| Principle | Connection to Sustainability | Connection to CT |
| 1. Inspire students to develop emotional connections and empathy toward the planet while understanding their place within broader ecosystems. Encourage them to value all parts of the natural world, recognizing diverse experiences and perspectives. | Foster emotional connections and empathy for the planet, helping students see themselves as part of interconnected ecosystems. Encourage valuing diverse experiences within the natural world, promoting inclusivity and holistic thinking. | Decomposition: Break down ecosystems into interconnected components (humans, animals, plants, structures) to understand their relationships and impact. Pattern Recognition: Explore natural patterns (e.g., fractals, cycles) to foster appreciation and emotional resonance with nature. Understanding that we are a small part of a much bigger system (both in time and in space). Systems Thinking: Zooming out to see ecosystems as interdependent systems, connecting personal actions to global impacts. Simulation and Modeling: Utilize computational tools to simulate environmental changes, reinforcing causal relationships and computational problem-solving. Understanding Conditions and Constraints: Connects to design thinking. Developing empathy requires us to interrogate what the conditions and constraints are in any given system (because they may not be the same conditions and constraints that we experience in our own lives or system). Investigate varying conditions across systems to build empathy and design solutions rooted in diverse experiences. |
| 2. Encourage students to see humans as integral parts of ecosystems | Emphasize the interconnectedness of humans and nature, helping students see themselves as part of ecosystems rather than separate from them. | Decomposition: Break down ecosystems to show the roles humans play in maintaining or disrupting balance. Pattern Recognition: Identify how human behaviors and natural cycles influence one another. Systems Thinking: Highlight feedback loops between human actions and environmental responses. Simulation and Modeling: Use tools to visualize human impacts, fostering an understanding of coexistence and stewardship. |
| 3. Emphasize holistic causal relationships through computational thinking | Enable students to understand the complexity of environmental phenomena by exploring interconnected causal relationships rather than linear cause-and-effect models, emphasizing system-level interactions | Systems Thinking: Encourage holistic analysis of environmental systems, revealing interdependencies among multiple factors and events. Decomposition: Break down environmental issues into smaller components to analyze their roles and interactions within larger systems. Simulation and Abstraction: Use computational models to simulate dynamic systems, abstracting key variables and visualizing complex causal networks to identify patterns and relationships. |
| 4 Investigating Phenomena and Relationships Across Multiple Scales through Computational Thinking | Support students in understanding the dynamics of time, space, and energy at varying scales. This fosters awareness of how individual decisions influence global ecosystems and encourages exploration of per-capita consumption. | Decomposition: Analyzing and break down complex global issues at the various levels (local vs. state vs. global) within a given system allows students to understand each level’s role and impact to that ecosystem. Pattern Recognition: Identifying patterns and connections across multiple scales and systems allows for insights about underlying relationships among the levels. Abstraction and Systems Thinking: Examining multiple scales and systems through the creation of models allows students to identify the most relevant information needed to solve a problem or abstract important data needed to convey an idea. Algorithmic Thinking: Understanding scaled impacts requires creating and using algorithms that can operate effectively across those scales. Algorithmic design can be used to create models that help explain the difference between an individual's effect on ecosystems versus a collective group’s overall impact on global ecosystems. Data Analysis: Exploring phenomena across multiple scales can require the collection and analysis of large data sets, which can provide meaningful insights. |
| 5 Prioritizing Prevention through Computational Thinking | Emphasize sustainability literacy by addressing the root causes of environmental issues to avoid them, fostering holistic solutions that integrate interconnected systems. | Decomposition: Breaking down complex environmental issues to identify root causes allows learners to identify specific, smaller, interrelated factors within the larger system that might be amenable to prevention. Pattern Recognition: Identifying patterns and connections that emphasize prevention efforts helps learners adopt a holistic thinking approach, starting at the root cause, while simultaneously considering the interconnection of the systems. Abstraction: Focusing on prevention requires breaking down complex issues into fundamental components to understand how they contribute to the issues. Abstraction allows us to develop solutions that can be generalized and applied to different, but related environmental issues. Algorithm Design: Identifying and sequencing actions that contribute to the prevention of negative impacts on Earth’s systems requires algorithmic thinking. Debugging: Understanding why current solutions aren’t working; Changing current habits and practices. Systems Thinking: Understanding how solutions might function across complex, and interrelated systems. Algorithmic Thinking: Creating policies for prevention Modeling & Simulation: Simulating solutions to see what their impacts would be |