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Catalyst: Impact of coming to school on carbon emissions

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A boy stands beside a major road
Catalyst: Impact of coming to school on carbon emissions

SUBJECTS:  Science

YEARS:  9–10


How big is your carbon footprint as you travel to and from school?

Watch Daniel O'Doherty, 2008 'Action Against Climate Change' Eureka Schools Prize winner, as he determines his hypothesis then designs and conducts a study about carbon emissions.

Listen to the recommendations he makes to reduce and offset the emissions generated coming to school.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Scientists say that carbon emissions from human activity have a major impact on climate change. How are you responsible for generating carbon emissions? Does the way you travel to school create carbon emissions? Why do we care about carbon emissions?
  2. 2.Listen to Daniel explain what he decided to research. When the students arrive at school, Daniel sets up a camera on a tripod. What is his hypothesis? How did Daniel collect his data and how many students did he interview? What information does Daniel need for his formula to calculate the carbon emissions for his school? How much carbon did the school emit? What was Daniel's conclusion — was his hypothesis supported by the data?
  3. 3.Daniel surveyed a sample of students at his school. What would you need to know about how he chose his sample to be confident that his data is representative of the whole school? When giving a presentation to a class, Daniel lists five recommendations for reducing carbon emissions. How will planting trees help?
  4. 4.Design and undertake a survey of your friends to estimate the carbon emissions generated in their home. How can you convert electricity, gas and fuel use into carbon emissions? Is there a difference in carbon emissions when you compare each home? How can you explain any differences?



Date of broadcast: 24 Sep 2009


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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