Consumption
Summary information
Age range: | 5-11 |
Curriculum links: | Geography, science |
Time needed: | 50 minutes |
Group size: | Individuals or pairs |
Setting: | Indoors |
Key vocabulary: | Consumption, consumer, pollution, biodiversity, habitat, climate change, natural resources, renewable resources, fossil fuels |
Sustainability learning outcome(s): |
|
Preparation:
Watch the short slide show about the life story of paper. Ask pupils to think about the ways that this process might affect the environment. www.ibuydifferent.com
Discuss: Is wildlife affected by paper manufacture and use? How? Does this process pollute the soil, water or air? How? Does the process contribute to climate change? How? Does the process use renewable or non-renewable resources? What affect does this have?
Resources needed:
Internet access, large sheets of paper
Procedure:
Ask the pupils to define these words – consume, consumer and consumption.
Task: use the life stories from the following websites to create a mapping diagram showing the links between the things we buy and the damage we’re doing to the environment: www.ibuydifferent.com
Plenary
Discuss: How does buying things help to cause – climate change/habitat loss and the extinction of species/water pollution/air pollution/litter? What can we do about it?
Extensions:
Use a timeline to map out the life story of one or more of the things that you bought or used yesterday e.g. an apple, aluminium can, chocolate bar or a shirt.
Evaluation:
Work with a partner. Imagine that an enormous meteorite is hurtling towards your bedroom. You have a few moments to rescue the 6 things you’ll ‘need’ to survive in the dangerous post-meteorite-strike world. What will you take? Why did you want these things? Why did you want some of the things you didn’t rescue?
Make a comment