Environmental FootprintTeachable Unit

By

Elizabeth, Nancy, Mike, Nathan, Fallyn

June 16-18, 2008

BrainstormingEngage

media3.guzer.com/pictures/homers_brain.jpg

How do Humans impact the environment?

BrainstormingEngage

What contributes to pollution?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Snpp.gif

Impact of Car Purchasing Choiceteachable tidbit

Learning Objective: Analyzing the environmental impact of

purchasing a car through graphing data

http://girtby.net/images/homer-car.gif

Exploration Activity

Economic comparison of carsHow would you decide which car to buy?

InstructionsCreate a line graph for your given data set

comparing costs in thousands of dollars (Y-axis) versus time in years (X-axis)

Graphing Data (Example)

CAR PURCHASE PRICE

MILES PER GALLON

A $16,000 23

Assume:

Gas Price= $4. 50 per gallon

Drive 12,000 miles per year

Graphing DataAssume: Gas Price= $4. 50 per gallon Drive 12,000 miles per year

CAR PURCHASE PRICE

MILES PER GALLON

B $23,000 44

C $10,000 20

D $7,000 14

ResultsExplain

Which car would you pick? Why?

Car A (Green Line): C(t)=2355t+16,000

Car B (Red Line): C(t)= 1230t+23,000

Car C (Blue Line): C(t)=2700t+10,000

Car D (Yellow Line): C(t)=3855t+7,000

price

Time

A: 2007 Scion tCB: 2008 Civic Hybrid

C: 2002 Ford Mustang D: 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Environmental StatisticsElaborate

CAR CARBON EMISSIONS PER YEAR (Kg)

Scion tC 4538.8

Civic Hybrid 2485.6

Mustang 5220.0

Jeep 7457.1

http://www.footprintnetwork.org/gfn_sub.php?content=global_footprint

http://www.footprintnetwork.org/gfn_sub.php?content=global_footprint

Evaluation

Would you change your mind, now accounting for the environmental impact?

Some Interesting Facts…

Driving your car for 3.75 miles (assuming 39 mpg) produces 1kg of CO2

Flying in a plane for 1.375 miles produces 1kg of CO2

Making 2 plastic bottles or 5 plastic bags produces 1kg of CO2

Producing 1 American cheeseburger produces 3.1 kg of CO2

Timeforchange.org