Teaching Materials for Key Stage 3 (age 11-14)

Transcription

1 Teaching Materials for Key Stage 3 (age 11-14) These teaching materials are designed to support the use of the Carbon Detectives website. They provide a foundation for understanding how energy use, travel and food can impact on climate change and suggest ways for reducing such impact by reducing the school s carbon footprint. They are mainly targeted at young people but as with all curriculum materials teachers will have to determine how best to use the resources in relation to the age and ability of their students. Contents SECTION 1 SECTION 2 SECTION 3 SECTION 4 SECTION 5 SECTION 6 Weather & Climate Climate Change Energy & Energy Conservation Ways out of the Climate Crisis Travel Food & Nutrition Intelligent Energy Europe Carbon Detectives is supported by the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme and is active across Europe. The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Communities. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

2 Story - A version in play format has been provided at the end of this section for you to use in role playing activities. Peter storms into class bursting with excitement. Tomorrow is going to be the perfect evening for our barbecue! The weather report says it s going to be warm, with no chance of rain or thunderstorms. Plus, there s no school the day after tomorrow, so everyone can sleep over at our house! Viktoria isn t nearly as excited. Well good morning to you, too. Can t you see that I m not even awake yet? Peter continues, OK, but wake up fast. We have a lot to do! What do you girls prefer, letting everyone know that the party is on or buying the food and charcoal? After a bit of discussion, they agree that Peter will do the shopping right after school, while Viktoria and Feli will take care of inviting their friends. But don t forget that it s supposed to be a climate-friendly barbecue, at least as much as possible. Peter barely acknowledges Viktoria s reminder, as he is out the door almost as the bell rings. Peter has a long grocery list with him and Tom has joined him to help. At the supermarket, Peter begins thinking out loud. I wonder if we can manage that a climate-friendly barbecue? That means only a little bit of meat, and only if it s from the local area and organically raised. I suppose the vegetables ought to be regional, too. Maybe we ought to stop by the organic market after we finish here? Tom s thoughts are elsewhere. Hey, look! A mango from Brazil. I bet Feli will love it if the fruit salad has a taste of home in it! Nice thought, Tom. But knowing Feli, I say she s going to have a fit instead. Think of how much CO 2 is emitted when mangos are shipped all the way from Brazil to the UK! Tom realises that Peter is right. Yeah, I guess so. Anyway, I know that Feli is pretty crazy about the fruit that grows here, too. And she likes being exposed to new things during her exchange stay. That leads Tom to a new idea. You know what? The cherries in my grandma s garden are ripe. They would be great for dessert and we ll save some money, too. We can even go get them on our bikes! That way we will produce almost no CO 2! Every product we consume or use has an impact on the environment and climate: For example: Through its manufacture, packaging, transport, consumption and/or disposal (as waste). Our purchasing decisions thus also determine to what extent the environment will be burdened. Food and grocery purchases are an excellent example, since the choice of what we eat affects not only the environment but also our bodies and health. They say one should eat healthy, locally produced organic and fairly traded food products, because What you eat IS important!

3 Activity: Breakfast Miles Prepare a breakfast together in class. First agree to what food products (items) you wish to include and who is responsible for contributing each. On the day of the breakfast, make sure to save the packaging for all items consumed, as you will need it for the exercise! Make a list showing each item in the left-hand column and indicate the country of origin to the right. Next, locate the countries of origin on a world map and estimate how far each product travelled to reach you. (If you can, copy a world map in advance and then draw in the transport routes using a coloured pencil you will likely be amazed by the colourful criss-cross pattern spanning across your map when finished!). Enter the miles travelled for each product in a separate column. Once you have entered the information for all items, calculate the total miles your breakfast travelled to reach you. Discuss what food items (not included in the breakfast) might be available from closer to home and what seasonal substitutes could perhaps be made (e.g., strawberries only in June, apples only in autumn, or, if not grown locally, think of other options). For more information on seasonal food look at If you have the time, plan a second class breakfast and try to reduce the total miles travelled to a minimum. Perhaps you can manage a breakfast consisting of only local products? Discuss which products from afar you d rather not do without and which ones are easy to give up. With a bit of patience, students who bring their own snack might even manage to switch to a snack that requires no transport miles, and thus results in zero added CO 2 emissions! Activity: Window Sill Herb Garden You will need: A flower box or large flower pot, soil, herb plants (or seeds). Plant the herbs you have chosen in your container and place it on the classroom window sill/ ledge. If you take good care of your plants (water and trim them regularly) then you should be able to enjoy delicious herbs e.g. with your snack or in a tea for the entire school year! Suitable Herbs: Activity: Interview Your Grandparents and, if possible, Great Grandparents With a notebook and pen in hand for notes (and also a voice recorder if you have one or can borrow one) ask your grandparents and great grandparents if they remember where the foods they ate during childhood came from. It s best to think about and write down your questions in advance. Sample questions might be: What did you normally eat as a child (breakfast, lunch, dinner)? Do you remember where the food products typically came from? What types of groceries/foods were available in stores? What kinds of fruit and vegetables did you eat in winter and where did you get them (also, where did they come from)? Ask your grandparents for winter vegetable recipes and how fruit and vegetables were preserved in former times (bring a recipe to class if possible). Share the interview answers amongst each other in class and exchange recipes. Decide on one or two recipes that you can attempt together. Tip: If you have the time, optionally set up a display/exhibit based on the interviews and what you learned. For example, offer a taste of your homemade foods as part of the exhibit. An interactive presentation for other classes would also be a nice idea. For the latter, you might wish to invite a grandparent or great grandparent to talk about how things were in former times. There are many other possibilities, too! Note: You could also look at the types of food that people ate in Britain during the Second World War where most of the food was produced from the land. The climate prefers a vegetarian diet! A vegetarian diet helps protect the climate. According to the National Farmers Union in Great Britain, worldwide meat production accounts for roughly 18 percent of the Earth s greenhouse gas emissions. The above figure takes into account the entire meat production cycle including the clearing of forests for grazing land, production and transport of fertilisers, and burning of fossil fuels by Melissa (lemon balm), mint or sage for teas.chives, parsley, rosemary, oregano and thyme can be chopped and sprinkled on bread or added to a salad. You can also mix them into curd cheese or yoghurt. Perhaps you will be able to enjoy an herb-snack together in the classroom once a week?

4 agricultural vehicles. Methane, a greenhouse gas, is particularly damaging to the climate. Cows, for example, release large quantities of it into the atmosphere during digestion. Activity: CO 2 - Neutral Recipes Local, seasonal, vegetarian and organic these are the ingredients for climate-friendly meals! Gather or devise CO 2 - neutral recipes and make them into a cookbook, or use them to make your own cooking video! Activity: Clean Pounds The following method calculating Clean Pounds can be used to fairly easily check the sustainability of your purchases. For each purchase you make, simply ask: Is the product FAIR, ECO and NEAR? For each yes, 1/3 of the purchase price can be considered clean. Here are two examples: Sample Calculation 1 Pineapple (FairTrade), price = 3.00 Is this pineapple FAIR? Yes, because it is a FairTrade product 1.00 Is this pineapple ECO? No, because it is not certified organic 0 Is this pineapple from NEAR? No, because it comes from Central America 0 Of the total purchase price, 1/3 (or 1.00) is CLEAN. Definitions FAIR ECO NEAR Dignified living and working conditions for all Fairtrade product From a country with good social standards Soil conservation used Efficient use of raw materials, few pollutants, little waste, natural diversity Certified organic farming Use of renewable raw materials Non-renewable raw materials used sparingly Low energy consumption, few greenhouse gasses, short transport routes Not transported by plane Not from a heated glasshouse Use of renewable energy Sample Calculation 2 Certified organic apples grown locally, loose; price = 2.70/kg Are these apples FAIR? Yes, they come from a local farmer with good social standards 0.90 Are these apples ECO? Yes, they are certified organic 0.90 Are these apples from NEAR? Yes, they are local 0.90 Of the total purchase price, 3/3 (or all 2.70) are CLEAN.

5 Role play: Peter storms into class bursting with excitement. Tomorrow is going to be the perfect evening for our barbecue! The weather report says it s going to be warm, with no chance of rain or thunderstorms. Plus, there s no school the day after tomorrow, so everyone can sleep over at our house! Viktoria isn t nearly as excited. Viktoria: Well good morning to you, too. Can t you see that I m not even awake yet? Peter continues. OK, but wake up fast. We have a lot to do! What do you girls prefer, letting everyone know that the party is on or buying the food and charcoal? After a bit of discussion, they agree that Peter will do the shopping right after school, while Viktoria and Feli will take care of inviting their friends. Viktoria: But don t forget that it s supposed to be a climate-friendly barbecue, at least as much as possible. Peter barely acknowledges Viktoria s reminder, as he is out the door almost as the bell rings. Peter has a long grocery list with him and Tom has joined him to help. At the supermarket, Peter begins thinking out loud. I wonder if we can manage that a climate-friendly barbecue? That means only a little bit of meat, and only if it s from the local area and organically raised. I suppose the vegetables ought to be regional, too. Maybe we ought to stop by the organic market after we finish here? Tom s thoughts are elsewhere. Tom: Hey, look! A mango from Brazil. I bet Feli will love it if the fruit salad has a taste of home in it! Nice thought, Tom. But knowing Feli, I say she s going to have a fit instead. Think of how much CO2 is emitted when mangos are shipped all the way from Brazil to the UK!

6 Tom realises that Peter is right. Tom: Yeah, I guess so. Anyway, I know that Feli is pretty crazy about the fruit that grows here, too. And she likes being exposed to new things during her exchange stay. That leads Tom to a new idea. Tom: You know what? The cherries in my grandma s garden are ripe. They would be great for dessert and we ll save some money, too. We can even go get them on our bikes! That way we will produce almost no CO 2!