Climate Change and the Environment Investigation: Tuning in

The issue of climate change has been in the media a lot in recent times. It received additional attention when the Australian Government agreed to sign the Kyoto Protocol. But why is climate change an important issue? Who does it affect? What causes climate change? What are the effects of climate change? What can you do about this issue?

  1. Download a copy of a KWHL chart. Record your answers to the following questions on the chart:

    • What do you know about climate change?
    • What do you want to know about climate change?
    • How can you find out what you want to know?
    • What did you learn about climate change?

    Continue to record any new things that you want to find out about climate change as well as the things that you learn as you complete the different activities for this unit.

  2. Download a copy of the Australian Government Department of Climate Change's Climate change – what does it mean?

    Use the information contained in Climate change – what does it mean? to answer the following questions in your learning journal:

    • What is climate change?
    • What causes climate change?
    • What activities cause climate change?
    • What are the effects of climate change?

    Remember to record your answer to each question in your own words.

  3. Use either the Powerhouse Museum's Interactive Bigfoot website or Earth Day's Footprint Quiz to estimate the size of your ecological footprint.

    An ecological footprint is a tool that is used to estimate:

    • the effect you are having on the environment
    • your consumption of the world's limited resources
    • how sustainable are the things you are currently doing for the environment.

    How many worlds would you currently use up?

  4. Watch Sustainability Victoria's advertisement, You can make a difference. You may need to right click on the link and save it to your computer if the advertisement does not start playing.

    Download a copy of a Plus and Minus chart.

    Record the number of 'worlds' that you would currently use up on the Plus and Minus chart. The number of 'worlds' used up is based on the results of your ecological footprint quiz.

    List the things you currently do that:

    • reduce the effects of climate change and help the environment
    • add to the effects of climate change and damage the environment.

    Share your chart with at least two of your classmates. What positive and negative actions do you have in common?

  5. Download a copy of My climate change contract. Record the positive actions that you will continue to do that reduce the effects of climate change and help the environment. List the negative actions that you will no longer do and suggest positive new actions to take their place.

    Date and sign the contract. Ask your teacher or a classmate to witness your climate change contract. You now have agreed to make a conscious decision to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the effects you are having on our climate and the environment.

    For the teacher | Introduction | Overall Aims | Investigation: Tuning in | Investigation: Research | Investigation: Analysing | Investigation: Taking Action | Evaluation and assessment | Resources