Session 2: Are Humans Good For the Planet?
Rank each invention from oldest to newest. Can you guess the date for each?
A. Plastics
B. Horse & Cart
C. Steam Train
D. Aeroplane
E. Wind Turbine
F. Smartphone
c. 3000 BC
1804
1887
1903
In the last 80 years, the world’s population size, manufacturing, energy use, transport needs and carbon emissions have exploded.
This is The Great Acceleration: humans have changed the Earth faster in the last lifetime than at any other point in history.
1992
1907
B. Horse & Cart
A. Plastics
C. Steam Train
D. Aeroplane
E. Wind Turbine
F. Smartphone
Today’s Big Question:
Humans have been on Earth for a tiny
fraction of its history. So why has everything changed so fast and can we change it back?
PATHWAY 1
The Great Acceleration
10 mins
PATHWAY 2
How to Rescue a Wreckage
10 mins
Are humans good for the planet?
z
Finished? Complete the Sustainability Crossword
Can We Save the Species?
Your job is to create a conservation plan for an endangered species. You will be allocated a species:
Sea Turtle
African Elephant
Coral Reef
Bumble Bee
Snow Leopard
Can We Save the Species?
In your plan, you need to follow these steps:
STOP
What is causing the damage?
For example:
PROTECT
How can governments protect this species?
For example:
RESTORE
How could humans help populations recover?
For example:
Orangutan (example species)
🔴 Threats: Rainforest clearing for palm oil/timber & illegal pet trade
🟠 Status: Falling fast (Borneo population down 80% since 1950)
🟢 Success: Protected forest patches & orphan rehab centers.
STOP
(We need to stop...)
PROTECT
(Governments should...)
RESTORE
(Humans can actively...)
Threats: Warming seas (bleaching), pollution, damaging fishing.
Status: Falling sharply (~84% hit by 2023–2025 bleaching).
Success: Marine Protected Areas & growing coral in underwater nurseries.
Threats: Ivory poaching, habitat loss, human conflict.
Status: Falling overall (forest elephants -86%), but protected herds are stable.
Success: Ranger patrols & massive cross-border reserves (Kavango–
Zambezi).
Threats: Trapped in fishing nets (net bycatch), beach construction, ocean plastic.
Status: Improving globally (+25% since 1970s), but local areas still struggle.
Success: Net escape hatches (turtle excluder devices) & protected nesting beaches.
Threats: Loss of wildflower meadows to farming, toxic pesticides, and shifting climate.
Status: Falling - about a quarter of global bumblebee species face extinction risk.
Success: Banning harmful pesticides and replanting wildflower meadows and verges.
Threats: Hunted for fur, vanishing prey, farmer conflict, and shrinking mountain habitats.
Status: Slowly falling - moved off Endangered list in 2017 mainly due to better counting.
Success: Protected reserves (e.g. Tost reserve, Mongolia) and anti-poaching teams.
STOP
(We need to stop…)
PROTECT
(Governments should...)
RESTORE
(Humans can actively...)
WE HAVE COVERED:
Learner Journal
Part 1: Three Things I Learnt Today
Open your Learner Journal. Write down three things you learnt. These can be facts, ideas, or things that surprised you.
Which step of STOP - PROTECT - RESTORE do you think is hardest to achieve in the real world, and why?
Write your response in your Learner Journal, then finish sections 3-5.
Learner Journal
Part 2: Reflective Question
“We are the first generation to feel the impact of climate change, and the last generation that can do something about it.” Barack Obama, former US president (2014)
Human impact isn't an accident, it is the direct result of our choices. But just as our choices created these challenges, our choices can fix them through stopping damage, protecting species, and actively restoring ecosystems.
Lock-In Quote
Extension Activities
Extension 1
Extension 2
The Tree of Life
Rewilding Montana