Potential Effects
Links changes in climate to everyday items

What's Driving Our Community?
Collects physical data in field with students

What's Driving Our Community?
Analyzes physical data collection results

Economics and Emissions Trading
Demonstrates the intricacies of emissions credit trading

Day 5 - Quick View
On this day, students examine the potential effects of climate change, including the effects on wildlife, and on everyday items.  They continue experiments with carbon dioxide to examine its chemical properties, improving the understanding that unseen gases have mass. Students create a model to examine how ice melt might change sea levels, and affect island nations. And, students continue the economic activity from the previous day.

Potential Effects - Students use everyday items and link how changes in the climate could affect those items. Students will research the effects of climate change on wildlife and other items they use in daily life, and understand the linkages between them. Students will also fill out a sheet "Affecting Me" that looks at how climate change may affect their lives.

What's Driving Our Community? - In this activity, students will determine what the people of their community are driving in order to make recommendations for a healthier atmosphere.  Students examine traffic flows to determine what types of vehicles are most predominant. Using an emissions calculator for different types of vehicles, students must calculate data on emissions, and graph their findings.  Students then make recommendations to reach a higher level of sustainability for their town.

Economics of Emissions Trading: Economic Activity - This is a fairly involved activity that offers a tremendous learning opportunity about interrelationships of companies and people in a modern economy.  Students work in teams to create an industrial product.  Their currency is gas emission credits. The object of the game is for the student's mock-company to make an overall profit. Realistic circumstances like the buying and processing of raw materials into a finished product, waste disposal, legislative regulations, and marketing are integrated into this competitive, free market simulation. Energy efficiency and waste reduction become key concepts, lessons that reinforce lessons learned from the Eating Up Energy activity.

Economic Activity - Continued.

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