Starter:  Summarize with a partner the thesis of Leopold's Land Ethic.  What questions do you have about it?


Leopold's "Land Ethic"
Important Quotes:  React to each quote on the mini-whiteboard.  Sketch? Hashtags? Verse? Connection?

• "A land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it."
• "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."
• "A land ethic of course cannot prevent the alteration, management, and use of these 'resource,' but it does affirm their right to continued existence, and, at lease in spots, their continued existence in a natural state."
• "We have no land ethic yet, but we have drawn nearer the point of admitting that birds should continue as a matter of biotic right, regardless of the presence or absence of economic advantage to us."
• "A land ethic, then, reflects the existence of an ecological conscience, and this in turn reflects a conviction of individual responsibility for the health of the land.  Health is the capacity of the land for self-renewal.  Conservation is our effort to understand and preserve this capacity."
• "Perhaps the most serious obstacle impeding the evolution of a land ethic is the fact that our educational and economic system is headed away from, rather than toward, an intense consciousness of land."

Discussion:  "The Land Ethic" by Aldo Leopold
1.  What struck us?
3.  What are the benefits and limitations of the land ethic?

Helpful resource on "The Land Ethic" for your review.


What is The Gaia Hypothesis?

Everything is Connected:  Listen to the first segment
What is your reaction to the ideas of this podcast?  Can you connect this to the concept of the Gaia hypothesis?  How does this connect to the land ethic?  


FOUR CORNERS

• (In matters of environment) "We have to start acting as one species with one destiny." 
• Industry has an ethical obligation to embrace sustainability and take responsibility for the health of the environment.
• Climate change is a threat to national security.

Work Time:
1. Finish readings for quiz tomorrow.  Annotate with attention to the EnviroEthics concepts
2.  Listen to the other segments of "Everything is Connected."
3.  Critique next Thursday!