Over a hundred students from Menominee Indian Middle School and High School attended the CMN Technology Fair that was part of the nation-wide Digital Learning Day. Students learned how technology is tied to the College and everyday careers. As students wandered around a room full of technology from different areas, they would stop off to see what the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) was up to.
Here is what Kate Flick, Sustainable Development Institute’s Education Coordinator highlighted about lessons learned as she spent the day with the students:
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What does “sustainable” mean, anyway?
To answer this question, students engaged in a “candy sustainability game” where pieces of candy became a resource participants wanted (which was not too far of a stretch). As an individual in a group, the student could take as many candies as he or she wanted per round. They had to have at least one candy to “survive” to the next round. After each student would take his or her share, one more candy would be added to the table for every candy that remained (e.g. the resources are regenerating). The cycle continued as long as there was one candy left. In the end, they were able to see what happens with a common resource pool (e.g. a bunch of candies), and what happens if you take too much versus taking sustainably.
How does that translate to the real world?
There are a lot of ways, but think about it in terms of simple technology. We took the blades off of a magnetic windmill generator, so that they could also spin a windmill attachment SDI made from spare parts found around the garage to light up some bulbs. Electrons being shoved into motion from the students own power (or in theory an endless supply of wind) could create electricity. Whala!
What other kind of things do you do at Sustainable Development Institute?
SDI worked with NASA to create this video Through Tribal Eyes: Change on the Menominee Nation, which shows tribal members’ perspectives on changes they’ve been noticing in relation to climate change. Check it out:
Did you do anything else the day of the Technology Fair?
We divided into small groups to take a tour of the Sustainable Development Institute. Before going on a tour of SDI, we took the students to explore the forest to use GPS devices and identify things they thought were interesting to be put on a map. Trees and tracks were popular finds!
The students got to see some of the results of previous intern projects, meet the staff, and learn about opportunities for themselves. Perhaps, some of these bright students are future “SDIers”!
