Topic/Title of activity:
Global Footprint Calculation
Objective of activity:
- To introduce the concept of the ‘Global (Ecological) Footprint’
- To calculate individual footprints, initially as a score and
then conversion to an area of land required to support
consumption.
- To begin thinking about ways that the global
footprint can be reduced.
Length of activity: Approximately 1 hour.
Description of activity:
(Icebreaker – ask children
their name and on what they arrived, eg Dave on a
donkey [from Doncaster!]) Introduction·
What do the children understand by the words ‘global’
and ‘footprint’? The phrase?· Get the children to
brainstorm what they’ve done today and relate it back
to the land. · Take an apple, this represents the world.
Cut it into 4 quarters, vertically. Put 3 aside, they represent
the earth’s surface covered by water. Slice the remaining
quarter into eight slivers, and discard seven – these
represent mountains, deserts etc where agriculture is
not possible. Peel the remaining sliver – that peel
represents the earth’s surface on which we depend for
food and for survival. This gives the children an idea
of the amount of land available for food production
– a key component of the Global Footprint.·
Consider what they usually eat – do they consider
if it is local or transported over a large distance?
Children allocate themselves the appropriate score from
the 2 options (or somewhere in between), and enter in
the appropriate box on their scoresheet.Main Activity·
In groups of 4/5 circulate around the 7 remaining categories
for individual scoring within each group (paper, water, heating,
holiday, waste, transport and electricity).
Allow 2/3 minutes per category and total at the end.
Feedback scores – record on the board. Dividing the
total by 100 gives the approximate number of
hectares needed to support that lifestyle
(1 hectare is approximately the area of 1
football pitch) Conclusion· Who has ‘won’?
Is the highest score the winner?·
Most children are likely to be in the range
100 – 200. This means 2 Earths would be needed
to support this lifestyle if everyone on Earth
lived like that (3 Earths for your average American).
Who is ‘paying’ for this consumption.
(eg less wasteful people in developing nations)·
What can you do? (reduce your footprint)
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Numeracy (NNS)/ Literacy
(NLS) or other curriculum
area focus/reference:
KS2GeographyPoS 5 – Knowledge and understanding of
environmental change and sustainable development.
PoS 3 - Knowledge and understanding of places.
PoS 6e –
An environmental issue, caused by change in an environment,
and attempts to manage the environment sustainably.
(MathematicsMa2, 3, 4.)
Resources needed:
Resources needed:
- Apple, knife
- People and Planet game sheets(blown up to A4, and
ideally laminated)
- Score sheets
- Pencils(Calculators)
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