Conversation Cards
The Elemental conversation cards are organized around the following themes—connection to place, perseverance, and nature as teacher. These themes provide ways for students to engage with the film's content.
How To Use
When Jay Harman was a child he used to go down to the beach, where he felt completely at home.
Where do you feel you �can relax and be yourself?
How might you create more �places like this in your life?
Gordon Hempton on the forest floor
Eriel Deranger makes clear that she is an Indigenous rights activist, not an environmentalist.
Rajendra Singh says he is a social worker, not a politician.
High-oblique view of the moon’s surface showing Earth rising (NASA).
What job title would you imagine for yourself?
How might our self-�chosen titles reflect our connection to the world?
In the film, Rajendra Singh uses religious terms such as pilgrimage, sacred, faith, and devotion to motivate people.
Think about the place �where you live.
What types of language promote environmental awareness?
What role does language and culture play in shaping our relationship with a place?
What would it take to truly “know where you are”?
How might that help define you or your life?
“If you don’t know where you are, �you don’t know who you are.”
Wendell Berry, farmer, writer, and activist
Use your senses to describe
where you live or a place you love. �What do you see? �What can you smell? �What do you hear? �What can you touch? �What can you taste?
How does the combination of these experiences make you feel about that place?
Living wall from the photo essay “Living Buildings” (Mark Andrew Boyer).
“A place belongs forever to whoever claims it hardest, �remembers it most obsessively, wrenches it from itself, �shapes it, renders it, loves it so radically �that he remakes it in his own image.”
Joan Didion, writer
Draw a representation of a place that is �meaningful to you — from when you �were a child or more recently.
Share your drawing with a partner.
Photo of the Epping Forest by Diane Barker
“Find your place on the planet. �Dig in, and take responsibility from there.”
Gary Snyder, poet
Where is your “place on the planet”?
Find organizations working to protect or restore that place. �Learn what they are doing, and how you can join in.
See how well you know �the place where you live.
1. From where you are standing or sitting, � point to north, south, east, and west.
�2. Identify the current phase of the moon.
See how well you know �the place where you live.
3. Name the nearest bodies of freshwater and saltwater.
4. Estimate the times of today’s sunrise and sunset.
5. Describe typical weather patterns in your area.
Photo of the Epping Forest by Diane Barker.
Elemental opens with �this quote by poet T.S. Eliot:
“Only those who will risk �going too far can possibly �find out how far one can go.”
Why might the filmmaker have chosen this quote to open the film?
The Earthrise photo taken Dec. 24, 1968 (Bill Anders).
In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell proposes that it takes �10,000 hours of practice to truly master a skill such as playing the guitar.... with time and enough drive, he describes that even those without innate talent can become an expert in a particular area.
Do you find Gladwell’s �view encouraging or discouraging?
Jay Harman describes that life for him is about possibilities. When someone says, "It can't be done," he sees a failure of imagination.
Think of a problem affecting your family, school, or community.
How might a shift in perception — toward seeing possibilities — affect how you and others view the problem?
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
Nelson Mandela, civil rights leader
Might we ever know whether �our aim is possible before �embarking on a certain path? �Do you think it matters?
“The difference between �perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will and �the other from a strong won’t.”
Henry Ward Beecher, social reformer
Is perseverance always a good thing?
In what circumstances might
knowing when to stand down
be the more effective path?
Describe an example that would prove Gandhi's point.
“The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Make a list of the different strategies the three protagonists employ to promote change.
How does each role promote change?
What special challenges does each face?
What role are you most drawn to?
Identify a skill or ability� that you would like to master. �
Outline a plan for the next month �to work toward your goal.
Jay Harman says that the world’s most serious problem is global warming.
What changes need to happen �to address global warming?
Eriel Deranger describes our relationship with Mother Earth as similar to the relationship between an unborn baby and mother. She says, “...just like an umbilical cord gives [a baby] everything he needs; the water, and the plants, and the air give us everything we need here.”
In what ways does Mother �Earth provide for your needs?
How has human civilization both extended and compromised these provisions?
Think about a plant, animal, or other natural object or phenomenon that you resonate with.
Take on its persona. What do you think �it is experiencing and witnessing?
As Jay Harman noted in the film, �half of the world’s population �now lives in cities.
In what vital ways is everyone — �even a city dweller — connected to nature?
How might this statistic influence the
way we address environmental issues?
One thing we can learn from nature is that our actions often have consequences we didn’t anticipate or intend. As the film points out, burning fossil fuels is causing changes in Earth’s climate.
What other past and current technological solutions have had unintended consequences affecting the living world?
“Look deep into nature, �and then you will understand everything better.”
Albert Einstein, scientist
In what ways can nature help us understand ourselves and our world more deeply?
Jay Harman used natural whirlpools as the model for his innovation. This is an example of biomimicry, which draws on nature for conceiving models, �systems, and processes.
Research other inventions or ideas that are inspired by nature’s designs.
“Dripping water hollows out stone, �not through force but through persistence”�Ovid, Roman poet
Describe one thing �you can start today, realizing that �it is the first step on what might be a �long journey to make your community �or the world a better place.
There are many means by which people from �diverse cultures express gratitude for the Earth: through ceremonies, prayers, or rituals, �or by creating altars or other structures.
In what ways �do you honor the Earth?
We want to hear from you
Share your experiences with us on how you used the �conversation cards as well as your thoughts and impressions.�info@globalonenessproject.org