Hands-on Activity Creative Engineering Design:
Carbon Footprints and Transportation

Learning Objectives

After this activity, students should be able to:

• Explain individual carbon footprints.
• List means for reducing carbon footprints.

Educational Standards

Each TeachEngineering lesson or activity is correlated to one or more K-12 science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) educational standards.

All 100,000+ K-12 STEM standards covered in TeachEngineering are collected, maintained and packaged by the Achievement Standards Network (ASN), a project of D2L (www.achievementstandards.org).

In the ASN, standards are hierarchically structured: first by source; e.g., by state; within source by type; e.g., science or mathematics; within type by subtype, then by grade, etc.

International Technology and Engineering Educators Association - Technology

Materials List

For the entire class to share:

• 5 lb. bag of charcoal briquettes
• 1 tall, white kitchen trash bag
• 1 plastic grocery bag
• paper towels
• all-purpose cleaner
• white 8 1⁄2” x 11” paper (one for each student)
• A Closer Look at Greenhouse Gases Article (one for each student)
• Carbon Footprint Worksheet (one for each student)
• (optional, if time) Road Trip Worksheet (one for each student)

Worksheets and Attachments

Introduction/Motivation

Transportation plays a sizable role in our greenhouse gas emissions with transportation contributing over 33% of CO₂ emissions. Electricity generation is the other major contributor to CO₂ emissions, with over 36%. A person's transportation and day to day electrical consumption decisions make up a big part of their carbon footprint, due to the burning of fossil fuels to supply electricity and transportation fuels. In this activity, you are going to consider your own choices in transportation and calculate your overall carbon footprint in order to consider your personal impacts and make informed changes.

Procedure

Background

Since its formation, the climate of the Earth has been in a constant state of change. Many factors have altered the climate, including the Earth’s orbit and changing proximity to the sun, as well as the amount of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere. Human societies have evolved during an extended period of favorable climatic conditions. In fact, some researchers believe that a period of favorable climate was the primary factor that allowed the rise of civilization. Over the past several decades, scientists have compiled an increasing amount of data indicating that, for the first time in Earth’s history, the activities of one species—homo sapiens— are altering the climate. Research shows a significant increase in the concentration of heat-trapping gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO₂), in the Earth’s atmosphere since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. A rise in global temperatures corresponds to the rise in carbon dioxide. There are many complex forces, both natural and man-made, at work governing our climate. Should we be concerned if human activities are changing the climate? How might a changing climate affect us?

It is estimated that ten thousand years ago there were five million humans on Earth. One thousand years ago the population had reached 254-245 million, and by 1900 the world’s population had reached 1.6 billion. Today, there are more than seven billion people on Earth. Natural climate cycles provided warmer climates and allowed the human population to grow rapidly. As some climatologists continued to analyze and record temperatures they found a rising temperature trend, one that was moving faster than they would have anticipated based on normal Earth cycles. Most scientists believe that the way humans are interacting with the Earth in their everyday lives is causing a faster than natural climate change.

The use of fossil fuels allows humans to see at night, to stay comfortable in hot weather and cold, to cook food efficiently, to keep food for longer periods of time, and to travel quickly from place to place. Fossil fuels allow us to work, move goods and products to market, and to make technology work. The CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere prior to the Industrial Revolution was about 280 ppm (parts per million). Currently, CO₂ concentration is about 410 ppm, more than a 45 percent increase. Levels of methane, nitrous oxide, and other greenhouse gases have also increased. Scientists are studying what effects these higher levels of gases are currently having on our climate and what the future implications may be.

Carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for a long time. The carbon dioxide we emit and continue to emit will be present in Earth’s systems for some time to come. While emissions can be slowed, it will take time before efforts that reduce emissions translate into a reduction of carbon dioxide in the system. With this knowledge, policy-makers must consider ways to adapt to any future impacts of climate change while planning ways to reduce emissions today. Throughout history, societies around the world have adapted to changes in their environment and have taken steps to reduce the impact of those changes on their communities.

Before the Activity

Students:

• (optional) Prior to this activity, have students research uses for CO₂ as homework. Encourage students to find ways CO₂ is used in residential, industrial, and medical settings. Students should make a list and bring the list with them to class.

Teachers:

• Make copies of the A Closer Look at Greenhouse Gases article
• Make copies of the Carbon Footprint Worksheet
• (optional) Make copies of the Road Trip Worksheet

With the Students

1. Pass out the A Closer Look at Greenhouse Gases article, one to each student.
2. Have students break into small groups and read the A Closer Look at Greenhouse Gases article.
3. Have students Think-Pair-Share about U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. (Make sure students see that CO₂ is the largest manmade greenhouse gas emission. They should also see that transportation contributes a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions.)
4. Review that CO₂ is usually found in a gas form. It is colorless and transparent to light. (Even though we know CO₂ impacts the environment, we do not always think about it because we cannot see it.)
5. Show students the bag of charcoal briquettes. Explain that the briquettes are made almost completely of carbon. The bag of briquettes will represent the amount of carbon in one gallon of gas. The average gallon of gasoline contains about five pounds of carbon. There are typically about 100 briquettes in the bag. By dividing five pounds of carbon by 100 briquettes, that means there are about 0.05 pounds of carbon per briquette.
6. Pass out the Carbon Footprint Worksheet, one to each student.
7. Discuss how many miles each student drives (or is driven) to and from school each day.
8. Calculate how many briquettes represent the carbon dioxide emissions from their transportation to and from school. Use the bags to cover the workspace and hold individual briquettes. Students can use the Carbon Footprint Worksheet for calculations.
9. (optional) Pass out the Road Trip Worksheet. Students will plan a road trip and calculate the CO₂ emitted on their trip. (NOTE: If students do not know the fuel economy of their vehicles, direct them to the website www.fueleconomy.gov. Selecting a vehicle can also be assigned as homework the night before.)
10. Have students write a letter or article citing at least three suggestions for reducing carbon footprints. Students should also reflect on why it is important to understand their carbon footprint and why it matters.

Vocabulary/Definitions

design thinking: A solutions-focused, human-centered way to creatively problem solve and innovate throughout the engineering design process.

engineering design process: A series of steps that guides engineering teams to solve engineering problems.

iteration: The repetition of a process towards improvement.

prototype: A first model.

Assessment

Pre-Activity Assessment

Think-Pair-Share: After reading the A Closer Look at Greenhouse Gases article, students Think-Pair-Share about U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Activity Embedded (Formative) Assessment

Worksheet: Students use the Carbon Footprint Worksheet to calculate how many briquettes represent the carbon dioxide emissions from their transportation to and from school.  

Post-Activity (Summative) Assessment

Letter: Students write a letter or article citing at least three suggestions for reducing carbon footprints.  

Making Sense: Have students reflect on the science concepts they explored and/or the science and engineering skills they used by completing the Making Sense Assessment.

Activity Scaling

Students can calculate their family’s household emissions using the Environmental Protection Agency’s Emissions Calculator at www3.epa.gov/carbon-footprint-calculator/. It will be most accurate if students have an energy bill from home they can reference. Other calculators that include items like diet and recycling also are easily searched online.

Additional Multimedia Support

NEED.org original document: pp 18-19, 32, 62-63.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lokLoaZoYtl6QQvvkSHLzRELIaKm8Gts

Other Related Information

This resource is adapted from the National Energy Education Development (NEED.org) “Transportation Fuels Debate” (2012) by Jennifer Taylor

Copyright

Contributors

Supporting Program

Acknowledgements

This curriculum was developed under National Science Foundation grant numbers 1941524 and 1941701. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.