Earth Court

Purpose: The biggest issues and challenges of our time go on trial as students serve as prosecution, defense, and jury, and then develop a solutionsbased sentencing. Grades: 9 and up Time: Varies Materials: Procedure: 1. Choose an Issue: Assist students in deciding who or what will be put on trial in Earth Court (see below). These topics will be based on current events, particular areas of study in the school curriculum, an issue or object of curiosity, current human conflict or scientific/medical discovery, etc. 2. Introduce the concepts: Provide students with a brief review of judicial processes specific to their country, using appropriate materials. 3. Assign Roles: Assist students in establishing positions in the trial, which may or may not follow traditional victim/perpetrator roles. For example, proponents of the Endangered Species Act might be prone to put the fossil fuel industry on trial for its threat to the Polar Bears, whereas supporters of the oil/gas/coal industries would establish the Endangered Species Act or the Polar Bear as the defendant. Note: Trial roles may be written down and randomly chosen by participants in the trial or participants may openly select the roles they wish to play. Students choosing roles as members of the prosecution, defense, attorneys, witnesses, experts, etc., will independently research the composition, history, inherent purpose, relationship within the community on trial, and social, environmental, health, ethical, etc., impact of its/his/her own existence such that he/she/it can pose and answer questions factually and honestly during the trial. Students choosing roles as members of the jury will represent a diverse community of individuals, reflecting differences in race, species, skill/trade, religious and political affiliation, age, profession, gender, educational and economic background, etc., and will accordingly research their chosen individuals identity -- particularly that individuals interest in/knowledge regarding the issue(s) and entities on trial. During the trial, each jury member will assume the role chosen/assigned and judge the proceedings as if they were that individual.

access to research materials and a library; Internet access

Subject Areas: Health, Language Arts, Science and Social Studies/History National Standards: Forthcoming

Institute for Humane Education

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Earth Court 2 One student will serve as the media representative, covering the trial proceedings. S/he may choose to publish reports in a school bulletin, central message board, electronic report, documentary/film recording, etc., reporting to the school community as a representative of the public at large. The teacher will act as the Earth Court judge, with the purpose of facilitating research methods, the trial proceedings, and allowing the jury to decide the verdict. Once all participants are comfortable with their level of knowledge about their chosen roles, the trial may begin. The media representative will document the trial proceedings. 4. Hold the trial: After closing arguments, the jury will retreat to decide their verdict and also to research alternative sentencing possibilities that are solution-based and that represent the interests of all parties involved in the conflict -- a mediation of sorts. The final sentencing should provide the opportunity for the class to develop a real life course of action that will enable them -- collectively or individually -- to positively impact the Earth conflict in question. 5. Provide examples of solution-based approaches in which your students might engage: Using the Polar Bear as an example: The class might decide to begin a letter writing campaign to legislators in support of protecting endangered species and to suggest alternative industry and employment opportunities for fossil fuel industry proponents; to create renewable energy-run products that could be sold to raise funds for the protection of Polar Bear habitat; or to design conservation, and sustainable energy systems for their school and district, etc. The media representative may choose to report on this concluding effort, as well to inform and educate the broader community.

Suggested Issues to Put on Trial: Following are lists of trial suggestions, which, as previously mentioned, may be tried in non-traditional roles as victim or perpetrator. Also, some issues or aspects of issues fit equally well on either side of the debate. Participants should be open to seeing the arguments from different perspectives: Defense: Tobacco; Asbestos; DDT; Chlorofluorocarbons; Chocolate; Automobiles; Hamburgers; Emerald Ash Borer; Non-Indigenous Species; Genocide; Monocultures; Water, Soil, or Air Pollution; Alar; Avian Influenza or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy; Human Ignorance, Apathy, or Indifference; Animal Research; Factory Farming; Human
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Activity by: Heather Schooler IHE M.Ed. graduate

Earth Court 3 Overpopulation; Malaria; Tuberculosis; rBGH; False and/or Deceptive Information; Economy; Media; Marketing; Food Disparagement Act; Legislation; Consumerism/Over-Consumption; Specialization; Globalization; Pesticides, Herbicides, Insecticides, and/or Chemical Fertilizers; Genetically Modified Organisms; Intimidation. Prosecution: Indigenous Species; Unemployment; Child Soldiers; Migrant Farm Workers; Fossil Fuels; Organic Farming Methods; Underground Aquifers; Immune Compromised Humans, the Aged, Children; Poverty; Hunger; Deforestation; Job Creation/Job Training; Global Warming; Truth; Soil Depletion/Preservation; Education and Awareness; Economy; Cultural Preservation; Endangered Species; Animal Welfare; Food Supply and Distribution; Human Health; Legislation; Alternative Energy Sources; Family Planning; Vegetarianism/Veganism. Alternative: Early human tribal systems of community and cooperative social behavior lacked a need for a judicial system. Have students research these early practices of communal living and compare their efficacy to their countrys judicial processes, corporate power and influence within the government, etc. How would the class resolve a modern conflict using these human tribal systems?

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