Live Another Day Teachers Notes These activities focus on the lifestyle choices we make on a daily basis and on some of the bigger choices we take maybe only once or twice in a lifetime, like buying a house. 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. We recommend that you use activity one and/or two to introduce the subject and then pick the topics that interest you most. Climate Change Learning Outcomes – by the end of this module students should be able to: • Review their lifestyle and its impact on climate change. • Describe ways that lifestyles can become more climate friendly. • Distinguish between individual actions and system changes. • Be able to take personal decisions to reduce climate change. Language Support In many of the activities you will find language support (LS) referred to. These are there to help you and your student’s structure language learning and make some of the tasks more manageable.
1. Future Choices. Task 1 This activity is to get students thinking and talking about the kind of future they would like to live in. The way we tackle climate change could have a significant effect on our future. Tackling climate change now and in a positive way could lead to a better future for all of us. Waiting until it is almost too late might mean we have to take drastic action which might not be pleasant for many people. The cartoon gives them some ideas and the questions are to guide their thinking. LS1 provides structure for their responses. You might also use a ‘futures timeline’ for this activity. Using the diagram below, ask students to write down significant events in their life up until today, and then predict the probable future if we do nothing about climate change and the possible future if we start to do something about it today. Students write down the past and future event in the order they happened/think they will happen along the lines.
Probable future
Birth
Now Possible future
Task 2 Ask students to write a sentence about each theme stating how they 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 groups, give each group a theme from the list below. Economy Consumerism Diversity Peace and security Democracy Health care Wisdom and knowledge Arrange the students to sit in groups and allocate one theme per group, then follow the instructions in the student worksheet. Once the task is complete have groups report their findings.
2. Low Carbon Living.
TASK 1 Students are presented with a series of everyday activities, including a few they might not do now but will in a few years. Tell students to 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. If you wish, you could ask students to brainstorm daily tasks and use these rather than the ones provided. Ask students to 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 as people to ‘give up’ the things they enjoy? Discuss this in pairs. You could ask students to rate their activities and decide which are realistic, unrealistic and not sure about giving up. Use the phrases in the student notes to help them with feedback. Task 2 Many environmentalists propose that we should live more simple lifestyles. Others believe technology can save us! What do your students think? Below are some ideas that might reduce our impact on climate change but at the same time allow us to maintain our standard of living. You could start this activity with a for and against brainstorm. Ask students to read through the ideas below and consider whether they 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, ask students to write their own opinion to the question ‘Technology and/or Responsibility?’ 3. Choice Matters Task 1 You will need to cut out some car adverts from magazines or newspapers for this activity so that students have at least two per group (or you could provide photocopies). Buying a car is likely to be a big choice we all have to take. Ask students to look at the adverts for two cars. Together identify the key selling points and write them up on the blackboard. 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 with the students 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 provided, how are Kia trying to promote a more responsible use of cars? Some ideas include: • Increasing taxation on high emitting vehicles. • Increasing the price of fuel.
• • •
Promote the cost savings on fuel to the consumer. Legislation that mandates car manufacturers to take back cars after their lifetime. Associate environmentally friendly cars with positive social values.
Task 2 Ask students to imagine that they have been asked by a car company to produce an advert for their new environmentally friendly car and must promote its ‘sustainable’ selling points. Students could present their ideas in a number of ways. They could sketch their advert on flipchart paper. Alternatively LS3 provides a template for producing a PowerPoint presentation on their new car. The reading also gives some ideas. You could ask students to preface their presentation with a thesis. For example, ‘although technology might solve our problems, we should also take personal responsibility for our decisions.’ 4. Well Fashioned Ask students to look at the resource sheet. What is the message it is trying to convey? Students prepare a 2-3 minute presentation using the resource sheet. Make sure their presentation as an introduction, body and conclusion. They also need to state whether they agree with the main theme on the resource sheet. LS 4 will help students structure their presentation. You could provide flipchart paper to help them as well. Whilst students make their presentations ask classmate to provide feedback using LS5.
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? Life cycle analysis shows us the full cost of producing a product from its raw materials through to final disposal. The analysis of the burger can be both familiar and instructive, and best of all a prompt for discussion. Ask students ‘what does a burger cost?’ You may well get the answer in Euros but the more insightful students might start talking about the materials used to create the burger and resources used. Continue prompting students by asking ‘What is the history of a fast food meal – where does it all start and what’s involved?’ List these on the board. The result may be a list of inputs including the fertilizer to help grow the feed for the cattle, the oil for the transporting the meat and the energy used in the fast food restaurant. After establishing a range of inputs ask students to consider the reading below. Continue by asking where the burger ends up…again the reading below will help you find out some of the possible impacts of the burger. Conclude the lesson with a discussion on ‘if the true costs were added up a burger would likely prove to be one of the most extravagant products on earth.’
Divide the class into two groups and allocate one of the discussion topics below to each. Each group should discuss the topic and decide what they think as a group. A spokesperson needs report back their findings. 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? Notes: the likely outcome is that fast food chains would have to become local and the product expensive, as international economies of scale and advantages are eroded by the companies being unable to exploit low resources prices (i.e. if the real costs were paid the current business model would collapse since it depends on cheap fuel). 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? Notes: full environmental costs are rarely included in the cost of products. Although we can fairly accurately estimate the value of services that the environment provides us (clean air, water, etc) this cost is not included in most economic thinking. Including the real cost and value of natural resources might be one way to ensure that prices tell the truth.
6. 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 Activating vocabulary Print off the sheet of vocabulary and cut out the words so that they are all on individual pieces of paper. Place the pieces of paper upside down on your desk. Divide the class into two groups and give each group a group name, something to do with global warming. Tell the students you are going to pick up a word and describe it without mentioning the word. And you will give each of the groups one minute to guess as many of the words you are describing as possible. Do this with group one and give a point for each word they guess correctly. Then you move to the other group and repeat. Keep repeating as necessary.
Lifestyle
Distinguish
Prophetic
Consumerism
Environmentalist
Standard of living
Breakthrough
Hybrid
‘Plug in’
Glare
Optimise
Enhanced
Biodegradable
To feature
Ultralight
Low-drag
Affordability
Gaseous
Hydrogen fuel cells
Feasibility
Unconventional
Conspicuously
Venture
Chore
Obsession
Garments
Consumption
Fabrics
Laundering
Nylon
Polyester
Nitrous oxide
Potent
Fossil fuel
Effluent