Colour in Your Carbon Footprint
Activity - Classroom
Grades3, 4, 5Science, Visual and Performing Arts
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Provided by ClimateScience
What it is
- In this activity, students color a footprint illustration to correspond with the level of emissions that result from their lifestyle choices.
- Students will learn how their daily activities affect the planet and some solutions to reduce their impact.
Teaching tips
Positives
- This resource encourages students to take personal responsibility for their own lifestyle and activities.
- This resource presents solutions to reducing one's carbon footprint in the teacher guide, which teachers can use to facilitate classroom discussion.
Additional Prerequisites
- Students should be familiar with carbon emissions, their impact on the environment, and where they come from.
- The teacher must print and distribute the illustration to the students.
- Teachers and students have the opportunity to expand their knowledge by reading the additional material in the "Sources" section.
Differentiation
- Students can write a summary of the activity, including an explanation of greenhouse gases, carbon footprint, and climate change.
- Teachers can ask students to brainstorm ways to reduce their carbon footprint and explain how those ways will help the environment.
- Connections can be made with mathematics classes by challenging students to collect and graph data in a bar or pie graph (e.g., # of students who mostly eat meat, # of students who eat some meat, # of students who don't eat meat very often or at all).
- Other resources that allow students to explore their carbon footprint include Carbon Check: Your Carbon Footprint and Footprint Calculator.
From the scientist review
This resource aims to show students how the way we live impacts climate change by showing which of our everyday activities contribute the most to greenhouse gas emissions. It will also educate students about ways to reduce their carbon footprint. The carbon footprint visualization activity found in the EnergyStar source is also an effective way for students to understand their carbon footprints. This resource is recommended for students aged 9-11.
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