Conflict and Co-operation
Teachers Notes Does everyone agree about how to solve the problem of climate change? There are many different idea and opinions, this module explores a few of them and asks which are the most effective. The aim of this module to is to present positive solutions to climate change that not only reduce carbon emissions but also have a positive influence on quality of life. This is approached from the individual to the big picture. Climate Change Learning Outcomes – by the end of this module students should be able to: • Understand a range of approaches to tackling climate change. • Recognise the benefits of big picture (systemic) and individual actions. • Analyse solutions for their effectiveness. Language Support In many of the activities you will find language support sheets (LS) referred to. These are there to help you and your students structure language learning and make some of the tasks more manageable.
1. Can I make a difference? One of the core discussions of the environmental movement is around 'action'. Should it be personal, collective, consumer and/or Citizen? A traditional climate change activity might be focussed on the individual and their choices. It would often revolve around an issue (energy, transport, food etc) and the personal response. The responses are often not attractive and have limited impact; this can be very depressing to students. Here is a change of emphasis. The reading suggests that perhaps the best way to effect environmental change is to change the system. In the reading the example is given of paper, suggesting that it is far better to spend our time persuading stores to stock ‘greener’ paper or changing government policy than trying to save paper or search out ‘green’ paper ourselves. After all, if the policy changes so that the only paper we could buy was sustainable the choice would be easy! The activity suggests that you start with groups discussions about the statement. This also works well as a class discussion and will work quicker. Ask students develop their own ideas first based on the question in the student sheets. Then move onto three discussion questions 2. Smart Business or Smart People? This activity looks at two approaches to tackling climate change. It asks students to think about what actions really are the most effective. This is important; we need people to be able to make the best choices for reducing climate change, even if they cannot implement their choices right now they could in the future. Remember the key here is which choices make the biggest difference, not what could the student do today. A key idea in this activity is that of carbon trading which is explained in the reading. This is a market based solution to climate change, an idea that might be new to many people. The idea is that if carbon is given a price then companies will start to pay the full price for emitting carbon or have to produce low carbon products. The EU has its own Emissions Trading Scheme already in place. The activity works using a role play. You can ask students to ‘perform’ for the whole class or simply role play themselves if you are short on time. 3. Solving Traffic Congestion Another activity looking at which solutions are really the most effective. It is important to ensure student do justify their decisions, you could encourage the class to critically reflect on other students ideas. For example, solution F, have you ever seen a successful example of a campaign to leave cars at home that has worked? Would it make you change? Would it be better if combined with solution B and D? Teachers Notes for Debrief/Discussion Ask students which they thought were the best solutions and why, remember that we are asking which are the best solutions not which solutions can they do themselves. The notes below will help you.
In general terms - and adult language - the sorts of policies which would make most difference are those which involve prices (taxing road use or the effect of the rising price of oil in the market place) traffic regulation (bans/parking controls if enforced) or new technologies (automatic tolls) - or some combination of all three. Those least likely to affect choices involve individual decisions on a moral basis, with no incentives, or - slightly better - introducing new choices into the market (cycle paths, modern public transport routes/vehicles). Young people are likely to invest more in suggestions of changed habits, rather than the idea of pricing (except perhaps ‘making public transport cheaper’) An excellent example of a city which has made progress on a truly integrated transport policy is described in below. The city is Curitiba in Brazil Extension Activity An optional extension, but students might like to prepare presentations using PowerPoint or flipcharts. 4. Moving Images This activity questions our relationship with the natural environment. Climate change impacts are sometimes portrayed as ‘nature’s revenge’ or as the planet impacting on us, as if humans are separate from the Earth. Perhaps a major problem in thinking is that some people do not recognise that humans are a sub-system of the Earth and that we depend totally on the functioning on the Earths systems for our survival. 5. Reflecting on Climate Change This final activity is to enable you and your students to reflect on what you have learnt. There are two ways you could do this. Option 1 Ask student to work in pairs and fill out the table below. Now ask students to share their ideas in a group. The unanswered questions that students might have could be the beginnings of a new research project for students to undertake. Connections
Reflections
Questions
What connections can you make among what you’ve learned, your lifestyle, your family, school, community, or other regions?
Reflect on your learning, understandings, and discoveries. "Write about one thing you did not know before starting this module."
What questions do you still have, or what new questions have been raised?
Option 2 Use the same methodology as above. This activity could be used at the very start of the module to start students thinking, and then reviewed at the end to see if students want to change their ideas and/or add new ones. The table below allows students to reflect on actions that need to be taken at three different levels – we’ve kept it simple in this example but you could add other spheres of influence such as families, businesses and NGOs. The final column is important. It is asking, if an action is to be successful what are the key factors that influence success?
Issue – brainstorm climate change issues here
What can I do?
What can the school do?
What can the government do?
What are the success factors?
Vocabulary Revision Vocabulary activity – What am I? Print off the sheet of vocabulary and cut out the words so that they are all on individual pieces of paper. Pick up one of the pieces of paper and stick it on your forehead so that the word is facing the class. Walk around the room so that the students can see what the word is. You tell them that they can only say yes or no to your questions and that you have 20 questions to guess what the word is. If you get it right, you get the point. If you get it wrong, they get the point. Prepare a transparency of the sheet so that students can be looking at the other words during the activity. Using a pointer indicate a word on the sheet and ask a question about it, ‘Is it a word which means a philosophy, a principle? It’s only got two syllables and begins with E?’ Do this for a few minutes until you have been through most of the words on the sheet. Don’t worry if you don’t guess the words!
Give a copy of the words to the students in small groups of 4 – 6 and let them carry out the activity themselves while the teacher facilitates.
Emissions
To tackle
Lobbying
Chlorine-free
Sustainable
Carbon trading
Cap
Electrical appliances
Reclaimed
Congestion
Tolls
Idling
Household waste
Slum settlements
Landfill
NGOs
Sphere of influence
Conflict
Carbon
Analyse
Effectiveness
Citizen
Core
Consume
Impact
Brand
Green
Humane
Willpower
Solely
Ethic
Bonds
Atomize
Righteous
Smart