Content
Note
From here on out, you might find yourself flipping between the “Content” section, the “Teaching Strategy” section, and the “Activity” section, as they are intertwined and support each other throughout the narrative of this unit. I’ll try to be as clear as possible about my expectations and the opportune times to skip around in your reading.
Preparing for Content
Fleischman opens his book with the notion that the powers that be want the general population to believe there isn’t anything too wrong with the world. I say “too”, because obviously we know the world is chaotic. However, think about it: how much do you really know? My guess is, unless you’ve done your research, not much. I was the same way and still am. I won’t pretend to be an expert on all the world’s affairs by any means. Yet, this book and this unit will change the way you see the world. It will, if you spend the time to investigate these topics as thoroughly as you ask your students to, lift the veil from your eyes and allow you to see beyond the pale.
With that being said, what is it that you should know before teaching this information to others? Well, I’m guessing that it’s obvious that you should read Eyes Wide Open before doing anything else. In college, I was taught to read a text three times before teaching it to my students. Here, I would suggest reading the book twice and then investigating further articles and materials about each of the subtopics in the text. After simply glancing through the pages, it becomes overwhelmingly apparent that this book covers many different topics. These topics all build up to the idea of “going behind the environmental headlines.” Again, environmentalism is the overarching theme of this unit. Each topic will support and build an understanding of how the world got to where it is today.
My second suggestion is to find several subtopics from each chapter that resonate with you or your students. Spend some time learning more about specific information you think you would like to discuss in class. I will help you as best as I can and have provided many further suggestions in the “Further Resources” section of this unit. Also, the book itself has excellent source notes and bibliography for further reading on any and every topic unveiled in its pages.
I believe it is important to teach topics you are interested in, because your students will feel your enthusiasm and your enthusiasm will likely enliven their minds and spark their interests. Remember, this unit is more than just teaching students about the topics related in the book. The greater purpose is to help them become critical thinkers and active participants within their community.
Also, throughout the unit, you will couple this book with short fictional picture books. I’ll provide more strategies on achieving this interconnected approach, both between the materials and critical thinking, and the nonfiction and fictional texts, later. This approach is valuable when teaching different perspectives about a topic. The ability to think and read critically about a topic is valuable for students’ transitions into the real world. Since my students are so young, I will also use this varied source approach to help hold their interest and inspire engaging discussions throughout the unit.
What I’ll do next is go through each chapter of Eyes Wide Open and break down the text for you, providing further information and materials that elaborate upon the subtopics.
Preparing for Discussion
The first part of this unit is teaching students how to think critically, as they will be called on to use critical thinking skills frequently throughout. This may be the first time your students have heard the term critical thinking.4 Explain to them the importance of differentiating sources of information, analyzing the information, and then discussing it with their peers in a collegial manner. Relate how you might hear about a topic and then engage in further research to better distinguish fact from fiction, or better understand the material itself. As adults, we have critical minds. As stated earlier, students think the world is coming to an end tomorrow and have yet to develop the valuable skills of critical thinking.
If your students don’t know about annotation and close reading, then now is the time to enlighten them on these skills. This can be a lesson, which I describe later in the “Activities” section of the unit. Keep in mind that there is no rush to read the information. One of the major goals is to help students become critical thinkers.5
The information and subtopics related within the book are materials that will help your students engage in critical thinking. Although the subtopics are important, what is equally important is that students make connections between the material and the overall theme, analyze and discuss the material, and use the unit to better understand the world around them.
Annotation will prepare your students for Socratic Circles/Seminars.6 As you prepare for reading the text, I suggest practicing a round of engaging Socratic Seminar. I’ll provide an “Activity” that lends itself well to this practice in the “Critical Thinking Lesson.”
Reading Eyes Wide Open
Once the students have been adequately prepared to begin reading the book, guide them as they start their journey throughout the text. The book is separated into six different categories: Noticing, Perception, Defense Mechanisms, Systems, Attitudes, and Eyes Abroad and Ahead. These categories help the reader better understand the world around them and how it got to its current state of being. Within these sections are subtopics that narrow and refine the information discussed. These subtopics are what you will be discussing in class. They are what you will need to know in order to be an effective teacher of this unit.
Don’t get overwhelmed. The book basically walks you through these subtopics, provides information, and helps the reader make connections to a greater theme: going behind the environmental headlines. Furthermore, I will support your reading and learning with further supplementary sources of information. As you read through the following narrative, follow along in Eyes Wide Open, take notes in your book, and allow the information I share to be a sort of preparation or anticipation for teaching this unit.
“Noticing”
The first chapter is called “Noticing”. It starts with a narrative by Fleischman that describes his awakening to the deeper troubles of the world around him. The first section is entitled “Optical Illusions” and discusses the many different ways of seeing the world: perspective. Gather together different optical illusions that can be seen in different ways depending on a person’s perspective. The illusions should be ones that lend themselves well to different interpretations and perspective, thus sparking discussion about what it is that the students are seeing. Check out street illusions, stereograms, or perspective illusions for some examples. Allow students to admire these images and then create the connection between the image and what they are about to read.
Seeing beyond the pale, one realizes that not all things are what they seem. Alas, the “it’s always been this way” attitude numbs our minds and allows us to pretend the world is fine and dandy. Yet, we should be thinking critically about the world around us.7 The beginning of the book directly relates the idea of history to the students. History isn’t always some far-off, unrelated event. History is happening now and each of us has a say in how it plays out. We are directly connected and need to be vigilant in its wake.
Within the chapter of “Noticing”, “The Essentials,” is a strong foreshadowing of the subtopics throughout the book. There are many of these subtopics. If you haven’t done your research, now is the time to do it. It’s essential that you familiarize yourself with the following topics. Pick one or two subtopics from each chapter and provide further supplementary information for students to sift through, analyze, think and speak critically about. Again, the book provides excellent information about the topics, both within the text itself and in the end “Source Notes” section.
First subtopic overview is world population. How did it get so big so fast?8 You can research how healthcare in first world countries has greatly affected the growing world population. Edward Jenner’s 1796 inoculation against small pox was the first step in controlling disease.9 Rising world population will tie into environmentalism, because an increased population requires more food, natural resources, and energy to flourish. Currently, the United States makes up about 5% of the world’s population, but consumes 24% of the world’s energy and resources.10 This is an impossible ratio to support. If newly developing countries wish to meet similar standards, then the earth will be quickly overrun.
This leads to the next subtopic overview, which is consumption. Consumption refers to the consumption of fuel, energy, food, and consumer products. Environmentalism comes into play as one realizes where these products come from and what it takes to create and distribute them to consumerist societies. Furthermore, these products create a lot of waste, which is haphazardly thrown away and causing pollution on our planet. Do some research on China and California’s air pollution problems. Do preliminary research on green house gases and carbon dioxide emissions. I suggest reading Regis’ “The Doomslayer” to start seeing this subtopic from multiple perspectives.11 Remember, you want your students to be able to think critically about these topics. In order to do this, they have to read and analyze several sources of information. A single perspective, for example Fleischman’s, is a biased approach to understanding a topic. Allow them to see from many different points of view so their conversations with each other are rich, educated, and free flowing.
The third subtopic overview is energy. Remember, these overviews are just introductions to the main subtopics found throughout the book. I want you to start your reading with a solid foundation of resources for each subtopic. Throughout the book, energy discussions will detail peak oil and going green. Fossil fuels, modes of transportation, and renewable energy are major components of the world we live in. As you read, learn more about the sway of oil companies, how they deplete our planet of fossil fuels, and how they are resistant to making the change to green energy. Later, the Kyoto talks12, fracking13, and lobbyism14 will be important discussions.
Food is the fourth subtopic overview. Two large components of the food information will be the energy that goes into making and distributing food, and how food is made—particularly GMOs. I suggest you do some research about Monsanto. If you are unfamiliar with factory farms, then you may want to watch a couple of videos that detail where your food comes from.15 If you prefer textual information, you should read Michael Pollan’s riveting NYtimes article “Power Steer.”16 He also wrote The Omnivore’s Dilemma and The Botany of Desire, which are useful sources of information for your background knowledge on the topic of food, but are not altogether necessary for teaching this unit.
The last introductory subtopic overview is about the climate. Many believe that rising population and consumption are having an enormous impact on our world. Research green house gasses and climate change. In the “Activities” section, I provide an example of how to use multiple articles to promote critical thinking and collegial discussion. If you want to know more, Al Gore created a useful documentary detailing global warming.17 As you research climate change, make sure to note that there are people in the world who do not believe climate change is manmade. Rather, they think it is part of the natural cycles of life. Later, these juxtaposing views would be a good read for students to discuss in a debate or Socratic Seminar.
As you read the book, research the subtopics, and start to gain different perspectives about the information provided, two things should become increasingly clear. First, all the subtopics relate back to the overarching theme of environmentalism and life as we know it on our planet. The second realization is that the reading and research you are doing is a way to help you and your students see beyond the normal facets of society. You are accumulating your supplementary sources that will be used in lessons throughout the text. All of the topics are interconnected in this unit. Thinking about them critically will help students see beyond the pale of our society.
“Perception”
The second chapter of Eyes Wide Open is entitled “Perception.” This section asks its readers to understand how the world of lobbyism, advertisement, and spin doctoring limits what we know about a topic and controls how we think about it. I suggest you watch the excellent movie Thank You For Smoking to better understand lobbyism and spin doctoring. Although the movie is not school appropriate, I will use clips found on YouTube to help students better grasp these concepts.18
Learn about and discuss “psychology and advertising.” There are many articles and videos that detail how people in power manipulate and manage the public’s mind. An important figure to learn about is the grandfather of public relations, Edward Bernays.19 “Torches of Freedom” will help you and your students understand the levels of manipulation available to basically any educated person in power. If students have the prior knowledge, you can also relate this topic to propaganda, especially in Nazi Germany during WWII.
Slowly, you should begin to see what I mean by “seeing beyond the pale.” Here, the pale is the manipulation, the veil between producer and consumer, that leads to pollution and waste.
From a political point of view, it is important to understand how front groups disguise themselves as having a pious political agenda, but in turn are actually quite corrupt. Eyes Wide Open goes into much more detail on these topics in very easy-to-understand terms. As you read, you’ll learn the necessary information for teaching this unit.
Later in this chapter, Fleischman discusses advertising, the media, and concealment. A good way to practice critical thinking with your students is to show them several commercials or advertisements. Analyze the videos and advertising techniques. Be sure relate these discussions to critical thinking and the importance of looking at information from multiple perspectives. Several “Superbowl Compilation” videos can be found on YouTube. Make sure they are appropriate before sharing them with your class.
“Defense Mechanisms”
The third section/chapter of the book is entitled “Defense Mechanisms.” You may have already experienced your defense mechanisms arise when you were reading and learning about animal cruelty on factory farms. The fact is nobody likes hearing that the world is falling apart. This section discusses how politicians and large corporations take advantage of our desire to ward off bad feelings.
This section will be a good one for students to analyze the credibility and information of articles claiming completely different perspectives. One subtopic in particular that would spark an interesting discussion is whether or not global warming is real. There is much scientific data that suggests global warming is a fact and is created by humans. However, there are those out there, specifically large fossil fuel harvesting and consuming companies, that want you to think otherwise. Again, you may refer to the “Activities” section for a comparative analysis that promotes discussion about global warming.
Why would they want to turn our eyes from this truth? Well, remember that all these subtopics relate to environmentalism. If the environment is crumbling because of fossil fuel emission, then these companies risk losing business and money. If global warming is a natural phenomenon, then these major companies aren’t doing anything wrong and neither are we if we continue consuming their products. It becomes a game of emotion rather than fact. How can they make us feel that we aren’t hurting anyone or anything? How can they persuade us to agree with their goings on?
Sometimes, such companies create front groups to conceal truth and give the appearance that they are actually benefiting the planet. GreenPeace is an organization that calls out these corrupt companies and misguiding front groups, helping the world see the deeper truth of the matter. In an article “Clean Coal,” readers start to understand the great lengths that fossil fuel companies go to in order to convince consumers that their practices are clean and potentially beneficial.20
Review
So far, aside from the introductory sections of “Content”, we have discussed how politicians and large companies use advertising techniques, spin doctors, and lobbyists to promote and sell their agenda and products. Consumerism has a major impact on the environment. As more countries taste modern industrialization, they are demanding more resources to build up their communities. The taking of natural resources is affecting the planet in a way that some might call global warming. However, front groups deny that anything is going wrong, continuing to dissuade the masses and perpetuate the veil.
This halfway point in the book is a good time to pause for greater reflection on what students have learned. Support the ideas students have been learning with Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax. This is a great story the details the effect of consumerism on the environment. Analyze this story with students by making comparisons between the two texts. For example, where in the text do students see the rise and repercussions of consumerism? How is the Lorax an environmentalist? Discuss the purpose for writing The Lorax and the purpose for writing Eyes Wide Open. Are they the same? This text will rehook many of your checked out students, inspiring them to continue reading Fleischman’s Eyes Wide Open.
“Systems”
The fourth chapter, “Systems,” marks a shift in Fleischman’s writing. Up until this point, he has opened our eyes to the hidden agendas of those in power. He relates how politicians and big businesses hesitate to state things as they truly are because people can’t seem to handle the truth. It might be important to note where U.S. politics came from21 or do further reading about the public’s response to Jimmy Carter’s worrisome speech about lowering energy use.22
Continuing, Fleischman discusses capitalism and the free market.23 These are the parents of our consumerist society. They beget factory farms, outsourcing, and sweatshop labor in third world countries.24 What is the price for first world living? I suggest you read the short story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula Le Guin25 and a follow up commentary by David Brooks called “The Child in the Basement.”26 It is a powerful read that sparks many deep emotions. If you feel it is appropriate, your students will surely have a lot to say about it.
“Attitudes”
I hope the tale of Omelas has now fully opened your eyes. If your readings, videos, and other supplementary sources haven’t helped you see beyond the pale, then I suggest going back and looking a little closer. “Attitudes” is the shift from learning and understanding to hope for the future with eyes wide open. It notes that people are waking up to the reality of the world around them. It suggests that people are willing to change. Even though humans often learn from adversity, the fact is that we are growing and evolving from our current situation, regardless of the destruction we’ve caused.
Now is the time to shift your students’ minds from what is we have done wrong to what we can do right. Curiosity and ingenuity sometimes lead us in the wrong direction. However, thinking critically about our situation and working together (both as a planet and as a class) can help us overcome the shortcomings of the past. The environment has been tarnished by our ignorance. It’s not that people, government, and consumerism are all bad. Rather, we just have yet to realize their full, unpolluted potential.
So, now that we’ve seen what’s wrong, how can we change these problems into something right? When it comes to energy, learn about the shift from fossil fuels to green and renewable energies.27 There is an argument that peak oil28 will happen soon. The struggle for industry required the use of fossil fuels. They made us what we are today. However, we now know the damage they are doing to our planet and ecosystems. We need to implement the age of transition from fossil fuels to renewable energies.29
Oil shortage will affect much more than our cars. It will affect how everyone lives their lives. Fleischman goes on to suggest that societies of the future will have to adopt a more eco-friendly way of living. Many people think that eco-villages and community farms30 would be a downshift in our standard of living. However, moving back to the land might be the only option for our future. Bear in mind that this does not have to be a future of living like the Amish (unless you want to), but a future where people demand a better world, one that isn’t on the verge of collapse and one that promotes a bright future.
How does this change come about? Often times, drastic change comes through radical action. There are many groups in the world fighting for a homeostasis of the environment. The “Occupy” movement called for a radical shift in the realm of monetary power in the U.S. Groups like GreenPeace and shows like Whale Wars are dramatic representations of fighting for change. While it is important for your students to understand extreme forms of protest, it is also important that they too have a voice and can inspire change. The power your students have goes beyond spoken word and beyond protests. Here, students should use their knowledge to inspire a great change in the world. Whether it’s a letter intended for the environment, their community, the government, or big business, help students understand that their voice matters. See the “Activities” section for more details.
At this point, I plan on using the picture book Henry Climbs a Mountain by D.B. Johnson. This is a tale that mirrors the story of Henry David Thoreau as he refused to pay taxes to a state that supported slavery. You can read his reasoning in his essay “Civil Disobedience.”31 Furthermore, it might be useful to read Walden’s Pond, which is a reflection on living simply.
Thoreau was an activist. It is important for students to understand that even political activism could land someone in jail. This example further explains the reasons for and consequences of activism. Should Thoreau have paid his taxes? How does this book compare to The Lorax? How is this book related to environmentalism? What are ways to promote and participate in activism without landing one’s self in jail?
Before I move on, it is also important to note that one of the greatest ways to make a difference for the environment is by spending money wisely. Help students to think critically about the things that they purchase.32 Buying certain products may promote industries’ use of fossil fuels or harmful chemicals when making and distributing their products. Furthermore, depending on the business, buying their products may also promote sweat shop or even child labor.33 Withholding money, sometimes called boycotting, is one of the greatest ways to make a change in the world. Right now, people buy what big business makes. If we band together, we’ll make it so big business makes what and how we want to buy.
“Eyes Abroad and Ahead”
The last chapter is called “Eyes Abroad and Ahead.” At this point, the reader will realize how all the subtopics of the book have built up to the greater theme of environmentalism. Advertising techniques and lobbyism in politics sway consumer’s minds so they buy what they are told and conform to a mold. These products and the politicians that often promote them are generated for the sole purpose of making money. The resources to fulfill this greed come from the natural environment, which is stripped bare all across the world.
Consumerism and capitalism outsource menial labor, promoting sweat shop conditions and, at times, child labor. The resources needed to produce these short-life products are either stripped from the country side or harvested from the earth as fossil fuels. Similar sources of energy are then needed to package and distribute these products all across the world, particularly to the U.S.
On the other hand, because of modern medicine, the world population is increasing substantially.34 The majority of these people are being born in newly industrializing third world countries. In order to meet the demands of so many people, even more products must be made, stripping and using even more resources.
Furthermore, this growing population requires more food. Since the world now relies on grocery stores to provide its food, this gives business to GMO producers, such as Monsanto. As you learned, monocultures and genetically modified foods not only strip the land of its nutrients, but also pose a possible future threat for humanity as a whole. People relying on the economy and big business to provide for them daily will be devastated once the world hits peak oil and can no longer provide for so many people. It all ties back to the environment and how long it can withstand the constant barrage of the masses.35
We don’t all have to become a Mick Dodge.36 However, thinking critically about the state of the world and our position in it is no longer just an option. It’s a necessity. We need to take control of our lives and the world we live in. Perhaps the future of our society will look something more like community farms and less like an eco-village. Regardless, people are waking up and are no longer accepting the “truth” as it is spoon-fed to them through commercials and political propaganda. We are experiencing history. We have gone beyond the pale. This truly is a time for waking up and making a positive change for our environment.37
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