Energy Consumption and Conservation

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Personal Conservation Commitment

person riding a bike
Walking or riding a bike instead of traveling by car can help to conserve energy.

It is time to use what you know to write your personal conservation commitment. This is a plan of action in which you will commit to reducing your consumption of energy.

Use the information you have gathered from your research and class discussions to create a personal energy conservation commitment. Think about the ways in which you use energy in your daily life and routines. Describe at least two actions you can take to reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions for each of the four areas of daily life you looked at (home, transportation, food and waste). Record your plan on page 6 in your Engineering Portfolio.

> Carbon Footprint Calculator opens in new window
(from the Nature Conservancy)

Begin at the "Get Started" tab and enter in new choices that reflect a reduction in energy usage. Return to page 4 in your Engineering Portfolio and record your new results in the second part of the chart. Do you see a difference in carbon dioxide emissions?

Create a bar graph comparing your original carbon emissions and your carbon emissions after enacting your personal conservation plan. You may use this online graphing tool:

> Create a Graph opens in new window
(from Kid's Zone, Learning with NCES)

You may also make your graph using the grid paper on page 7 in your Engineering Portfolio.

Teacher Note

Ask students to turn to page 6 of their Engineering Portfolios. Review the parts of a bar graph, if necessary. If students prefer to create their bar graphs offline, direct them to page 7 of the Engineering Portfolio. You may also wish to have your students discuss the "More to Explore" resource and their answers to the related questions.

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Essential Questions

  • How can people reduce their impact on the environment?

More to Explore

Learn more about what you can do fight climate change on the Environmental Protection Agency's website.

> What You Can Do opens in new window
(from the Environmental Protection Agency)

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