What size is your carbon footprint? How we live affects our planet The way we live affects other life on our planet – even animals that live as far away

What size is your carbon footprint?

How we live affects our planet

The way we live affects other life on our planet – even animals that live as far

away as polar bears.

If you did that, the polar bear

would probablyeat you!

If I went to the north pole dressed

up as a seal, do you think I could cuddle a polar

bear?



Do you know the name of this area?What do you think it’s like to live here?

We live here



For part of the year we live on a frozen sea called the Arctic, around the North Pole.

We catch most of our food

when we’re on the ice.

Do you know what our main

food is?



We eat seals! I can easily

escape from that

polar bear!

We eat seals, but we have to catch them on the ice.

Do you know why?



We can swim, but not as fast as seals.

We can’t catch seals in the water. They swim quickly and escape! We have to catch them on the ice.Now let me explain how people are making it harder for me to catch seals.



Scientists have shown that all of these are causing a problem for life on our planet.

What is it?

What do these pictures show?

Car exhaust fumes

Factory pollution

Aeroplane exhaust fumes

Power stations



Carbon dioxide gas is released from a lot of things that humans do - from power stations, cars, homes - and even breathing!

Do you know what is made in power stations?

Carbon dioxide is a gas that is produced from all these processes.



Carbon dioxide acts like a blanket around the Earth. This is making the Earth get warmer.

As the Earth gets warmer, what

do you think happens to the ice

in the Arctic?



It melts…. then we’re in big trouble! We can swim, but we can’t catch seals!

What do you think will

happen to us if we can’t catch enough

food?



If we can’t catch the food we need, we will probably die and may even become extinct.

Can you help to slow down climate change so we don’t lose the

ice that we need to survive?



We could use less energy. Can you think of ways to REDUCE the energy we use?



As well as reducing the energy we use, we can use sources of energy that don’t release carbon dioxide. Can you think of some?



In the lessons that follow, you will learn how we can use the power of the sun to make…..

electricity - using solar panels called photovoltaic (or PV)

modules

hot water - using solar panels called solar thermal collectors



Copyright information

All but two of the photographs of polar bears and the seal were placed in the public domain by US Fish and Wildlife Service http://images.fws.gov Polar bear on ice - Elizabeth Lambrinski (Slide 8)Polar bear walking along coast – Susane Miller (Slide 10)

The photograph of Earth from space was placed in the public domain by US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, http://visibleearth.nasa.gov

Photographs of the polluting car exhaust and the electricity appliances, Ian Mitchell (Slide 6 and 11)

The gas fire, Trevor Duckworth. The gas heater, Tessa Mitchell

This PowerPoint and lesson are based on work by Ian Mitchell, The Green Egg Company, developed & edited by Amie Andrews for TLCP and Ali Ross, Sundog Energy.

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What size is your carbon footprint? How we live affects our planet The way we live affects other life on our planet – even animals that live as far away