What is my carbon footprint?
Teacher: Amanda Hernandez
Area: Social Studies
Topic: Sustainability - Conservation
Grade: 5th
Materials:
Graph paper
Computer lab
Pictures of: the Great Pacific Trash Vortex, animals covered in pollution, and factory exhaust
White board
Carbon Footprint Worksheet
Standards:
UW-Madison Teacher Standards:
STANDARD 8: EMPLOYS VARIED ASSESSMENT PROCESSES
Teachers understand and thoughtfully use formal and informal evaluation strategies to assess students’ achievements, strengths, challenges and learning styles for continuous development.
STANDARD 11: USES TECHNOLOGIES
Teachers appropriately incorporate new and proven technologies into instructional practice. They understand the major social, cultural, and economic issues surrounding their implementation.
MMSD Standards:
Economics: Describe the role of world trade in U.S. economic development.
Wisconsin DPI Social Studies Standards:
Standard D - Economics: Production, Distribution, Exchange, Consumption
Students in Wisconsin will learn about production, distribution, exchange, and consumption so that they can make informed economic decisions.
Objectives:
SWBAT compare their carbon footprint to carbon footprints from around the globe.
SWBAT create a T Chart and a class bar graph to show differences in consumption.
SWBAT explain why some regions have a higher carbon footprint.
SWBAT understand and come up with ways to reduce their carbon footprint by conserving in their house.
Lesson Opening:
To get this lesson started, show students pictures of the Great Pacific Trash Vortex, animals covered in pollution, and factory exhaust pollution. Ask students what they think of the pictures and facilitate a discussion about the cause and effects of pollution. After the discussion, ask students if they have ever heard of the term “carbon footprint” and what it means. After the discussion, tell students that a carbon footprint the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual.
Procedure:
Have students get on the computers that are cued up to the website http://www.meetthegreens.org/features/carbon-calculator.html. Tell students that we are going to look at our carbon footprints during our daily life and compare it to other students in the classroom. Tell students to click on “Transportation” which will take them through the categories of what you eat, home & school, what you use, and what you throw away.
Have students make a T Chart to record their findings. Ask them to record their name in the left column and their carbon footprint in the right column (tons of CO2 per year).
Have each student pick a state to compare their carbon foot print with. On the right hand side of the website is a tab where they can scroll down and find their state. Have students write their state’s carbon footprint on their T Chart.
Gather students back to the classroom and have them report their data to the class. Create a bar graph on the white board with the X-axis having a label of “States” and the Y-axis label of “Carbon Footprint (tons of CO2 per year). Have students come up to the board and record their findings.
Once all the data is plotted, ask students to get in groups of 4 and discuss why they think that some states have more carbon emissions than others. Ask guiding questions like: Do you think that factories and industrial jobs play a role in carbon emissions? Ask students what would happen if we shut down all factories that produced above a toxic level of carbon emissions. What would happen? How would the people that worked there be affected? Would this affect us? How would this affect people in other countries? Have students report back to the class with their findings.
Show students the “Total” tab on the meetthegreens website and show them how the U.S. compares to other countries in terms of ecological footprints. The U.S. has the highest consumption in the world. Ask students why they think that the U.S. has the largest consumption rate? Facilitate a discussion asking what we think we could all do to reduce our carbon footprint.
Lesson Closing:
Ask students to think about what they could do around their home to reduce their waste and consumption. Have students take home the “Carbon Footprint” worksheet. The worksheet asks students what they and their family could do to reduce their consumption of water, trees, land, and carbon.
Assessment:
Students will be formally assessed through the “Carbon Footprint” worksheet which will assess their understanding of how they can reduce their carbon footprint. Students will also be informally assessed through the discussions as to why some states have higher carbon emissions than others. Another informal assessment is the discussion about what students can do to reduce their carbon footprint.
Resources:
“The Greens – Zerofootprint KidsCalculator”. Retrieved on April 21, 2009 from http://www.meetthegreens.org/features/carbon-calculator.html
