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Vermont's Place and Sustainability Standards*
*Developed through Cultivating New Partnerships: Education for Sustainability Project
ACCEPTED REVISIONS TO VERMONT’S STANDARDS 3/21/2000
Vital Results: Personal Development Standards
Making Decisions
SustainabiIity
3.9 Students make decisions that demonstrate understanding of natural and human communities, the ecological. economic, political, or social systems within them, and awareness of how their personal and collective actions affect the sustainability of these interrelated systems. This is evident when students:
Pre K-4
a. Identify items that they consume on a daily basis and analyze the resources used in producing, transporting, using, and disposing of these items, including the origins of the resources;
b. Distinguish between personal wants and needs and identify how marketing and advertising inform their consumption patterns;
c. Identify and practice ways to repair, re-use, recycle (e.g., use both sides of paper), and design and implement a plan to monitor personal resource consumption;
d. Explore local natural and human communities (e.g., vernal pools, farms, mines, cities), identify the systems within them, and what is required for these communities to be sustained. |
5-8
aa. Conduct a life-cycle analysis (e.g., production, distribution, consumption. disposal) for both synthetic and natural products (e.g., toothbrush, maple syrup, automobile). including the effects of these life-cycles on the sustainability of a natural and human community;
bb. Collect data in order to investigate and analyze how personal consumption patterns affect the sustainability of natural and human communities (e.g., buying local and imported apples in Vermont);
cc. Identify and practice ways to repair, re-use, recycle (e.g., collect and redistribute leftover household paint), and design and implement a plan to monitor community resource consumption (e.g., survey community water, electric, and/or fuel use);
dd. Demonstrate understanding that natural and human communities are part of larger systems (e.g., farms as part of the regional watershed and food system for cities, a mine as part of the regional economy) and that the interrelationships between all systems affect their sustainability. |
9-12
Evidence cc. and dd. applies, plus
aaa. Prepare an impact assessment (which includes ecological, economic, political, and social factors) that analyzes the effect of a particular product’s or project’s life-cycle on the sustainability of a natural and human community;
bbb. Collect data in order to investigate and analyze the sustainability of societal consumption patterns that have direct and indirect impact on the local and global environment, economy, and society (e.g., fuel efficiency of vehicles). |
Vital Results: Civic/Social Responsibility Standards
Understanding Place
Understanding Place
4.6 Students demonstrate understanding of the relationship between their local environment
and community heritage and how each shapes their lives. This is evident when students:
Pre K-4
a. Demonstrate knowledge and history of local environment (e.g., soils, forests, watershed) and how their community relies on its environment to meet its needs (e.g., nutritional, recreational, economic, emotional well-being);
b. Describe the role of agriculture, forestry, and industry on the development of their local community over time;
c. Demonstrate knowledge of past and present community heritage (e.g., traditions, livelihoods, customs, stories, changing demographics, land use) and recognize ways in which this heritage influences their lives. |
5-8
aa. Apply knowledge of local environment through active participation in local environmental projects (e.g., work with local planning board to analyze existing agricultural land use from a variety of perspectives);
bb. Explore the interrelationship between the local environment and the local community heritage (e.g., settlement patterns, tourism, hunting, agriculture);
cc. Explore and participate in sustaining or building on unique and valued elements of past and present community heritage (e.g., survey community to improve access to town meeting). |
9 - 12
Evidence aa. and cc. applies, plus
bbb. Evaluate and predict how current trends (e.g., environmental, economic, social, political, technological) will affect the future of their local community and environment. |
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