WebQuest: How Green Are You?

 Main

Have you ever wondered where your trash goes after it is picked up off your curb every week ?
 
Introduction

As the world population increases at an alarming rate, resources are becoming scarce, including space to “store” garbage.  What does that mean for us?  It means that the number of people on this planet is growing fast and furious and eventually, we won’t be able to produce enough energy and food to keep up with the demand.  This project will give a chance to measure how much energy and resources you consume.  After reflecting on your impact, you will create a public service announcement to educate your community.

Task
Your teammates and you will gather data about the type of garbage your household produces in the span of a week.  Next you will present the data using MS Excel.  What type of graph should you use?  Your group will need to pick the type of graph that will best convey your message. 

Process

1.                  For 7 consecutive days, your group will collect information on the type and amount of garbage produced by each of your families.  The data will be saved in the Excel file Data Collection.  At the end of the 7 days, you will combine the results on the 5^th tab labeled Combined Data.  At the bottom of this table, you will calculate the statistics (average, median, minimum and maximum) using Excel formulas.

 

2.         Visit National Geographic's Great Energy Challenge and see how each of you measures up in terms of energy use.  You will need to enter your zip code towards the middle of the page on the left hand side under Personal Energy Meter.  Check out the map to see how you stack up compared to the rest of the world.

 

3.        Take a look at your group's statistics and make a proposal as to how you can improve your impact on the environment by:

• Reducing the amount of garbage produced.

• Reducing your family's consumption of energy.

           Record your propsed changes on the last column of your Combined Data sheet in the Excel file.

           Here are some websites with ideas on how to reduce reduce your carbon footprint:

• http://www.eere.energy.gov/kids/

• http://change.nature.org/

• http://www.epa.gov/students/

4.         Create a public service announcement using a medium of your choice (PowerPoint, video, paper poster, etc.) that contains the following:

•          Visual representation of the data collected

•         Share your score from the National Geographic's Great Energy Challenge and compare in terms of the community and the world.

•         Recommendations on how to reduce your carbon footprint. 

Evaluation

See the scoring rubric for information on how the project will be evaluated.

 

Conclusion

Now that you have completed the hard work, I would like your team to give me some feedback about how this project may have affected your daily habits.

Click here to take a reflection survey

At the conclusion of this project, you can look back and see how your daily habits have changed.  Now you can take it one step further and educate those around you who are willing to listen to your wise ways! 

Credits