Introduction
Global Warming: No Big Deal....Or is it?!
Welcome to your exciting adventure! Today you are going to decide for yourself if you think global warming is an issue, and if there is anything you can do about it! Before we hop into it, you need to learn the facts! On your journey, you are going to read and watch a video about global warming and carbon footprints on your own. Let's get started! Please begin by going to the following websites and reading/watching the video. Then, please answer the questions below. Make sure you write thoughtful responses, you will need them when you start to work with your group later in the project.
Reading: http://www.kidzworld.com/article/17859-the-kids-guide-to-global-warming
Video: [video:http://youtu.be/aE_4VLWUBu8]
Please think and thoughtfully answer the following questions:
1. Write a definition for global warming in your own words.
2. Please describe what a carbon footprint is.
3. Why would it be important to know what your carbon footprint is?
4. Do you think you have a large or small carbon footprint? Why or why not?
Task
Calculate Your Carbon Footprint!
The first step to knowing whether or not you actually make an individual impact on the environment is to find out your carbon footprint! Please go to the following website and calculate your INDIVIDUAL carbon foot print by clicking on "calculate your carbon footprint" and answer the following questions.
http://ecoguru.panda.org/#/home
1. Fill in the blank: I am using the natural resources and energy of ________ planets.
2. Do you think this is good or bad and why?
3. If everyone used this much energy and natural resources, would it be ok or not...why?
After answering those questions, please take your answers and meet with your assigned group members. In your group, compare you carbon footprint results and find the group average. Remember you calculate an average by adding up all the results and dividing it by the number of results there are. Please record the average.
Process
So....Can We Make A Difference?
From the research you have conducted, it is easy to see individuals affect the environment for better or for worse. Just think if only one person on a planet, filled with billions of people, have that much of an impact on the Earth, it's climate, and the other living things on it, how bad it is when we add it all up! That being said, can we really make a difference?
YES WE CAN!
It is up to you, and your generation, to try and get the word out and challenge your peers to get it together and start changing the way we live! With your group members, please research ways that you think ALL 7th graders could make their carbon footprint smaller, and create a presentation to get the word out! The presentation can be a video, poem, song, pamphlet, poster, etc. but it must be persuasive and use the research you found! Also, make sure you show just how much of an impact global warming is making on our planet! Below is a list of websites to help you out!
http://www.thenation.com/article/ten-things-you-can-do-shrink-your-carb…
http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/
http://www.fplsafetyworld.com/?ver=kkblue&utilid=fplforkids&id=16176
http://ecoguru.panda.org/#/lifestyle/help
Conclusion
Concluding Questions
In your group, please discuss and come up with one reasonable answer for each question. Take a few minutes to jot down your answers individually first, share them out, and then work together for one common answer. Provide examples and evidence from what you learned during your project.
1. After this project, do you think that indviduals can make a difference in the world?
2. Do we each have a responsibility to respect the environment upon which we depend?
3. What are some of the outcomes if no indviduals make any changes? What could happen to our world? What about to you and I?
4. After working with your team mates, what things did you learn about yourselves and how to work in a team? What types of virtues (honesty, patience, integrity) do you need to be successful?
5. Was it important that everyone listened to one another in the group and that everyone did their part?
6. Please evaluate your team work on a scale of 1-5, 1 being the worst and 5 being the best. Justify your response with specific examples.
7. Is it important in order for global warming to not ruin our Earth that we all listen to one another, respect each other's point of view, and work together to make a change? Why or why not?
Credits
ReferencesCarbon Footprint [Video]. (2010). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE_4VLWUBu8The Kids Guide To Global Warming. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.kidzworld.com/article/17859-the-kids-guide-to-global-warming… Korner - Shrinking Footprints. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.fplsafetyworld.com/?ver=kkblue&utilid=fplforkids&id=16176Shr…. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/Ten Things You Can Do to Shrink Your Carbon Footprint. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.thenation.com/article/ten-things-you-can-do-shrink-your-carb… EcoGuru. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://ecoguru.panda.org/#/homeWWF EcoGuru. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://ecoguru.panda.org/#/lifestyle/help