To help achieve a more dispersed population distribution, it is the strategy of the New Rural Society (NRS) project to address the interdependent rural, urban, and energy problems by solving the rural development problem issue first. People live in large urban areas chiefly because the jobs and essential services are there. Advances in…

This lecture recounts personal experiences and discusses environmental issues that invoked a desire to teach about the things threatening the earth. Human population growth is cited as the first and foremost environmental challenge in the 20th century. A J-shaped curve is used to illustrate an increase in human population. The relationship between…

Current energy shortages have created the need for educational programs to prepare tomorrow's consumers and workers for occupations that are more responsive to the realities of the energy situation. Particularly needed is an energy program stressing productive conservation. (Productive conservation emphasizes using less energy to perform the same…

The paper analyzes the failure of the ecology/environmental movement to develop into a social movement and to generate a mass following. The movement has had difficulty not only in organizing collective behavior but also in maintaining the necessary momentum to change into a full-fledged social movement. Obvious reasons are that ecologists…

Stages of moral reasoning through which children develop, as researched by developmental psychologists Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg, are outlined in the introduction of this paper. The six stages are defined and exemplified by the moral issue of the value of human life. The developmental model, as it is argued, is suitable for instruction in…

Describes software packages on energy topics which are undergoing teacher reviews and testing. Although all are intended primarily for grades seven to 12, some are also appropriate for higher education. Program topics include power plant engineer, energy conversions, personal energy inventory, temperature grapher, home energy savings, and electric…

Briefly traces history of decline and resurgence of rural communities, discusses school consolidation and studies on per pupil costs, travel costs, energy conservation and community pride and identity as factors in maintaining small rural schools. (AN)

A study examined the attitudes of legislators toward issues facing the Commonwealth of Kentucky, to determine (1) if there were differences in legislators' perception of the usefulness of mass media and interpersonal sources for information, (2) if there was a greater evidence of mass media usage among legislators who can be considered opinion…

The argument over economic development and environmental sustainability took center stage in the late 1960s and early 1970s as many believed the capacity of the earth to support the population was being reached. In the early 1980s the arguments receded but have reemerged as atmospheric problems and petroleum supplies are again hot topics. The…

The general procedures, techniques for implementing, and results of a citizen-based "grass-roots" program in Ohio for the development and analysis of community energy policies are described. The program emphasizes citizen input and employs the nominal group process to build consensus. Small group discussions are used to generate…

A social studies educator examines energy education and its place in the curriculum, discussing what should be taught, where, and by whom. Six recommendations are made. First, students must be made aware that sometime between now and the year 2000, world demand for oil and natural gas will actually exceed world supply. Life in the 21st Century…

An outline of questions is provided for evaluating student transportation systems. Questions are listed under the following topics: board of education policy, legal compliance, routing, contract transportation, special transportation, finance, purchasing, personnel, safety, vehicles, garage, maintenance, insurance, and energy conservation. (MLF)

This speech provides concrete ways for school districts to save on energy costs, based on the general concept of flexibility in energy systems. These methods have been successfully implemented in the Salem (Oregon) school district. The first idea is to set up a weekly, rather than annual, bidding system to increase fuel price options. This…

Presented are results of a study attempting to design a reliable and valid instrument measuring the attitudes of teachers toward energy conservation. A 22-item scale is presented as a result of several administrations to preservice elementary teachers. Items were submitted to Likert Item Analysis and further validated by principle components…

This paper was presented during the time the author was president of the Council of Educational Facility Planners, International, (CEFP/I). The presentation begins with a summary of the state of the world's natural gas and petroleum supplies and states that since one-third of all energy consumed in the United States is to heat and cool buildings,…