REDUCING OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

Essential Questions:

  • What actions contribute to the size of someone’s carbon footprint?

  • How does carbon pollution impact human and environmental health?

  • How is global climate change impacted by the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide?


Lesson Objectives:

At the end of the workshop, students will be able to:

  • Define carbon and carbon dioxide

  • Explain how trees are carbon sinks

  • Understand the term carbon footprint

  • Identify ways in which they can reduce their carbon footprint

Explore our resources

Click on the images to access each resource (available as a PDF or webpage)

Take-Home Guide

Information for parents & legal guardians (available in English and Spanish).

Información para padres de familia y tutores legales (disponible en Inglés y Español).

Standards Alignments

Explore the ways our program aligns with CCSS + NGSS standards.

Vocabulary

Quiz your students on vocabulary used during our lesson!

 

Calculate Your Carbon Footprint

In this activity, students will calculate how many pounds of CO2 emissions they create every day!

Social Emotional Learning Activity

Develop SMART goals to reduce your carbon footprint!

Write About It!

Write a persuasive letter to a local politician about reducing our carbon footprint!

 
 

Infographic

Learn about carbon sinks!

Video Resources

Explore relevant video resources.

Reading Resources

Explore relevant reading resources.

 

Challenge Pledge Print Out

Print out the pledge template for students to fill out and display!

Challenge Guide

Completing this challenge will help your school become a CiS Certified Sustainable School!

Lesson Reflection

Print and send home this reflection activity to show families what their student learned.

 

Background Information

Carbon Footprint

Carbon footprint refers to the amount of carbon emitted by an individual or group through fossil fuel consuming actions. These activities can be anything from driving your car to using electricity that was produced in a power plant. The pollution in our atmosphere, created from such activities, are referred to as greenhouse gases (GHGs).

Greenhouse Gases

Greenhouse gases include more than just carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, ozone and nitrous oxide are all considered GHGs as well. In 2015, the US alone produced 6.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. This is over double the carbon dioxide emissions produced by the US in 1960. In fact, the US is the second largest producer of carbon dioxide in the world. These greenhouse gases trap sunlight in our atmosphere as heat. The more GHGs in our atmosphere, the more heat is trapped, this is known as the greenhouse effect. GHGs are needed to keep our planet habitable, but in excess they cause climate change. Over the last 150 years, excess GHGs have been produced through human activities.The main source of greenhouse gas emissions in the US is from burning fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are used for transportation, heat, and electricity. Driving electric cars and using renewable energy sources, like solar panels and wind turbines, can significantly lessen our impact on the environment as they become larger parts of the energy sector.

How to Help

As a society, our goal should be to lower carbon emissions as much as possible. Educating yourself about activities that create carbon pollution is the first step to reducing your carbon footprint. Then, take action and reduce the amount and duration of carbon dioxide producing activities in your life. This can be accomplished in a number of ways like carpooling, biking, watching less TV, air drying clothing, buying local food, turning off lights and more!