When was the last time you hugged a tree? Like me, your answer is probably “never”. When was the last time you breathed? Dumb question, huh? Well, at least you know a little bit more about me now. I am not a tree-hugger, but I do recognize that trees give off the oxygen we need to sustain ourselves and our environment … which it seems may be turning against us.

Over the past few years, awareness of environmental issues has been heightened. From the shrinking polar ice caps and extreme weather phenomena to Al Gore and his team’s winning of the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts “to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change”, and for laying the “foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change”. With the media banging the gong of environmental awareness, perhaps this trend is the harbinger of “green” change in our classrooms. Perhaps, but then there has always been resistance to change in education.

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