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Curriculum Development > High School 9-12 > Other Supplemental Programs > The Commons: An Environmental Dilemma

The Commons: An Environmental Dilemma

Introductory Biology CDROM; Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 2nd edition, 2003

"Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. . ."
-Garrett Hardin

In 1968, the journal Science published a controversial and thought-provoking essay titled, "The Tragedy of the Commons" by Garrett Hardin, professor of human ecology at the University of California at Santa Barbara. The essay triggered a storm of debate among scientists and policymakers about managing our natural resources and controlling population growth. Are the resources we share in common really vulnerable to a tragedy of the commons? Can the tragedy of the commons be connected to human population growth?

BSCS's instructional CDROM, The Commons: An Environmental Dilemma, uses videos, simulations, animations and inquiry-oriented classroom activities to stimulate a new generation of high school students to explore and debate the modern-day relevance of the tragedy of the commons. This modular program, which is correlated with the National Science Education Standards, can be used to supplement high school biology and environmental science courses or stand alone as a self-contained curriculum.

Some of the concepts introduced in The Commons CD include the benefits and uses of natural resource commons, the tragedy of the unmanaged commons, strategies for managing a commons, human population growth across time, exponential and logistic population growth, carrying capacity, environmental impact, "boomster" and "doomster" views of the earth's present and future condition and the influence of people's actions on the present and future state of the world. Is the tragedy of the commons a tale for our times? Find out by having your students investigate real-life scenarios through the magic of instructional multimedia.

For ordering information, please contact Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co.