Mbed Sose Environmentally Sustainable Transport Yr5

Brad

Society & Environment Education/Curriculum EDUC2007/EDUC4156

Final Assignment

Developing a Unit of Work in Society and Environment Genuine Inquiry Booklet

Your Name- Brad Your Tutor’s NameYour Tutorial Day and Time- Tuesday

1pm

Brad

UNIT TOPIC/ TITLE: ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT YEAR LEVEL: 5 TIME FRAME: FOUR WEEKS I feel that because of the number of learning areas that can be employed in this unit the teaching time frame can be shortened without the risk of students missing out on other important lessons. Ideally some of these lessons would tie in directly with what students are learning about in other learning areas, for example they may be learning about volume in maths, or about writing informational texts and reports in literacy. The school transport survey presents an opportunity to assess a number of students’ abilities including investigating and working in groups. RATIONALE – Explain why you think it is important to teach this topic. This unit of work is based on prior knowledge that students already have about global warming and the potential impact it will have on our future if it is not addressed. This knowledge will be recapped early in the lesson sequence before moving on to the causes of global warming, namely emissions of a number of greenhouse gases, and more specifically the contribution to the problem made by carbon dioxide produced by transport. Emissions from transport represented 13.7% of all greenhouse gas emissions in Australia in 2006 (Department of Climate Change, 2006) and present a prime opportunity where we can reduce our impact on the environment. However for many people transport is an integral part of their daily lives and an understanding of which transport impacts the environment and what possible alternatives are available is important for students so that they, as well as their families, can make informed choices about how much their own transport affects the environment. Also important to consider are the limitations that are presented to us in the search for environmentally sustainable transport options and the roles that industry and government play in this scenario. For these reasons my lessons address these three areas to fully investigate the topic of sustainable transport.

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AIM – Explain the overarching educational aim of this unit of work. This unit of work aims to develop in students the ability to think rationally and fairly about how transport contributes to climate change, and to what extent it is their ethical responsibility to minimise their own (and their families’) greenhouse gas emissions from transport.

GUIDING QUESTIONS – Develop one or two guiding questions that will help to direct the study and deal with both the ethical and empirical components of the topic. Empirical- What contribution to climate change can be attributed to transport emissions? What alternatives are there to fossil fuel dependent transport? Ethical- Who has the responsibility to ensure that global emissions from transport are reduced? EMPIRICAL UNDERSTANDINGS – Briefly describe the empirical understandings (scientific/social) you will need to develop through this unit. It will be assumed knowledge of the students from previous learning that emissions of a number of greenhouse gases from a variety of sources are contributing to climate change. This will be briefly recapped however. What will be developed through this unit is a greater understanding of the impact that transport has on climate change. In Australia transport accounts for

13.7% of all greenhouse gas emissions in Australia (Department of

Climate Change, 2006) representing a total of 76.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. The emissions from road transport total 66.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. There are a number of sustainable transport options that can be explored. Most obvious are those that simply eliminate emissions altogether such as walking or cycling. Other readily available options include using more public transport, or car pooling in our journeys. Lastly there are options that are more dependent on technology such as electric or hybrid cars and alternative fuels. Though there is currently a significant amount of these types of alternatives available, more support from industry and governments would allow them to be used more significantly by the population.

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ETHICAL UNDERSTANDINGS – Briefly describe the ethical understandings you will need to develop through this unit. Despite already mentioning the assumed knowledge of previous climate change learning I feel that the ethical aspect of the issue should be dealt with again. Although the basic facts and figures can be quickly recapped, the need for students to have an ethical standpoint to base their current and future decisions on should be reinforced. In addition to their own ethical views, I’d like the students to start to understand other parties’ ethical obligations in relation to climate change, particularly industry and government, and how in turn individuals’ actions and choices can influence these groups.

ASSESSMENT – Indicate briefly how you would go about assessing the development of students’ knowledge, skills and values in relation to your unit of work. I would assess the students work in this unit on two fronts. Firstly I would assess their posters that they have made after lesson eight, because they give an example of students knowledge that they have gained about the topic of sustainable transport and how it relates to them. Secondly I would need to assess their views on the issues surrounding the topic and this is best done through observation of their ethical discussions. Additionally there are a number of other outcomes that can be assessed in the duration of this unit. Mathematics can be assessed in the lesson where calculations are made about the volume and emissions of carbon dioxide gases. A number of literacy activities can be assessed including the writing and delivering of presentations to other classes. The surveys themselves present an opportunity to assess a number of skills that fit into a number of curriculum areas including science in addition to literacy and maths again. An example of a simple rubric is in the appendix.

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SOCIETY AND ENVIRONMENT UNIT PLANNER (SACSA FRAMEWORK) SELECT STRAND(S)  X  

Time, continuity and change Place, space and environment Societies and cultures Social Systems

IDENTIFY CURRICULUM PERSPECTIVES TO BE EMPHASISED    X  

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples Multicultural Gender Socioeconomic Disability Rural and Isolated

IDENTIFY ESSENTIAL LEARNINGS TO BE EMPHASISED X  X X X

Futures Identity Interdependence Thinking Communication

KEY COMPETENCIES TO BE EMPHASISED X X  X X  X

KC1: collecting, analysing and organising information KC2: communicating ideas and information KC3: planning and organising activities KC4: working with others in teams KC5: using mathematical ideas and techniques KC6: solving problems KC7: using technology

IDENTIFY VALUES  Democratic Process  Social Justice X Ecological Sustainability

LITERACY FOCUS NUMERACY FOCUS ICT FOCUS

 X 

Brad

Brad

SEQUENCE OF IDEAS / LESSONS Lesson One- Global Warming and Climate Change Recap Get the students together for a Crown Mint Quiz (every sensible contribution gets a crown mint, one per student per quiz though) about the previously studied topic of global warming. Include questions that allow students to remember what they already know about the topic such as, What is global warming? What causes global warming? What emissions contribute to global warming? What areas are affected by global warming? (Glaciers, Arctic and Antarctic ice) What areas will be affected by global warming in the future? (Pacific Islands, India, Bangladesh etc.) Create a mind map on the board to summarize this prior knowledge.

Lesson Two-How much is a tonne of carbon, and how much does transport emit? Allows students to get an overall picture of transport’s contribution and to also realise how much pollution we actually emit into the atmosphere. Ask them how much a tonne of carbon is. 1 gram of CO2 is 556 millilitres, (Andrew, L 2004; LowCarbonEconomy.com) so show the children a water bottle with that approximate amount. Ask how much volume would a kilogram of CO2 take up, which is 0.556 cubic metres. Show this with a few metre rulers and helpers. But how much volume is a tonne of CO2? 1kg X 1000=556 cubic metres. Have the students work in pairs to measure the volume of the classroom and other nearby rooms to see how it compares. For example if a classroom were to be a generous 10m x 10m in area and have 2.8 metre ceilings, it would take two classrooms to hold one tonne of CO2. Get the pairs to make posters to put into each room comparing the room’s size to the equivalent tonnes of CO2 that would fit in the room. Now tell the students that the emissions from road transport in Australia total 66.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Ask them to calculate how much area this would cover. This activity gives students a more realistic idea of how much we are actually dealing with when we talk about emissions. Introduce a few facts to help them visualise how much pollution we emit, for example, Tasmania is 68,401 km2. If we spread Australia's yearly production of CO2 over the surface of Tasmania it would form a 3 metre high blanket across the island (Andrew, L 2004).

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Lesson Three-calculating our own emissions from transport. Bring my bike into the classroom (I’ll hopefully never run out of ideas for lessons from my bike). Ask the students why I ride my bike to work. My main reasons are fitness and enjoyment, cost and pollution savings are a bonus thought they are important. List all the options on the board. Mention weight loss and ask the students how many kilograms do they think I can lose a week by riding my bike to school. Claim to the students that I can lose between 17kg and 21kg every week! Now explain to them why: assuming I’ll work at a school that is 15km from my home, and that I will ride to school 5 days per fortnight, leaving my medium sized car that has a fuel economy of 10l/100km at home. Show them the two carbon calculators that I used to base my claim on; http://www.carbonequity.info/crags/calculator.html http://www.abc.net.au/tv/carboncops/calculator.htm Explain that even though both sites use annual figures, we can just enter in a small amount and still have the calculation. Ask the students what is happening on the other 5 days a fortnight when I’m not on my bike, which is when my pollution goes straight into the atmosphere. Ask the group how far they live from school, and what cars their parents drive to generate a few scenarios by plugging in the figures to both websites. Ask if anyone knows how far they drive on the weekends, on a holiday or how far their parents’ car travels in one year. Propose that what we now need is a snapshot of what our transport emissions from the school are. Have the students work in small groups to design a survey that can be taken to other classes and staff so that we can get real data on our emissions. Information needed could include distances travelled for school for errands and for leisure and types of cars driven. Also it is important to collect data on who already walks, cycles or car pools to school as well as any weekly combinations of options. Also include a section on the survey form for “Brad’s class use only” where later analysis and calculations can be written.

Lesson Four-Cross curricular lesson- English-(Liz, I wasn’t sure whether this was slightly off-topic to count as one of my unit lessons, but it contributes to the process so I kept it in.) Have the students each draft up a half page informational article about the topic they are studying and why they want to survey the school about its emissions. Get the survey groups to each prepare a presentation from these drafts, with a view of delivering these

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presentations to classes when they ask them to fill out the surveys. Before this occurs also choose one group or students from a number of groups top give a quick presentation at a school assembly.

Lesson Five- students present their surveys to classes and staff members. Depending on the size of the school allocate each group a survey group made up of a combination of other class students and staff. It may be necessary to have the students do their presentations in shifts. Contact staff members afterwards for feedback on how the students’ presentations went, and also encourage them to return as many surveys as possible, perhaps helping students with them in class time, maybe suggesting they base a lesson on the survey as well, as well as encouraging students to take surveys home for help from parents.

Lesson Six- Collation of surveys and calculation of emissions. After collection of all survey forms get the survey groups to calculate out the emissions from their surveys. Because it will be done using online calculators this lesson needs to be an ICT lesson in the computer pool room. Allocate a supervisor from each group to make sure that their fellow members understand how to enter the data. Most forms should be easy to interpret, although a number may have different travel modes during one week. If some groups have too many or too few surveys returned, share the load around the class, which shouldn’t cause any problems, as long as the classes are noted on the sheet (part of the initial survey design).

Lesson Seven- Analysis of data Now that the groups have their emissions calculations completed they can get a picture of both the emissions and non-polluting practises for each class. Have the groups express their classes’ emissions as an average for the class to avoid any variations due to student or survey number. Each group should now be able to show what the emissions of their class are, as well as what emissions are being avoided thanks to better travel choices being made by people in those classes.

Brad

Lesson Eight- What other transport options are available to us? This lesson allows students to explore what other options there are that are available to us for transport. A number of websites provide information as well as further ideas for research. A good start list includes; http://www.csiro.au/science/Automotive.html http://www.travelsmart.gov.au/ http://www.travelsmart.gov.au/bikeability/ http://www.bikesa.asn.au/page.php?section=96 http://www.bv.com.au/join-in/40587/ http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/environment/travelsmartsa/publications.asp http://www.greenvehicleguide.gov.au/ Lists emissions of all new cars http://www.naturalstrategies.com.au/transport/ Site from a group seeking to reduce impact on the environment through means such as transport http://www.climatechange.gov.au/ -Australian Federal Government website on climate change http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticleAsOnePage.aspx?id=104663 -Choice magazine article discussing the Toyota and Honda hybrid vehicles http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com/scripts/nc.dll?ADCC:STANDARD::pc=PC_151048 http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com/adccwr/publications/guides_factsheets/tindo_fac t_sheet.pdf -Two sites about Tindo, the world’s first solar powered bus that is in service on the Adelaide connector route. http://au.todaytonight.yahoo.com/article/1748373/lifestyle/blade-runner-electric-car http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,21439495-2682,00.html http://www.revaaustralia.com.au/ http://www.doitgreen.com.au/en/Motoring/REVA/ http://www.doitgreen.com.au/Motoring/ -all related to electric cars Ask the students to design a poster about what way they would like to reduce their transport emissions both now and in the future when they can make more choices for themselves. Have them give reasons for why they have chosen their particular alternative transport options. Ask them to outline the savings that their choices would make in CO2 emissions.

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Lesson Nine-ethical discussion-should we change our transport choices. Using the information that the students have collated for their posters, the aim of this discussion is to get students to appreciate that there are alternatives to using high polluting travel in their day to day lives, and that they may not be as limiting as some people think they are. 1-What purposes do we use transport in our lives? 2-What kinds of transport do we use in our lives? 3-What transport use would we consider to be most important in our lives? 4-Why do we consider these examples to be most important? 5-What transport use would we consider to be less important or optional in our lives? 6-Why are these examples considered less important than those most important? 7-What alternative types of transport are available for us to use that are better for the environment? 8-Which examples of our transport use should we replace with better alternatives? 9-What are the reasons for replacing these examples? 10-Does replacing a more important or less important example of our transport have a greater or lesser benefit for the environment? 11-Apart from helping the environment, does changing our transport choices affect our lives in any way? 12-Are these effects advantages or disadvantages? 13-Should we be trying to replace all our transport choices with more sustainable options?

Lesson Ten-Recommendations and report back to survey classes. Have each group formulate recommendations for their survey classes, including scenarios with figures on emissions to back up their recommendations. Ask each class to once more host the groups as they present their recommendations to them. Compile and overall emissions snapshot for the whole school and deliver it to the school principal with recommendations included as well.

Lesson Eleven- Where does the responsibility lie for change The students in Lesson Eight have now explored a number of options that are available and after the Lesson Nine discussion should have come to the conclusion that we can easily change our transport choices to reduce our emissions.

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However one sticking point for people in Australia is that we are in the habit of travelling further in our cars, either because of where we live and work, or where we choose to go for holidays and leisure. Some of these needs are not ideally serviced by public transport, yet at the same time some options that should be available to us are not, such as the REVA, while others may be beyond many people, such as converting our own cars to electric operation. Watch the DVD Who Killed the Electric Car clipping in to the sections that discuss what were the possible reasons the EV1 disappeared from American roads. Also discuss the REVA electric car and the reasons that it has been delayed from being introduced to the Australian market discussed by Crouch (2006) as well as Penna & Pleffer (2007) which are mainly concerned with safety standards.

Brad

Lesson Twelve- Ethical discussion- Who decides what activities we choose to undertake? Using the above information about what influence different groups have on the introduction of electric cars as a stimulus the following discussion should help students explore this issue for themselves. This sequence of questions relates to the delay of the availability of the REVA electric car because of the crash test results, and how much control laws actually have on our actions. (Liz, I’ll admit that this is partly based on my frustration and anger at how many people are killed and injured on the roads, but I don’t think it is appropriate to use that aspect as a stimulus, despite the unending amount of tragedy we are confronted with on an almost weekly basis.) 1-Has there ever been a time when you have done something that wasn’t safe? 2-Have you ever done anything that may have been harmful to you or someone else? 3-Was there anything that should have prevented you from doing this activity? 4-Was the prevention effective in stopping this activity? 5-Was the prevention a physical prevention or more of a rule or law? 6-Is there ever a time when this activity could or should be undertaken despite its danger or risk of harm? 7-What are the potential effects or consequences of this activity? 8-Who was it that prevented or should prevent this activity from occurring? 9-Can you think of an activity that is dangerous or harmful that occurs without any prevention? 10-What would be an effective way of preventing these actions from happening? 11-Who do you think has the responsibility to prevent this activity from occurring? 12-Should we be ultimately responsible for our actions or should our actions be controlled by other external parties?

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Lesson Thirteen- Ethical discussion- Who has the responsibility to implement environmental initiatives. Using the above information about what influence different groups have on the introduction of electric cars as a stimulus the following discussion should help students explore this issue for themselves. This discussion seeks to develop the understanding in students that some groups may selfishly avoid environmental responsibilities, and also that there are options that these groups may respond to, such as legislation, or the buying choices of consumers. 1-Have any of us or our families taken measures to help the environment? 2-What measures have we taken? 3-If we have been able to take these measures, does this mean that everyone should? 4-Are some measures too difficult for some people to do? 5-What measures have we taken because of our own intentions? 6- What measures have we taken because of other peoples’ or groups’ intentions? 7-Are there measures that we don’t take that others require us to? 8-Are there measures that we could take but can’t because other people or groups prevent us from being able to? 9-What reasons are there for those people or groups preventing us from helping the environment? 10-Are these reasons realistic and fair or are they based on selfish interests of the groups? 11-If the reasons are realistic, should these groups be given assistance to develop environmentally sustainable options? 12-If the reasons are based on selfish interests of the groups, what can be done to force them to introduce environmentally sustainable options? 13-What can be done to influence what these groups do that has an impact on the environment? 14-Who has the responsibility to influence these groups? At the end of this unit the students should have a sound empirical understanding about what impact transport contributes to global warming, and also an intention to put into action some strategies in their lives that can help reduce their own carbon emissions.

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References Andrew, L 2004, Carbon Conundrum, ABC Science Online, Viewed 28th October 2008, Crouch, B 2006, Who is killing the electric car, viewed 11th November 2008, Department of Climate Change 2006, National Greenhouse Gas Inventory 2006: Accounting for the Kyoto Target, viewed 28th October 2008, Penna, A & Pleffer, A 2007, Reva: green and clean, viewed 11th November 2008, Who killed the electric car 2006, Sony Pictures.

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Poor

Satisfactory

Good

Excellent

Transportation alternatives

Does not understand the concepts in the topic

Partly understands the concepts in the topic

Mostly understands the concepts in the topic

Fully understands the concepts in the topic

Ethical Discussions

Rarely participates in discussions, making few contributions and not listening to others

Sometimes participates in discussions, making some contributions and sometimes listening to others

Generally participates in discussions, making good contributions and mostly listening to others

Always participates in discussions, making thoughtful contributions and listening well to others

Group work

Rarely works well in groups rarely on task, rarely completes tasks, provides incomplete or incorrect work with many errors

Sometimes works well in groups, needs prompts to stay on task, provides work that is sometimes incorrect or incomplete

Generally works well in groups, mostly on task, completes work with good results

Always works well in groups, stays on task, completes work with high quality results

Appendix-Rubric to assist with assessment.