ISC 1143 -- FIPSE Skills Application -- Communications Skills
 

Communication skills: this skill is integrated in many areas of the course including the community activity project, take-home term explanation quizzes, guest speakers, summarizing chapter notes, and the cornucopian vs environmentalist debate at the end of Chapter 5 of your webpage notes.

Cornucopians are individuals who believe in human ingenuity (technology) to overcome all artificial and natural problems by subduing the environment at all cost. They are the eternal optimist who believe that there are infinite quantities of resources at human disposal including the human mind.

Environmentalists are just the opposites. They are individuals who believe that humans are stewards of nature, and part of the natural environment. Therefore they should live in harmony with the environment.

Speaking Skills: The Cornucopian vs Environmentalist Debate

Environmentalist (the pessimist)
Cornucopian (the optimist)
In recent years, famine has resulted from population outstripping food supplies Famines are only local, not global. More equitable distribution of food will offset famine.
The number of people suffering from hunger and malnutrition is increasing. People are healthier and better fed today than in the past.
World grain food production reached its peak in the mid-1980s, and it will continue to decrease in the future. The recent decline in global food production is temporary; food production will begin to increase soon.
Increased food production has poisoned the food and the environment from heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers. New types of crops, pesticides, and fertilizers will continue to increase food production and reduce environmental damage.
All technological gains degrade the environment and depletes natural resources, and therefore offsets any potential advantages. New technology will maintain the gains and reduce the damage to the environment.
Soil degradation through overgrazing and overcultivation has been accelerated by modern faming methods. Soil degradation has been slowed down by modern farming methods.
Population is limited by the earth's capacity for increase food production through the addition of new land areas for cultivation, but the growth of urban areas are decreasing the availability of proven agricultural lands. Population is only limited by the rate at which solar energy can be captured and used; new technology will assure this.
Overpopulation causes poverty, and the poor cannot afford to buy food even if it is available. Poverty causes over population: if poverty is resolved, population will decline.