Pegada ecológica como estratégia didática em uma proposta para educação ambiental

Abstract

The current consumption habits have led to an environmental crisis, making it crucial to focus on conserving and preserving the remaining natural resources. The Ecological Footprint, a concept developed by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees, measures how our actions impact the Earth and calculates how many planets would be needed to sustain our current lifestyles. This underscores the importance of using the Ecological Footprint as a tool for Environmental Education. This initiative seeks to introduce the Ecological Footprint as a teaching strategy in Environmental Education to raise awareness about natural resource consumption and its environmental impacts. To achieve this, a teaching plan including a lesson outline, a Footprint calculation questionnaire, and practical learning stations focusing on food, consumption habits, and recycling has been developed. Additionally, informational brochures and a survey to evaluate the effectiveness of this teaching approach have been included in the proposal. The teaching plan is available as an e-book and can be accessed through an Instagram profile. By incorporating these activities, it is evident that the concept of Ecological Footprint can be presented in different ways and can address issues that are relevant to students' lives, thus facilitating the teaching-learning process and contributing to the development of environmentally conscious individuals.