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Comparing
Our Ecological Footprints
Summary: This activity will help you determine your
own ecological footprint and compare it to others in your class
and the world.
Introduction:
Have you ever thought how
your life style impacts the world around you? Each of us uses
up the world's resources and produces waste on a daily basis.
It all adds up. In this activity you will calculate your own
ecological footprint [the land (and water) area that would
be required to support you] and compare it to others. Hopefully,
this will provide you an oppotunity to see how you can become
more aware in your use of resources.
Materials:
Classroom Management:
Students should work individually
to log their resource use. Depending on the number of available
computers, students may work in groups to calculate their individual
ecological footprint, sharing their results within their groups.
Each student's footprint will take less than five minutes to
calculate the results. The class should record an average value
on the Linking Up Villages (LUV) Neighborhood.
Activity Steps:
1. Logging your use of resources
It is amazing the number of resources
we use in a day. These are just some of the resources we use
(or abuse):
- water
(e.g., taking a bath, using the toilet, taking a drink from a
water fountain, etc.),
- electricity (e.g., turning on a light, using an electric
alarm clock, heating with electric blanket or furnace, etc.),
- fossil fuels (e.g., taking a bus or car or train or
plane, cooking with a gas stove or oven, heating with gas or
oil furnace, etc.),
- animals
(e.g., eating meat, using any animal products like oils and fats,
wearing leather, etc.),
- plants
(e.g., eating ice cream or salads, writing a letter, cutting
your grass, etc.)
- air (e.g.,
filling your lungs, using your car, destroying the rain forests,
etc.)
Work with your group to identify
those resources you impact in a day.
Log your use (or abuse) of resources
for one day. It would be interesting if you recorded your use
of resources both on the weekend and a school day. Never take
anything for granted. For every action you take or comfort that
you enjoy, consider the resource(s) that you impact. How characteristic
is your log of your weekly, monthly, or yearly use? Think about
what you could have done to decrease your use of resources.
2. Ecological Footprint Calculator
Now that you have had time to evaluate
your personal energy needs, go to:
the Ecological
Footprint Calculator and download it. Follow the instructions
on the web and find your calculated ecological footprint results
(in hectares) with others in the class. A hectare is 10,000 square
meters or 2.47 acres. How many Earth's would be needed to sustain
your life style? Print out your results.
3. Compare your ecological footprint
Post your results in the
Footprint Database in the LUV neighborhood COMMONS. Compare your calculated ecological footprint
results (in hectares) with others in the class. Calculate an
average value for the class.
How does your footprint compare
to those submitted by students of other countries?
Extensions:
Have your parents or other family
members calculate their ecological footprint. How does your footprint
compare to theirs?
Selected
References:
http://www.lead.org/leadnet/ecofootprint/
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