- An international project
These activities can be used with a wide age range but are mainly aimed at KS2 and KS3.
Purpose: To begin to measure the impact of your school on the planet and raise awareness of sustainability issues.
Preparation:
Procedure: Pupils can measure footprints individually or collectively and share results. Pupils (and teachers plus, later, parents and/or members of the community) can develop action plans to reduce the footprints. Come up with ideas to reduce the footprint. The school can develop action plans to achieve these targets. Measure footprints annually to monitor changes.
Alternative activity: Individual Ecological Footprints
Click to download this worksheet for pupils to calculate their own ecological footprints using ICT.
Pupils can measure their individual ecological footprints using the individual footprint calculator at www.lead.org/leadnet/footprint
Or use this elearning lesson
· You will use the internet to find out information.
· Log onto the computer, log onto the internet.
· Type www.clcconnect.com/learners
· Click secondary learner.
· Type in ID 1006 and press submit.
· Click on worksheet, then click on calculating footprints.
· Follow the instructions on the on line worksheet.
Compare results, then develop strategies for reducing one area of the footprint at a time (e.g. food).
Compare results, strategies and progress with other schools in the LfSC project.
Test your knowledge of ecological footprints in our online quiz
In another project, Developing Citizenship, DEP is collecting data about Ecological Footprints.
Purpose: To look at what we value in our neighbourhood, what we want to change and to begin to define quality of life.
Preparation
Procedure: Get each pupil to note down (individually, in pairs or groups, depending on time and class size):
Summarise/rank the findings. Get each pupil to write down using this list, what s/he thinks are the most important things that make up their quality of life in their neighbourhood. Finish by writing one statement each: "Quality of life to me is about..." (these could be done on paper, illustrated and exhibited around the room).
Extension: Go back to the list of 'What I'd like to change'. Get each pupil, pair or group to write down which of these they feel they can change. Start to develop an action plan for one of the top items for change.
Further extension: Compare these lists (likes/dislikes/want to change/feel can change/quality of life) with one of the partner city schools or one of the Manchester project schools.
Time Line of your local environment
Purpose: To look at key features of the local environment, what has affected them in the past and how it may be affected in the future.
Preparation:
Procedure:
Research and put on key features affecting your local environment over a period of time in the past e.g. housing developments, shopping/leisure facilities, cultural features (churches, mosques), agricultural/industrial areas. Agree a set of key features and put them on a time line.
Draw two forks onto the line into the future in two directions showing 'Probable future' and 'Preferable future'; explain the difference between the two or use the Futures diagram. Put on what these might bring (i.e. if things carry on as they are, or if they change as we would like them to). Discuss what actions need to be taken to bring about the preferable future and how you can help to ensure this. Think of one key action that everyone could take to try and ensure one key development in the 'Preferable future'. Revisit the activity and the timeline at a later date to see if such action has taken place. If not, why not? What needs to change, and how?
Extension: Global map. Make a map of your local environment putting on global connections e.g. place / street names; businesses and shops; monuments; historical remains; cultural connections. Research some of the items and develop a local / global quiz (see Global Reading quiz on www.risc.org.uk/globalreading) Get pupils to choose one feature of the map they are proud of and one they are not proud of and explain why. Develop a list of features that make you proud of the local / global features of your community. Discuss what should be said about those features of which your are not so proud (It will be possible to compare with other schools in the LfSC project).
Purpose: To explore what the ideal features of a neighbourhood / city are.
Preparation
Procedure: Lay out enough photos for each member of the class (or can do in pairs/small groups). Ask pupils to choose a photo that they like. Ask each pupil (pair/small group) to explain what it is they like about this photo. Write up key words/phrases from the descriptions.
Do the activity again, and ask pupils to choose and describe something they don't like about another photo; write up key words. Write up and agree key features of your ideal city (possible to compare with other LfSC schools).
At a later date (after doing work on sustainable development), revisit these ideal features and debate whether these show e.g. a cleaner / fairer society or a more sustainable one.
Purpose: To think about compare what they know about their own city/country with another city/country in another part of the world and explore preconceptions and misconceptions.
Preparation
Procedure: Ask pupils to write down
Extension: Look again at your summary lists (five facts about your city, five facts you think you know about another city, five facts you'd like to know about the other city). Would you be happy to send them to pupils in another city overseas (or even in your country) in this form? Would you change any of the wording? If so, why?
When you are happy with the list, send it off to the other LfSC school and receive one from them in return. Compare the lists; look for similarities, differences and misconceptions. Get pupils to write comments and agree a class reply to the other school and then send it. When you receive the reply from the partner city school, go through the new information and comments. Write a summary of what you have learned from the activity and send it to the other city school.
Alternative activity: Mental maps. Ask each pupil (or in pairs or a groups) to draw a mental map of their own city/country. Now draw a mental map of one of the other partner cities/countries. Get pupils to present and explain their maps and help them to summarise the results. Discuss the two sets of maps and what they tell us about perceptions etc. Discuss how and why students in the other country may produce different maps.
Extension: Swop your mental maps with another city school and compare and contrast them; summarise the findings and exchange them with the other city school.
Further extension: City Profile (in a country context) Look at key social, economic and environmental features of your city and country (in the LfSC Case Studies section or from textbooks/websites). Using information from the Five important facts activity and/or the mental maps activity produce a profile of your city (ideally in a country context). Compare with profiles done by pupils from other cities in the project (see LfSC website).
Purpose: To try and begin to understand the concept of sustainable development
Preparation
Procedure: Write the word 'sustainable' on the board. Ask if anyone has come across it and for definitions (idea that something can keep going continuously). Add the word 'development'. Ask what the two words might mean together (e.g. to develop in a way that can keep going forever?). Put the phrases 'developed country' and 'developing country' on the board and ask for differences (could be done in pairs / groups - dictionaries could be used). Since many differences will probably focus on wealth / poverty ask what it would mean if all countries were developed. Where does the wealth come from?
Introduce the Venn diagram with 3 features and explain what each of them means. Ask pupils which is seen as the most important feature of 'development' currently (Economic, but usually seen in terms of money, rather than the original meaning of managing resources). Ask what happens if the other two are ignored and get pupils to come up with examples.
Introduce concept of 'balance' of 3 features to try and ensure 'sustainable' development. Ask whether circles are / should all be the same size e.g. some argue as there are ecological limits to development (i.e. the natural systems that sustain us) so the 'Environment' should be bigger; others argue that creating wealth helps to solve problems, so 'Economy' should be bigger; others that it is humans who have to implement sustainable development so 'Equity' has to be bigger.
Take an issue in the news and try and fit it into the Venn diagrams (see example on fuel). Get pupils to do an exemplar of their own. Can development ever be truly sustainable or can we say that some forms are more sustainable than others?
Purpose: To explore what the features of a sustainable city / neighbourhood are
Preparation
Procedure: Brainstorm why people live in cities and write up. Refer to some of the key facts about the growth of cities (see Introduction section). Refer back to work on Ideal City / Quality of Life / Sustainable Development
Introduce sentence "A sustainable city needs to …..". Show copy of sentences in ranking activity and go through them to ensure pupils understand them. Put pupils in pairs or groups. Give out cut up statements and ask pupils to rank them in importance. Ask them to add in any features that have been left out and add them to the ranking. Get each group to read out their top and bottom on the list and say why. Agree most and least important features as a class (Possible to compare with other classes or schools in the LfSC project).
Extension: Pupils could write out, illustrate and display their most important features of a sustainable city / neighbourhood. Click for examples of features of a sustainable neighbourhood and a sustainable community.
Further Activity: Revisit the photos. Get the pupils to separate the photos (from 'My Ideal City' activity) into three piles: 'Mainly sustainable features', 'Mainly unsustainable features', 'Not sure'. Get the pupils to take photos in their own school/community/city which show mainly sustainable or mainly unsustainable features. Share with other LfSC schools and the DEP!
Competition Schools that produce photos of sustainable/unsustainable features of their city/community can send them to DEP. Prizes will be awarded to those that the Project Group like the most.
Extension: Sustainability stories. Work in pairs and tell each other a story about something they know of (or would like to see happen) to do with positive action in their community (e.g. a local action group, organising a street party). Feed back to the class. Teacher writes up a title for each of the stories on a board/flip chart. The teacher and pupils agree key words and phrases from each of the stories. The class then splits into groups to use the words to write sentences about sustainable communities/cities. Share and refine sentences. Display them and compare with other classes/groups who have done this activity. Try and find, and write up about, local examples of these statements.
Further extension: Sustainable City Collage. Cut out pictures from a range of magazines/ newspapers of images of city life. Get pupils to cut out/bring in more. In groups make a collage of your vision of a Sustainable City. (The scenario might show movement from unsustainable to sustainable.) Display and discuss.