Activity 1 and 2: Conserving Resources
Name ______Date ______Period ______Score ______
Have you ever wondered what happens to your old cell phone when you get a new one? We are a consuming society; we purchase the new and discard the old? The amount of resources and energy that we consume is known as our ecological footprint. Someone’s ecological footprint can be correlated with the planet’s pool of resources to indicate the number of earths that would be required to sustain the entire human population if everyone used the same amount of resources as that person does.
Materials
Calculator
What is Your Footprint? Worksheet
Dry-erase Marker
Activity 1: Determining Your Driving and Eating Footprint
Determining a precise ecological footprint can be a complex process that makes many assumptions. This activity focuses on just two variables: the food you eat and the amount of fuel you use (in the form of ethanol). Follow the directions to determine how much land is required to supply you with food and fuel for your consumption. Assume that all the food and ethanol can be supplied from corn.
1. Start at the beginning of the sheet entitle “What’s Your Footprint?”
2. Calculate how much meat you eat by multiplying the number of days a week you eat meat by the average daily consumption of 0.25lb. If you do not eat meat, follow the section for a vegetarian.
3. After the total acres needed for food is calculated, move to the fuel line.
4. Estimate the number of miles you drive or ride in a vehicle.
5. Step 3 will ask for the fuel mileage the vehicle gets. You may need to estimate this number if you do not know it or if you ride in multiple vehicles. Continue until you have calculated the total acres needed for fuel.
6. To calculate your footprint, add up the acres needed for food and fuel.
7. If the entire planet were divided evenly for everyone, we would each have about 3.3 acres of arable (farmable) land to provide all our needs.
Data collected from “What’s Your Footprint?”
Box on chart / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / Total Acres NeededFood- (meat)
Food (vegetarian)
Fuel
Footprint
8. Create a pie graph showing the percentage needed for your food and fuel versus the percentage remaining to supply all your other needs, like housing, energy, clothing, and raw materials to build things
Pie Chart :
Key:
Questions:
1. When calculating the amount of land needed for food, what was not factored into the activity?
2. When calculating the amount of land needed for fuel, what was not factored into the activity?
3. Does all the food that you eat come from local farms? How does using food grown far away affect the total acres needed for food and fuel?
4. To get a complete ecological footprint, what other things must be calculated? After seeing the number of acres left after your exercise, do you feel that there is enough land on the planet to sustain the way we live?
5. How can people influence corporations to conserve natural resources?
6. List several ways to reduce your ecological footprint.
Part 2: Determining Your Ecological Footprint
Conduct a short quiz to calculate your ecological footprint. Visit the web site www.myfootprint.org. Answer the questions about your daily consumption to determine your carbon, food, housing, and good- and services footprints. The site will calculate the number of earths that would be needed to sustain the world’s population if everyone lived the way that you do. Once it is complete, record your results and share with the rest of the class.
1. What country do you live in?
2. What measurement system would you like to use?
3. How many people live in your household?
4. What is your annual household income in U.S. dollars ($USD)?
5. What best describes the climate zone you live in? If you are not sure, the dominant climate for your country is already selected.
6. What is the size of your home?
7. What energy sources do you use in your home? Please check all that apply.
8. If your house uses electricity, what percentage is generated from renewable hydropower, wind, biomass, or solar sources? The initial value is the country or regional average.
9. Please enter the number of miles you travel per year for each mode of transportation:
10. Below is a list of energy saving features and energy saving habits. Please check all that apply
11. Energy saving habits
12. What best describes where your home is located?
13. Have you purchased offsets for carbon emissions associated with your home energy use and transportation?
14. What best describes your diet?
15. Where do you obtain most of your food?
16. How often do you select foods that are certified organic or sustainably produced?
17. Which choice best describes how much you normally eat?
18. Do you have a garden or share one to grow your own vegetables and herbs?
19. Which best describes your home?
20. Was your home or any portion of it built with recycled materials, wood certified as sustainably harvested, or any other green design features?
21. Approximately what share of your home furnishings are second hand or made of either recycled or sustainably produced materials?
22. Approximately what share of your home furnishings are second hand or made of either recycled or sustainably produced materials?
23. How often do you select cleaning products that are biodegradable or non-toxic?
24. What best describes your spending and saving habits?
25. How often do you buy new things to replace old ones?
26. How many standard size garbage bins does your household fill each week?
27. What proportion of the following wastes do you recycle?
28. When you buy clothing or paper products, how often do you select items labeled as recycled, natural, organic, or made of alternative fibers such as hemp or Tencel?
Results:
My Ecological Footprint - Quiz Results
MY FOOTPRINT IN GLOBAL ACRES BY CONSUMPTION CATEGORY
MY FOOTPRINT SHARE BY BIOME
Determine ways that you may be able to shrink your ecological footprint.
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