Our Ecological Footprints

Our Ecological Footprint

Grade 6 Social Studies- Resources and Wealth (RW)
Grade 7 Social Studies- Interdependence of Nations (IN), Resources and Wealth (RW)

Outcomes:

Grade 6-RW6.1 Examine and analyze factors that contribute to quality of life, including material and non-material factors.
RW6.2 Contribute to initiating and guiding change in local and global communities regarding environmental, social, and economic sustainability.
Grade 7- IN7.2 Examine the effects of globalization on the lives of people in Canada and in circumpolar and Pacific Rim countries.
RW7.2 Investigate the influence of resources upon economic conditions of peoples in circumpolar and Pacific Rim countries.
RW7.3 Assess the ecological stewardship of economies of Canada and the circumpolar and Pacific Rim countries.

Lesson 1: What is an Ecological Footprint?

Background Information:

This lesson uses the Royal Saskatchewan Museum (RSM) Ecological Footprint information and calculator as its main resource.  The website explains what an ecological footprint is, allows students to calculate their footprint online, and compares student and Canadian footprints to that of other countries.  Students will require computers with internet access.

http://www.royalsaskmuseum.ca/gallery/life_sciences/footprint_mx_2005.swf

Instructional Procedures:

  1. Have students read through the sections What is an Ecological Footprint? and About this Program on the RSM website.

In our daily lives we use many resources.  Most of what we use fits into the areas of Food, Goods and Services, Shelter and Mobility.  (Brief descriptions of these areas are included in the About This Program section of the RSM website).

  1. Write down these titles and have students name some of the things we do every day that fit into these categories.  Choose a few and discuss the resources involved in the production/growth or use of the example.
  • Food:  e.g. Order take-out pizza.  What are the ingredients and where are they grown/produced?  How was the pizza made and how did it get to your house?  What happens to the box when the pizza is finished?
  • Goods and Services: e.g. Played Xbox 360.  What materials were needed to make the system?  Where were they made and how did they travel to the student’s house?  What power source is required to use it and where does that come from?
  • Shelter: e.g. Big house vs. little house.  Why would a bigger house use more resources than a little house?  (Think about water, energy, electricity as well as building materials).
  • Mobility: Drove in a car to school.  Where was the car made?  What resources were mined or produced somewhere else in the world?  Where did the gasoline come from and how is it produced?  What happens to the car when it can no longer be driven

Our ecological footprint is a calculation of all the choices we are making in our daily lives, including how we travel, what we eat, what we buy, what we throw away and how much water, energy and electricity we use.

Our ecological footprint shows how much land is required to support the choices we are making.  It is measured in Hectares – 100M by 100M (the size of 2 football fields).

  1. Using the RSM Calculate Your Footprint section, have students calculate their individual footprints.

Discuss different footprints and what choices made the footprints different.  e.g. If a student or family travels a lot by plane, or produces a small amount of garbage, those choices affect the size of the footprint.

  1. Have students compare their footprints with the world averages.  Use the How Does this Compare to People in Other Countries? Section of the RSM website.

 Why do high-income countries have big footprints?  Why do countries like Bangladesh have small footprints?  (Clarify that low-income countries often don’t have roads, hospitals, schools, enough food, etc. - all things that increase a nation’s footprint.)

To help students visualize how much space our resource use takes up, have students calculate how many football fields a typical Canadian uses.  Compare that with the number of football fields used by someone from Bangladesh.

  1. Look at the sections on What About Population and How Many Earths Do We Need?  Discuss how large populations affect the number of resources being used.

Discuss the amount of land that is available for each person’s needs.  Our individual footprints are greater than the earth can sustain.  i.e. We are using up more resources than the earth has or can produce, so we will run out of the things that we need.

Changing the everyday choices we make allows us to change the size of our footprint.

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Additional Resources:

http://www.ecovoyageurs.ca/en/page.cgi?tplate=footprint_wide&stage=footprint/calc

http://www.zerofootprintkids.com/kids_home.aspx?restart=yes

http://www.footprintnetwork.org

http://www.storyofstuff.com

Lesson 2: What Can I do?

Background Information

In groups, students will be making “ecoplans” to reduce their ecological footprint.  They will need time to make the plan, put it into action and present their findings. 

Instructional Procedures

  1. Create at least four student groups: one for each aspect of our ecological footprint (Food, goods and services, shelter and mobility).

    or

  2. Allow each group to choose which of the four areas they would like to focus on.
  1. Hand out worksheets to help lead the students through the development and implementation of their ecoplans.

    Choosing a Plan (1)

    How We Do it (2)

    How Did We Do? (Group Evaluation) (3)

  2. Throughout the process have students share their plans, their progress and their evaluation with the other students.

 

Printable PDF version including all worksheets

 

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Our Ecological Footprints

 Printable PDF version including worksheets
 
Recycle Saskatchewan is a joint project of SARCAN Recycling, the Sask. Waste Electronic Equipment Program, the Sask. Association for Resource Recovery Corporation, the Sask. Scrap Tire Corporation, the Sask. Paint Recycling Program and the Sask. Waste Reduction Council.