PROCEDURE
1.Distribute the Energy Awareness Quiz.
2.Have students take the quiz and discuss the correct answers given below. Ask them what answers they disagree with and what answers surprise them.
3.Tell students that the environmental problem that gets the most attention these days is global warming and the green house effect. Ask students to list ways that everyone contributes to the amount of carbon dioxide and other green house gases entering the atmosphere.
4.Have students complete How Much CO2 Do You Spew? Debrief with the following questions:
a.What changes, if any, would students consider making in their consumption habits after doing this activity?
b.What statements can students make about our consumption and GHG production as compared with other countries? (It is much higher than most countries’.)
c.Which energy topics would students like to find out more about?”
(This quiz goes as far as to say that Global Warming is a “fact” and goes on to use scare tactics to get kids to fall in line with the idea of reducing their Co2 output.)
“Global warming has been a source of controversy within the scientific community for many years. After many investigations, it is now well-documented and accepted as fact….
Sometimes things like the greenhouse effect seem far away—the same as troubles in the oil-rich countries of the Middle East (they presently, but not always, sell us all the oil we can pay for).
Just like waste dumped at sea, these problems eventually come home—proving one of Murphy’s laws, that “What goes around, comes around.” Eventually we all must pay the costs.
So how much CO2 do you contribute to the greenhouse effect? This is your “CO2 Quotient.”
Here’s how to figure it out.
Your answer may shock you, but it should help you to see that lowering your CO2 quotient is necessary to your very survival. It seems with this problem, only two outcomes are possible: a big win or an even bigger loss.”