Category: Lessons
Q. What are the three most significant shifts in sustainability?
In the US, many people might say that the hybrid vehicle (such as the Prius) represented a remarkable shift towards more sustainable fuel consumption – this is under the assumption that the fossil fuel supply could be depleted before humans disappear. Would you also consider that fossil fuel production and use is so polluting that we are actually trying to sustain human life rather than the fuel supply? Other candidates that I can think of in the “today” mindset are CFLs (maybe LEDs) and solar energy panels (generally the renewable energy concept). If we choose to think broader and more historically, sustainability is not really technology-driven and certainly not a new idea. If we stretch our imagination way back, we can imagine the application of sustainability as early man created ways to keep fires going for heat or light (it is believed that man initially “controlled” fire by using fires started by lightning strikes). Later (but still a long time ago), humans figured out how to sustain fires over long periods of time in hearths to cook food. The first really well-known innovation in sustainability is that of crop rotation. In the 20th century, accelerated urbanization and increased waste production pushed greater effort in agricultural (or food supply) sustainability, and actually opened up the consideration of sustainability economics – which sustainability trends could financially survive and yield a meaningful shift? Today, we are engaged in sustainable development (optimizing the way resources are consumed and, if possible, replenished), and sustainable business development (integrating strategies into business practices that are financially- and product-competitive; we’d like to think GREEN too which is more about satisfying regulatory constraint). What sustainability trends can see if we try to look into the future? I would sure like to see trends that help us use time more efficiently; think of time as a limited resource and perhaps this will drive you to be creative.
Other candidates: insulation, double-paned windows, faucet aerators, recycling bins and recycling facilities, the pencil …
Calibrating Our Views of Innovation
The simple objective is to personally list and rank objects (tangible or intangible) in order of innovativeness. Some lists we could ask applicants to submit along with their application (and we would discuss in one of our meetings):
(1) List and rank three of the most innovative products that became available in your lifetime.
(2) List and rank three of the most innovative products that became available in the last 12 months.
(3) List and rank three of the most innovative products that became available in the last 50 years.
(4) List and rank three of the most innovative products ever.
(5) List and rank three of the most currently pressing problems.
This should help us understand the magnitude of shift that innovations enable. We also should be able to identify who or what innovations impact. These are all things an “innovator” should consider in their work. We might also discover that timeliness is key to innovations becoming significant such that innovation is often a perception and not an exact assignment of creativity.
More thoughts about questions (and a little about answers)
Another skill that I have come to greatly appreciate and value is being able to phrase a flexible question. I observe this in homework and tests given by various Stanford instructors. Most directly, the objective is to provide less than adequate information to derive a perfect answer, and to have students make their best assumptions or estimates in the thought process. Conversely, questions are sometimes formed with too much information, and the student has to use their discretion and be selective. Beyond the academic value of approaching problems through various methodologies and frameworks, this encourages students to take risks, support themselves, and develop confidence. These are all extensible skills that are required in creative and leadership work. We can provide exercises with the too little or too much information situations, and see the behavior that results. This would be an interesting experiment on an individual scale as well as at a group or team level.
Skill: Asking Questions
One of the oddest things in secondary (and sometimes tertiary) education is that questions such as those in textbooks, homework, tests and exams are derived from perfected answers. That is, someone composes the answer before creating the question. This more often than not results in poor questions because one ends up trying to jam in several ideas into a brief question that usually maps to a lengthy and detailed answer. And because the question-creators are adults, the context of the questions are often poorly selected. When I became a postdoc, I realized that the “art” is being able to ask questions on the fly as information/knowledge is revealed – in simpler terms, to be able to ask questions skillfully with the intention to have the knowledge provider (a seminar speaker, for example) to clarify, reiterate or verify (if you think the speaker may have made a mistake). The skill of asking purposeful questions is a highly creative one, and something we can pursue to develop upon in our YCISL students. This is especially timely to help students go beyond a single perspective on a topic (like a textbook or a state curriculum), and is a skill that will continue to pay dividends over time – for example, to be able to ask helpful questions efficiently in a cross-functional team meeting; questions that can foster improved decision-making and leadership. To start, I intend to include in the application form a section that lists a selection of objects as “answers” and the students have to create questions for those object answers. This will reveal whether the student has the propensity to employ “normal” ideas or creative ones in their problem solving (at least at the stage of framing the problem in the form of a question).
Brainstorming: Modes of Transportation
Brainstorm a personal list of transportation modes.
Give 1 point for each idea. 2 points for every original idea. Even stilts count.
Winner with most points gets prize.
Lesson: The Meaning of Sustainable
What does it mean to be sustainable?
Idea of sustainable agriculture. Crop rotation.
More modern idea of sustainable development (economics).
Extension to environmental protection and natural resources. Example of forests, trees and paper. Motivation to conserve paper. Also example of fishing (overfishing) and waste disposal (eg, landfill and today especially electronics disposal).
Difference between sustainable and green. Similarity in minimal impact.
Idea of sustainable leadership. Finding a leadership role that shapes, grows and matures (changes) with age and experience.
How can society be truly sustainable? It is constantly evolving. Plus there is the complexity of relationships.
Exercise: Egg Drop
There’s the Egg Drop contest, but maybe we can do an Egg Toss contest too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_drop_competition
http://www.asme.org/Events/Contests/Ideas/Egg_Throwing_Contest.cfm
Lesson: How to Save on Electricity Usage at Home
CFL and other fluorescent lighting, LED lighting, timers, motion sensors, windows, (sun-side) shaded windows – trees, smart window blinds, winter sun-facing windows, window glazing, sun tunnels, attic fans (less air-conditioning), ceiling fans, gas cookers, smart power bars/strips, better insulation, disconnect phantom power hogs, energy efficient appliances, air-dry clothes (wind energy), solar water heating, renewable energy, lighter wall paint
Resources:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4824103_save-electricity-home.html
Lesson: Brainstorming – The Experience
Conduct a 30 minute brainstorming session. Then prioritize ideas and discuss how to create and who would use it.
Lesson: Food Chain and Bioaccumulation
A good environmental concept to employ in a lesson may be that of a food chain and how bioaccumulation in fatty tissue can transport environmental chemicals into organisms including people.
