Live Another Day Student Activity Sheets
1. Future Choices. Task 1 You have been given a cartoon showing two alternative futures. Discuss the following questions in pairs: 1. What does the cartoon predict the future might be like? How different is it from today? 2. Which of the two scenarios do you prefer? Why? 3. Which future do you think is more likely? Why? In pairs prepare a short description of the cartoon using hints from LS1 to help.
Task 2 The cartoon presents two alternative versions of the future. Think about what personal choices are important to you and what kind of lifestyle you would like in the future. The cartoon reflects on the themes below. Economy Consumerism Diversity Peace and security Democracy Health care Wisdom and knowledge Write a sentence about each theme stating how you would like the future to be. For economy, you might write something like ‘the economy will provide for everybody in society to live a comfortable life’. Working in a group, your teacher will allocate you one theme to explore in more detail. 1. Take a sheet of paper and write your theme at the top
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Now each member of your group should write one sentence about how you would like the future to be for the topic your group has chosen. Compare your notes within the group. Are there any clear similarities or differences within the group? Write them down. You have 3 minutes to do this. Now pass your sheet to the group on your right/left. Read the new theme at the top of the sheet. Discuss it within your group and find any similarities and differences as before. Write these down on the sheet. You have 3 minutes to do this. Pass the sheet………etc. Continue doing this until all of the sheets have been around all of the groups in the class. Look at the notes on the sheet with your theme. In groups prepare a short, not more than 2-3 minutes, oral presentation on the findings you have for your theme to the class. Use the frame below. Presenting themes on the future
Our theme for the future is
Most people (numbers) in our class think
Some people (numbers) think
One/two person/people suggested
LS 1
Talking about the ‘future’ cartoon
[Talk about the cartoon in pairs and make notes on your ideas using the frame below] Pictures The cartoon shows I/we can see The cartoon represents Themes The cartoon deals with a number of themes There are a number of important themes in the cartoon Some of these are: Economy Consumerism Diversity Peace and security Democracy Health care Wisdom and knowledge Contrasts The cartoon makes a contrast between … and … On the one hand, … on the other… Our prediction I/We think that the future will be like the … image/picture because … … is likely to be more like the … image/picture because …
2. Low Carbon Living. TASK 1 You have been presented with a series of everyday activities, including a few you might not do now but will in a few years. Read through the activities and rank them in order of preference. Do this as an individual first, then in pairs and finally in groups of four. Report your choices to the class. Find out which activities you as a class find the most and least attractive.
Riding a bike.
Driving or taking a lift in a car.
Listening to music
Going on holiday.
Using a computer / playing computer games.
Add your own idea here
Shopping for new clothes.
Going to the cinema.
Eating breakfast.
Look at the activities again…which activities have the biggest impact on climate change? Many of us understand that all our actions contribute to climate change, but is it realistic to ask people to ‘give up’ the things they enjoy? Discuss this in pairs. Now work with the pair in front/behind you. Tell them what the two of you think. Use the phrases below to help you with feedback.
Our group / we think / thinks
the most / least important activity is
Everybody Some people Two people Only one person
likes / like
We We We We We
think it’s all agreed don’t think couldn’t decide weren’t sure
doesn’t like said they like / don’t like that it’s realistic / unrealistic to ask people to give up
going on holiday going shopping using a computer riding a bike driving / taking a lift in a car listening to music
because
you have a rest / see somewhere new / meet new people it’s a good way to keep fit it’s a cheap form of transport it’s a good way to relax
impact effect
on global warming on carbon emissions
people will give up about
We think that We agreed that
if people would easily give up going on holiday going shopping using a computer riding a bike driving / taking a lift in a car listening to music
has the biggest has the smallest has no
Task 2 Many environmentalists propose that we should live more simple lifestyles. Others believe technology can save us. What do you think? Below are some ideas that might reduce your impact on climate change but at the same time allow you to maintain your standard of living. Read through the ideas below and consider whether you think the way to reduce climate change and have a more sustainable lifestyle should be by: 1. Living a simpler lifestyle (and giving unnecessary things up). 2. Hoping technology will solve all our problems. 3. A combination of 1 and 2 above. Using LS2, write your own opinion to the question ‘Technology and/or Responsibility?’ Write a for and against essay of 200 – 250 words.
The iPod Created by UK designer Jonathon Eve, the iPod was not the first MP3 player but it was the one which created a worldwide phenomenon and led to one billion songs being downloaded within 3 years of the launch of Apple’s iTunes website. The importance of this is that a small iPod is carrying the equivalent of 500 CDs of plastic but weighs little more than 3 CDs. For most of us it is the music we want not the plastic. A move from product to service reduces the impact. (Picture: Field Studies Council) Toyota Prius Toyota created the first breakthrough new technology vehicle accepted by a wide range of customers. A hybrid with batteries and engine which has all the consumer details and features and non of the disadvantages. Already being converted in California to run under battery alone in longer city trips (the ‘plug in’ hybrid) the engine is always there for out of town journeys. Economical on petrol it promises to be even more so in coming years. (Picture courtesy of Toyota (GB) Plc.) Copyright required.
The Green Store -Tesco Lotus Bangkok Retailing giants Tesco Lotus have opened a ‘green store’ in Bangkok. It combines innovations which reduce heat radiation, make extensive use of natural light, reduce glare from building walls, use solar power for exterior night lighting, optimise chiller plant operation and energy performance. Solar panels produce 600,000 kw per year. The results include improved air quality in stores, reduced water demand and recycled waste water. (Picture: Field Studies Council) d2w Many uses for plastic are in packaging which often has a single short term use. So why should the plastic be long term - and so a problem? d2w is a UK firm which manufactures and sells an additive which breaks down the polymers in plastic making it biodegradable. It can be added to the manufacture of most plastics. Problem reduced, by design. Picture: d2w® degradable plastic The Internet Invented by British computer expert Tim Berners-Lee, the internet has revolutionised the way we communicate. Open source software now enables people from around the world to work together online without having to leave their office or travel to meetings. Picture: www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/ permission required.
LS2
Technology and/or Responsibility?
Structures Introduction
Nobody really believes … (No one in their right mind would suggest …) Everybody agrees that …
What is your initial reaction to the title? Try to give a balanced informed viewpoint and suggest how your composition will develop.
Structures Main body Firstly, / Secondly, / Next, / Another important point is…, / Finally, Try to give logical structure to your writing. For example, put your most important points first. Give examples for your arguments.
On the other hand Having said that Whilst it goes without saying that …, let us not forget that …
Unnecessary things to give up
Technological solutions (refer to articles)
Things you buy/use a lot of each day/week out of habit but don’t really need The car
Move from product to service Size reduction techno increase Making green attractive
Supermarket shopping
Retailers’ examples using technology to reduce impact on environment Biodegradable plastic, Science and design
Throw away packaging
Conclusions Summarise briefly (in one or two sentences) Try to leave a thought in the mind of the reader 3. Choice Matters Task 1
Structures To sum up … In conclusion … All things considered …
Buying a car is likely to be a big choice we all have to take. Look at the adverts for two cars. Identify the key selling points and write them down. What do car manufacturers appear to think people want? (power, comfort, room, smart, fashion, value for money?) Make a list of headings that cover these ’wants’. How much does ‘impact on the environment’ feature in the adverts? Do the adverts reflect what people really want cars for? Discuss in pairs what could be done to encourage sales of cars featuring more environmentally friendly technologies? Whose responsibility is it? The government? Car manufacturers? Individuals? Look at the advert below, how are Kia trying to promote a more responsible use of cars?
Task 2 Imagine that you have been asked by a car company to produce an advert for their new environmentally friendly car and must promote its ‘sustainable’ selling points. You need to present your ideas to the company in as a PowerPoint presentation. LS3 provides a template for producing a PowerPoint presentation on their new car. The reading below also gives some ideas. You will have 2-3 minutes to make your presentation.
The Hypercar® Concept What is a Hypercar® Vehicle?
A Hypercar® vehicle is designed to capture the c benefits of: ultralight construction; streamlined design; hybrid-electric drive; and, efficient accessories to achieve 300-500% improvement in fuel economy, equal or better performance, safety, comfort and affordability, compared to today's vehicles. Rocky Mountain Institute's research has shown that the best (possibly, the only) way to achieve this is by building an aerodynamic vehicle body using advanced composite materials and powering it with an efficient hybrid-electric drivetrain* (all the cars components that transmits power to the wheels – engine, clutch, transmission, etc). Initially, the hybrid-electric drivetrain in Hypercar ® vehicles will probably use a specialized version of the standard car engine. To reach their full potential, and almost eliminate automobile pollution, Hypercar® vehicles will be powered by fuel-cells running on tanks of hydrogen fuel. Unlike other efficient vehicles, Hypercar ® vehicles don't reduce performance, comfort, or safety. Indeed, by offering additional benefits to the owner and manufacturing advantages, they stand a better chance of getting on the road—and forcing old, polluting cars off—in sufficient numbers to make a big difference to the environment. Hypercar ® vehicles could reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by two-thirds and generate profits for car manufacturers. In 1994 we founded the Hypercar Center® to research and promote this concept. Having proved its technical benefits through modelling, the Center's staff spent the past several years making Hypercar® technology a commercial reality. Their unconventional approach has been to make the concept publicly available and share it with some two dozen major car companies and new market entrants. This will maximize competition in promoting its market and manufacturing advantages. The result is that billions of dollars' private investment and Hypercar-like concepts will rapidly develop. *a drivetrain refers to all the parts of a car that generate power and drive the wheels.
Source: Rocky Mountain Institute. (permission required)
LS3 – PowerPoint presentation template. The template below gives you some ideas on how to structure your PowerPoint presentation. Each slide provides some example ideas and text for you to think about. Slide 1
Slide 4 Uncompromising
Title for your ‘green car’ presentation
• • • •
consumer appeal manufacturing advantages force polluters off the road Two-thirds carbon reduction
• • • •
Testing Reality Billion dollar investment Rapid move to market place
Think of a catch phrase to put in here
Slide 2
Slide 5 Research
Improvements • • • • •
fuel economy equal or better performance safety amenity affordability
Slide 3
Slide 6 How? • aerodynamic vehicle body • hybrid-electric drive
Taking the lead • Independent for-profit venture • exert competitive pressure
4. Well Fashioned Read through the resource sheet below. What is the message it is trying to convey? Prepare a 2-3 minute presentation using the resource sheet. Make sure your presentation has an introduction, body and conclusion. Also state whether you agree with the main theme on the resource sheet. LS 4 will help you structure your presentation. You could use flipchart paper to help make your presentation. Whilst listening to your classmates make their presentations, use LS5 to provide feedback – try to be positive!
Welcome to Well Fashioned: Eco Style in the UK The Well Fashioned exhibition from the Crafts Council presents the work of a group of designers who seek to solve some of the ecological issues on which the fashion industry impacts.
Clothes washing is, quite simply, a chore. The West’s obsession with hygiene has led to the fact that the energy needed to wash our favourite garments through their life span is about six times that needed to make them. Just by washing clothes half as often, overall energy consumption is cut by almost 50%. It is development of fabrics which don’t have to be washed that might lead to the sustainable future since ‘80 per cent of a garment's energy use is in its laundering. Ultimately, perhaps, it's not whether you wear natural or synthetic that counts, but how good at avoiding soap you are.’
Atmospheric Concentrations of CO2, 1960 - 2002
Nylon and polyester - made from petrochemicals, these synthetics are also non-biodegradable, so they are unsustainable on two counts. Nylon manufacture creates nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 310 times more damaging than carbon dioxide. Making polyester uses large amounts of water for cooling, along with lubricants which can become a source of contamination. Both processes are also very energyhungry.
LS 4
What you see We can see… The picture/s show/s It seems/looks like/as though… We also see a We are given a challenge to Messages The suggestion is that we are … and … (waste a lot of energy in …)
The message here is (perhaps/may be/could be) There is also a warning about … which are said to be … (bad/environmentally unfriendly/wasteful/costly) for a number of / two reasons 1) / Firstly, they create … and 2) / Secondly, they are / are not … Conclusions Finally, we are given a chart/data/information showing … The data shows that there has been an … (increase/fall/rise/decrease) Overall, the message from the sheet is …
LS5 - Evaluation of presentations
Use the following key: excellent / good / could be better Evaluated by: excellent
good
could be better
Comments … ?
excellent
good
could be better
Comments … ?
excellent
good
could be better
Comments … ?
Information Amount of info Relevance of info Extra info
Communication Clarity Organisation Language
Poster Well-Designed Attractive Well written What I liked best in this presentation was…
My advice for this group is…
5. What cost a burger? What are the fossil fuel, water and other costs of that snack down at the fast food restaurant? Can we save energy and reduce climate change by going vegetarian? What is the real cost of a burger? Read the text below. The class will be divided into two groups by your teacher and allocated one of the discussion topics below. In your group you need to discuss the topic and decide what you think as a group. Elect a spokesperson to report back your findings. Report the findings from both the discussions individually using LS6 and LS7 as templates. Reading
What cost a burger? The life of a hamburger - where does it start? With a cow? With a wheat field needed for the bun? No, with the grasses and grains used to feed the cattle, and the water used to grow that grain and the petroleum needed to make the agri-chemicals used to grow it... and run the farm equipment and so on One One One One
burger burger burger burger
= = = =
2 pints of fuel* needs 600 gallons of freshwater 55 sq feet of tropical rainforest [if sourced from Central America] 400 calories compared to 8000 calories of fuel used to make it
*Fuel needed to raise cattle and all the associated uses on the farm The negative impacts of the by-products of burger production include: • water pollution caused by animal waste, • human health (heart disease etc), • algal blooms in rivers from cattle waste • in the amount of land diverted to grow grain for cattle and more…
Discussion 1 – Do you agree with the text? Would international fast food chains exist in a world where climate change was not a global problem? If they did how would they have to operate?
Discussion 2 – are we likely to pay the full costs of a burger in the future? If not, how long can the world’s climate sustain this type of economy?
LS6 – Discussion 1 Presenting themes on a burger Our discussion theme is
Most people in our group think
Some people think
One/two person/people suggested
LS7 – Discussion 2 Presenting themes on a burger Our discussion theme is
Most people in our group think
Some people think
One/two person/people suggested
6. Reflecting on Climate Change This final activity is to enable you to reflect on what you have learnt. Task 1 Working in pairs, fill out the table below. When you have completed the table share your results in groups of 6. If you have any unanswered questions, how would you go about finding the answers? 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?
Task 2 Working in pairs, fill out the table below. When you have completed the table share your results in groups. If you have any unanswered questions, how would you go about finding the answers?
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?