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Take the One-Tonne Challenge! |
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In a Nutshell:
Students learn about the One-Tonne Challenge, and work out how
they could reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by one
tonne, through individual actions and by influencing other people.
Students use a GHG emission table to select actions to help them
reach the one-tonne reduction goal, then develop a motivational
plan to help themselves and others stick to their reduction plans. |
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Goal:
To motivate students to take actions to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions (GHGs) and to influence others to reduce, too. |
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Background Learning:
Teachers should be familiar with the basic science of climate
change as reviewed in:
(Teachers may also want to select from some of the other backgrounders
on impacts and solutions.)
High school students can do this lesson without any prior reading.
However, they may find it helpful to be familiar with the basics
of climate change and the solutions, as reviewed in:
Intermediate students can do this lesson without any prior reading.
However, they may find it helpful to be familiar with the basics
of climate change and the solutions, as reviewed in:
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Learning Outcomes:
Click on the icon for your territory to review the learning outcomes that are addressed by this lesson:
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Introduction to Lesson Plan:
Our climate is changing. As greenhouse gases (GHGs) increase
in our atmosphere, average temperatures are on the rise. We produce
these greenhouse gases by burning fossil fuels such as natural
gas, coal and gasoline. So every time you drive to the store,
start up a lawnmower, or heat your home, you create GHGs that
contribute to climate change.
Canada ratified the Kyoto Protocol because top scientists around
the world agree that we must reduce greenhouse gases. As part
of the Climate Change Plan, the federal government asks each
Canadian to take the challenge and reduce by one tonne, or about
20%, of our emissions.
This lesson helps students in your class choose actions they
can take to help reduce the GHG emissions by one tonne. Students
can make a difference in two ways: by actions they take individually,
and by influencing others to make changes. (In this action plan,
students earn “GHG reduction points” for both.)
Making a commitment is a great first step, but we all know that’s
not the whole journey. We all need to figure out ways to motivate
ourselves and others to follow through on commitments made. The
second part of this lesson helps students to develop a “motivational
plan” to encourage them to implement their action plan
in the coming year.
For more information on why climate change is occurring, impacts
to the north and the rest of the world, and solutions we can
all take, check out the backgrounders (written for northern
students) on this website. |
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Activity:
- Introduce the Topic: You may be using this lesson as a
stand-alone, or it may be part of a unit on climate change.
For ideas on how to introduce students to the basics and impacts
of climate change, check out the Lesson Plans on this website.
If
your students haven’t previously learned about
climate change, you may need to give a short introduction
to the basic concepts of climate change, and how we can reduce
our impact. Use Student Handout #1: The One-Tonne Challenge – Why
Take It?. This handout is also a useful introduction for
students’ families and friends, if students decide
to encourage others to reduce GHG emissions as well. (Note: For more in-depth information, introduce students to the
Backgrounders on this website. Ideas on how to use the backgrounders
in interesting, interactive ways are included in the lesson
entitled Getting Into the Backgrounders.)
 Complete the
Action Plan: Divide the students into small groups
of two or three. Distribute Student Handout #2: My
One-Tonne Challenge Action Plan. In this handout students
will find a list of actions they and their families can
do to reduce greenhouse gases. Students will select a
number
of actions they can do, or encourage others to do, that
will add up to 1000 kg or one tonne. Encourage groups
to go through
their Action Plans, entering realistic commitments (in
pencil) for actions they can take, and actions they can
encourage
others to take. (Note: If Student Handout
#2 is too complicated for your students, you might prefer
to use Student Handout
#2 from the lesson Intermediate Students – Take the
One-Tonne Challenge. This is a stripped-down, simplified
version.)- Take it Home: Ask the students to take their
Action Plans home and work through them with their
families, to see what
actions they can convince their families to take. Students
may decide to change their Action Plans after talking
to their families and seeing what their families will
commit
to.
- Make the Commitment: Now students can complete
a Commitment List, based on Student Handout #3: I
Commit to . . . You may
want to engage the students in discussion (small
or large group) about the difficulties of working
with their families.
How much difference was there between what they thought
their families would do and what families were willing
to do? What
convinced their families to make changes? Once the
commitments are completed, you may want to collect
these to post
or to put in a class booklet, or encourage students
to incorporate
the commitments into posters (see the Art enrichment
idea below).
- Strategize: Invite students to think
about how they might encourage each other to
continue their actions, and also
how families or friends could be encouraged to
commit to, and continue with, actions. Pose the
questions:
How can we
encourage ourselves to keep taking action? How
can we encourage other people?
Divide students
into small groups. Distribute Student Handout #4: Moving from
Talk to Action, a list of motivational strategies
to help people maintain their commitments. Ask students
to read the handout together, and decide on a set of strategies
that they think would work for themselves, their
families,
and the class. At the end of the group work, ask
for a short verbal report from each group. Develop a list.
Decide what
the class can do to support each other in creating
change. (To practice oral presentation skills, ask students
to present
and defend choice of strategy.) At this point, the
class may also decide to create a community action project – see
the Social Studies enrichment activity below.
- Monitor Progress: Follow up with intermittent check-ins to see how
students are maintaining their commitments. What
actions have been easy to do? Difficult? What are
the impediments to reducing GHGs? What further
supports would help? What
were the best ways to convince other people – most
useful key points?
Encourage students to add up how much
they have reduced so far, and how far they still
need to go to achieve their
goals.
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Handouts:
Click on the icon for the complete set of handouts that support
this lesson –
Student Handout
#1: The One-Tonne Challenge – Why
Take It?
Student Handout #2: My One-Tonne Challenge Action Plan
Student Handout #3: I Commit . . .
Student Handout #4: Moving from Talk to Action |
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Student Web-Exchange:
Students can post their “I Commit . . .” statements.
(If you have chosen the art extension, you may want to take pictures
of the completed statements and post.)
Students could also write and post essays on why they think
it is important to reduce, how well they did in reducing or convincing
others, what actions they took to cut back on emissions and how
much they reduced, and what strategies they found helpful to
convince other people. Posted material should be about 500 words.
You may want to encourage students to write fewer than 500 words,
or to choose and post a segment from a longer essay.
Click on the icon for information on how to post material.
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Evaluation:
- Self-evaluation: After students have taken several weeks
to carry out actions, ask them to rate where they have succeeded
so far and where improvement is needed, both at a personal
level and in convincing others.
- Success Stories: Ask students to write personal, family
and community success stories. These can be posted in your
school
and on the Climate Change North Student Exchange.
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Enrichment Ideas:
Art:
Distribute art materials and ask students to incorporate their “I
Commit” statements into a larger work of art. These could
include collages of environmental images, representations of
climate change impacts, etc.
English Language Arts:
One-Tonne Journal: Ask students to journal their experiences
of trying to reduce GHG emissions. What are their thoughts, feelings
and experiences as they try to live more lightly on the earth?
Educating the Community: Create an information-action pamphlet
for your community, including information on what climate change
is, what the impacts are, and what actions we can take. Hand
out the pamphlets at a community event, a shopping mall, or a
parents’ night.
A One-Tonne Story: Write a fictional story
of a family or person who produces really low GHG emissions.
Use information contained
in Student Handout #2: My One-Tonne Challenge Action Plan for
the details – e.g., Mr. Bill gets up and turns up the thermostat
because the heat has been low all night. Then he takes his laundry
out of his front-loading Energy Star washing machine and hangs
it to dry. He turns down his heat and gets on his bike and rides
to work . . . the possibilities are endless!
Mathematics:
Add it Up! Figure out the amount of GHG emissions the entire
class would reduce by adding up all their Action Plan GHG reductions.
(Make sure you include the teacher!) Then go further: How many
GHGs would be reduced if every student in the school reduced
by the class average? If everyone in the class influenced two
people to do the same in their community? If everyone in their
territory reduced? All students in the north? All of Canada?
Graph the Changes: Create a pie or a bar graph showing the percentage
of changes that fall in each area: consumption and waste, transportation,
home heating, hot water, home lighting, and appliances.
One-Tonne Competition: Set up a competition between students
or between your class and another class. With the class, figure
out a method of calculating and recording the gains made by each
student.
Social Studies
Taking Action in the Community: Your students may want to do
a class project that involves their school or community. Some
ideas include:
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Recycling project – create one for the school and tabulate
how any GHGs students have reduced
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Walk to school program – start with one day and expand
from there, planning for routes and walking partners to
ensure safety. For more ideas, check the Go For Green website: http://www.goforgreen.ca/home_e.html
- Develop a brochure – to help parents and
teachers understand how to properly maintain vehicles to reduce
GHG
emissions (tire
pressure, idling, slower driving, etc)
- Anti-idling campaign – students talk to
parents, teachers and community members about reducing idling
- Theater review – on climate change and
how to reduce GHGs
More action ideas are outlined in Student Handout #4: Moving
from Talk to Action.
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About the Author:
The Yukon Conservation Society Curriculum Team – The team consists
of teachers, writers, environmental educators and curriculum
specialists. The team worked with teachers across the north,
helping them to create lesson plans for the website, and gathering
input about website features, backgrounders and lesson plans
that would be useful in northern classrooms. |
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