Energy Consumption and Conservation

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    • Introduction
    • Energy and Climate Change
    • Our Contribution to Climate Change
    • Your Carbon Footprint
    • Calculate Your Carbon Footpint
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    • Your Challenge: Create a Public Service Announcement
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Our Contribution to Climate Change

power stations
Power stations release gases into the atmosphere.

Did the video help you make a connection between energy and global climate change? This is how it works:

Earth's temperature depends on the balance of energy entering and leaving the Earth and its atmosphere. The sun heats up the land and oceans, and greenhouse gases greenhouse gases in our atmosphere retain this energy, thereby regulating the Earth's average temperature and keeping the planet habitable.

Increasing the amount of greenhouse gases increases the amount of heat trapped in the Earth's atmosphere. This causes the overall temperature of the Earth to increase, and that leads to all kinds of changes that are collectively called global climate change.

The primary greenhouse gas emitted by human activity is carbon dioxide carbon dioxide (CO2). Humans have increased the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels fossil fuels for electricity, transportation and industry.

But how does this actually happen-and how much are we each contributing to the problem?

Explore these resources to learn more about our energy consumption and how it impacts the environment.

> Energy Consumption (PDF) opens in new window
(from the Need Project)

> How Big is Your Footprint? opens in new window
(.pdf from Discovery)

Teacher Note

Go over any new vocabulary in the lesson. After the video, have students "turn and talk"-in other words, turn to a partner to discuss and share ideas about what they saw. Ask if anyone has heard the term "carbon footprint" before and have students discuss what they think it means in their pairs. You may also wish to have your students discuss the "More to Explore" reading and their answers to the related questions.

Read More

Essential Questions

  • How does our use of energy impact the environment?
  • What are fossil fuels?
  • What is global climate change?

More to Explore

How does the carbon cycle work? Visit this website to learn more about the carbon cycle.

> Kids' Crossing: Living in the Greenhouse opens in new window
(from The University Corporation of Atmospheric Research)

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