Language Arts Standards
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.2: Determine a central idea of a text and analyze how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.7: Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Media Literacy Standards
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.7: Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.2: Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.5: Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.