Teaching Materials for Key Stage 2 (age 8-11) These teaching materials are designed to support the use of the Carbon Detectives website. They provide a foundation for understanding how energy use, travel and food can impact on climate change and suggest ways for reducing such impact by reducing the school s carbon footprint. They have been designed to be used by teachers who will be able to differentiate each activity in accordance with the age and ability of their pupils. Contents SECTION 1 SECTION 2 SECTION 3 SECTION 4 SECTION 5 SECTION 6 Weather & Climate Climate Change Energy Energy Conservation Travel Food & Nutrition Intelligent Energy Europe Carbon Detectives is supported by the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme and is active across Europe. The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Communities. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
Story - A version in play format has been provided at the end of this section for you to use in role playing activities. Lena and Jakob are once again battling their way through the morning traffic chaos in front of their school. Today, a traffic jam has backed things up and many double-parked cars make a clear view of the street impossible. Lena, Jakob! Wait for me! a voice suddenly cries out above the traffic noise and the two can barely identify it as Steffi s. Their friend is waving to them and she has just stepped out of her mum s car. When Steffi catches up to Jakob and Lena, she greets them with, I would love to walk to school the way you two do! Jakob and Lena ask her, Then why don t you? with Jakob adding, You don t live any farther from school than we do! I know, but my parents won t let me. They say it s too dangerous. Steffi s reply gets Jakob thinking. Yeah, that s true. My mum always tells me to watch out for the traffic, especially right in front of school! Lena, however, has a different thought, I find it odd that so many parents take their kids to school by car because they think the traffic makes it too dangerous to walk or take a bike. Don t they understand that they are only contributing to the traffic problem? With that, Jakob is eager to jump in, Not only that, but cars are also a big cause of climate change, at least that s what we learned yesterday in school. Steffi finishes the conversation with, Just imagine how nice and quiet it would be around here in the mornings if everyone, children and teachers alike, were to walk or ride bicycles to school. Maybe then my parents would finally let me walk, too! Travelling to School in a Greener Way Unlike using a car to get to school, riding a bike and walking are healthy and good for the environment. It also improves the school s overall climate-friendliness when more pupils and teachers walk, ride a bicycle or take public transport! Activity: Different Ways to Travel In the left hand column of your chart, write or draw in all the ways to travel that the class were able to identify. Now think about the various characteristics that can be used to describe a transport means or specific transport vehicle: for example, quiet, noisy, fast, slow, climatefriendly, etc. Enter the different characteristics one-by-one on the top line of the chart. Now decide as a class which characteristics apply to the various ways to travel listed. If a characteristic applies, mark the corresponding box with a plus sign: + If a characteristic doesn t apply, mark the box with a red minus sign: - If you can t agree (as a class) that a certain characteristic applies to a transport means, mark the corresponding box with a wiggly line ( ~ ) or leave it blank. Draw a chart on a large piece of poster paper or on the interactive whiteboard using the title Different Ways to Travel see example below as a guide. With the class, brainstorm the different ways to travel. Don t forget to consider air and water transportation, or even the fairly basic ones, like walking!
Car Bicycle Walking Bus Total Comfortable Quiet Fast Fun Noisy Climate-friendly This table has been reproduced on a separate page at the end of this section. Looking at the totals, which characteristic did the pupils identify as being the most common amongst the different forms of travel? Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the various ways to travel. Write these up on the blackboard or interactive whiteboard for everyone to see. Note: A public bus, or school bus, normally uses more energy than a car. However, a public bus can transport far more people. As a result, the amount of energy used per person is less than if everyone drove in a car. Activity: Draw Your Favourite Way to Travel! Ask the class what they consider to be their favourite way of getting to school. Perhaps they already use it, or maybe there is another. The pupils can choose any way they like as long as it is realistic e.g. bicycle, scooter, walking, bus parents car, etc. Ask them to consider their favourite and draw this means of travel on a piece of paper. If the class is keen on the Harry Potter stories, ask the class to brainstorm all the forms of transportation that appear in the stories. Circle those that are magical e.g. broomstick, dragon, floo powder and underline those that could be sustainable e.g. ship, train, bicycle etc. Ask the class to write a newspaper headline advertising Harry Potter s greener way to travel! Activity: School Travel Stories For English comprehension, ask the children to: 1) Write a story describing something funny or exciting that they actually experienced on their normal school route. 2) Next ask the children to make up a funny, exciting or suspenseful school route story. They will need to write it in first person ( I ) style, and make it sound like it really happened to them. 3) Now ask the children to read both stories out loud in class and let the class guess which one is true and which one is made up! This could be done over a week or two, during wet breaks and as a filler exercise at the end of the day. Activity: School Travel Survey Walking and riding a bicycle, or a scooter, are climate-friendly and healthy ways of getting to school. Why, then, do many parents drive their children to school? The answer likely depends on the individual circumstances of each pupil, which means a class survey is the best way to find out some of the main reasons. Use the form below and ask everyone in class to answer the questions. Then review the responses in class. I do not walk or ride my bicycle (or scooter) to school because it s too dangerous I m not allowed to go anywhere by myself my parents simply won t allow it I don t want to school is too far away it takes too long my parents want to take me by car I can t for health reasons of a reason not listed here, which is: I do walk or ride my bicycle (or scooter) to school because it s fun to ride my bike/scooter or walk it s the fastest way to get there my parents insist that I do it s healthy to ride my bike/ scooter or walk of a reason not listed here, which is : This table has been reproduced on a separate page at the end of this section.
The following things bother me about my route to school: I would like to see the following improvements along my route to school: After discussing the responses and suggesting possible solutions, ask the pupils to write a letter to the head teacher or school travel plan co-ordinator on how the school can make it safer for children to travel to school. Activity: Points for GREENER School Travel Here s a chance for your class to earn points for greener school travel for an entire week! First, ask the pupils to design symbols together in class that will represent each greener means of travel/transport to school. That means walking, riding a bicycle or scooter, or taking the train, bus or tram. Maybe the class can even think of others? Next, draw a chart on a large piece of poster paper. Glue the symbols for each greener means of travel/transport into the left hand column. In the top line of the chart, enter the five days of the week (see the example below). Each pupil in class who uses a greener means of travel/ transport to school gets to add a point for that day by putting a tick into the corresponding field of the chart. At the end of the week, count how many points for greener travel the class earned during the week. Ask other classes in school to participate and see which one comes out on top! Try to make it a regular event and celebrate each class s success. Car Bicycle Walking Bus Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri This table has been reproduced on a separate page at the end of this section. As a homework activity, ask the pupils to conduct a similar exercise at home for one week and reward the family who uses the greener means of travel during that week. Activity: Mapping School Routes Note: This is more suitable for a small group. To carry out this activity: You will need: A map of the area around your school A camera Possibly balloons ATTENTION! For this activity, an adult supervisor must accompany pupils! Brief the pupils by stating: Calling all traffic detectives! Are there traffic dangers lurking near your school? For example, dangerous crossroads, missing pavements, pavements that are too narrow, etc. Here is your chance to find out! Together with a teacher or adult supervisor (mandatory!), walk along several different school routes in the vicinity of your school. Take a map of the area around your school with you, as well as a camera and balloons! On your walk, look for such hazards as dangerous intersections, missing pavements or narrow pavements, etc. Discuss any dangers that you find with the teacher/supervisor accompanying you and mark their location on your map. Use the camera to photograph the hazards and, optionally, hang balloons to mark each site for other pupils to see. When the group have completed their survey, discuss which school routes appear to be safe and which ones seem less safe. Take an especially close look at the immediate area in front of the school (e.g. check for parked cars that are blocking views, etc.). Attention: It s important to always be careful and vigilant near traffic, not just at those sites known to be dangerous!
You may wish to display the map at school or place a multimedia report (with photos) on the school website or insert the report into the school travel plan. Also ask the group to write or present their report to the local authority responsible for highways. Activity: Traffic (Chaos) in Front of School? With a small group of pupils (e.g. school council or Eco Group), in the morning just prior to the start of school, observe the street in front of your school for about 10 minutes. Count the number of pupils who arrive by car, on foot, by bicycle, by scooter or by bus. Write down any special observations (double-parked cars, etc.). Ask the pupils to use a tally sheet to record their observations and enter the results in the following table. Date: Car Bicycle On Foot Bus Scooter Other Number (from tally sheet) This table has been reproduced on a separate page at the end of this section. Discuss their findings Which was the most popular way to travel to school? If this is the car, the pupils could ask the school to consider setting up a walking bus or WOW (Walk once a Week) event. For more information visit http://www.walktoschool.org.uk Activity: Promoting greener ways to Travel Ask the class, how might they get other pupils or parents to take an interest in walking or riding a bicycle more (to school or elsewhere)? Working in groups, ask the children to design a large advert promoting greener ways to travel. These adverts could be displayed in the school reception area or on the school website. Project: Walk Week Imagine school starting outside the classroom for an entire week. Starting with a walk around the school instead of normal classroom instruction! An organised Walk Week activity can make it happen! Instead of sitting in the classroom to start the first hour of instruction, pupils will spend 20-30 minutes walking in the accompaniment of their teacher(s). If the school has a yard the walk can be taken there, or you may wish to leave school grounds and explore the immediate area around the school. If you can, plan a special activity for each day of the Walk Week: e.g. with observe and watch tasks, or perhaps a morning walk with a few minutes of silence to train awareness for different sounds. Project: Travelling to school on the walking bus Have you ever heard of a bus that moves around on feet instead of on wheels? The walking bus is exactly like any other school bus, meaning there are bus stops, a scheduled bus route and even a driver. The only difference: This bus walks from stop to stop instead of driving! An adult supervisor (dad, mum or teacher) walks along the entire route with the school children from start to finish. Children can get on at any stop along the route and be dropped off together at school. It s a lot more fun, and safer too, than travelling to school alone! Ask the pupils to paint a picture of what a walking bus may look like bearing in mind that it is a bus on feet! For more information visit: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/travelandtransport/cyclingandwalking/dg_10036318 The local authority may also have information about how to set up a walking bus at school. Notice for teachers regarding the walking bus activity: As the name implies, a walking bus is a bus that travels on foot. This activity, or initiative, requires an adult supervisor (parent or teacher) who can be relied on to regularly accompany a group of schoolchildren on their walk to school. This means the supervisor needs to be available on agreed days, and at agreed times, to walk the predetermined bus route, picking up children along the way at various bus stops and dropping all children off at school on time. The bus stops along the route are like regular bus stops, meaning a regular bus schedule with departure
times is posted at each stop. Ideally, a participating school will support several walking bus routes and have several adult supervisors available, so that as many children as possible have an opportunity to walk to school using the walking bus. Individuals who wish to participate as walking bus supervisors ought to receive a training course (your local authority may know of these), be equipped with a safety vest and require a CRB check. An important issue to settle in advance is whether or not the local authority will assume liability! Please contact your local authority for more details.
Role play: Teaching Materials for Key Stage 2 (age 8-11) Lena and Jakob are once again battling their way through the morning traffic chaos in front of their school. Today, a traffic jam has backed things up and many double-parked cars make a clear view of the street impossible. Steffi s: Lena, Jakob! Wait for me! A voice suddenly cries out above the traffic noise and the two can barely identify it as Steffi s. Their friend is waving to them and she has just stepped out of her mum s car. When Steffi catches up to Jakob and Lena, she greets them. Steffi s: Jakob & Lena : I would love to walk to school the way you two do! Then why don t you? With Jakob adding Jakob: Steffi s: You don t live any farther from school than we do! I know, but my parents won t let me. They say it s too dangerous. Steffi s reply gets Jakob thinking. Jakob: Yeah, that s true. My mum always tells me to watch out for the traffic, especially right in front of school! Lena, however, has a different thought Lena: I find it odd that so many parents take their kids to school by car because they think the traffic makes it too dangerous to walk or take a bike. Don t they understand that they are only contributing to the traffic problem? With that, Jakob is eager to jump in. Jakob: Not only that, but cars are also a big cause of climate change, at least that s what we learned yesterday in school. Steffi finishes the conversation with: Steffi: Just imagine how nice and quiet it would be around here in the mornings if everyone, children and teachers alike, were to walk or ride bicycles to school. Maybe then my parents would finally let me walk, too!
Car Comfortable Quiet Fast Fun Noisy Climate-friendly Bicycle Walking Bus Total
I do not walk or ride my bicycle (or scooter) to school because I do walk or ride my bicycle (or scooter) to school because it s too dangerous I m not allowed to go anywhere by myself my parents simply won t allow it I don t want to school is too far away it takes too long my parents want to take me by car I can t for health reasons of a reason not listed here, which is: it s fun to ride my bike/scooter or walk it s the fastest way to get there my parents insist that I do it s healthy to ride my bike/scooter or walk of a reason not listed here, which is : The following things bother me about my route to school: I would like to see the following improvements along my route to school:
Car Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Bicycle Walking Bus
Date: Car Bicycle On Foot Bus Scooter Other Number (from tally sheet)