In this video, a team in Haiti transforms human waste into nutrient-rich agricultural fertilizer.
Students will learn about this innovative method that is more cost-effective and also better for the planet than synthetic, fossil fuel-dependent fertilizers.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This short video is lighthearted with an engaging narrator and provides footage of this ecological sanitation team at work.
This resource provides an inspiring look at one way that a country has set up a healthy sanitation system while also supporting its own economy.
Additional Prerequisites
The video has scenes of Haitian children living in poverty. It may be best to review the video and consider how to approach this with students. Asking your students "What might it be like to live without a toilet?" and "How might that feel?" can be good discussion questions.
There is an ad at the end of the video.
Differentiation
Before watching the video, you can use a KWL chart to have students brainstorm what they already know about both Haiti and fertilizers and then generate questions they have about turning human waste into fertilizer.
Pair students up to conduct more research on ecological farming practices, using resources such as this subtitled video about the benefits of regenerative farming practices or this resource about ecological farming practices in Spain.
Scientist Notes
This is a ~3 minute video about turning human poop into soil. The process of ecological sanitation is discussed along with a real-world example in Haiti. This resource would be a great addition to a classroom discussion on sustainability.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
MS-ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
HS-LS2-7 Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 4: Taking Informed Action
D4.6.6-8 Draw on multiple disciplinary lenses to analyze how a specific problem can manifest itself at local, regional, and global levels over time, identifying its characteristics and causes, and the challenges and opportunities faced by those trying to address the problem.
