Grade 8 Environmental Experience

Reducing our ecological footprint

www.royalsaskmuseum.ca/gallery/life_sciences/footprint_mx_2005.swf

 

 

DRUMMOND (Advisor: M.H. Gratton~ room M325; Project Supervisor: A. Mathewson)

 

Food Footprint

“People who eat a lot of processed and packaged food will have large footprints. The same goes for foods that are grown using pesticides and synthetic fertilizers and imported foods”.

2- Topic: Food industry

THIS GROUP MEETS WITH Mme CHIDIAC and Mme. LALONDE for AFTERNOON ACTIVITY (M339) THAT WILL INCLUDE A TRIP TO THE GROCERY STORE

 

            Questions:

1.      Why is it important to buy local?

2.      What is a food mile?

3.      How can we reduce packaging waste?

4.      What are environmental purchasing criteria for packaging?

5.      What are some important facts on Montreal’s Farmers markets?

6.      Why shouldn’t we use pesticides and synthetic fertilizers?

7.      What are alternatives to using pesticides and synthetic fertilizers?

8.      What are GMO foods and what are some of the benefits & costs to the environment?

9.      What has happened to cost of foods ever since they have added (Best before” labels to food items?

10.  Why is it illegal for farmers to eat their own produce (specifically eggs, poultry and milk and meats).

11.  Take a typical foodstuff and draw a pricing cycle for a year based on source and pricing (eg. Strawberries).

12.   Compare the price of milk at source to the milk bought in the local store.  What is percentage increase from farmer to shelf.

           

Activity:

A: Visit grocery store and list ten locally grown items and calculate their food mile: http://www.lifecyclesproject.ca/initiatives/food_miles/

B: Create a menu for a multi-course super meal (example: entré, main dish, salad, desert…beveridge) that includes all food groups. Visit a grocery store and compare your choices and pricing keeping the following in mind: frozen or not, locally grown or imported, packaged or not, organic or not. (Should they explain costs/benefits of each?)

Mobility Footprint

 

 “Using public transport will reduce your ecological footprint and the footprint of your community”.

11- Topic: Transport

THIS GROUP WILL MEET WITH MR. MILLWARD FOR THE AFTERNOON ACTIVITY WHICH WILL INVOLVE STREET SURVEYS

 

Questions:

1.      What is Montreal’s public bike system all about? Where are the cycle paths in Montreal?

2.      What measures have been taken by Montreal to “green” the transit system?

3.      Tramways back in Montreal- where? When? Why?

4.      What is  “La Route Verte”?

5.      What is the purpose of the event “ International walk to school day”?

6.      What are “green cars”?

7.      What is meant by the term “Carbon Neutral”?

8.      What is the Vauban neighbourhood in Freiburg, Germany?

9.      What are the hydrogen buses used in Reyjavik? In Vancouver?

 

 

Activity:

A: Offer alternative ways in which students can come to school- Which bus routes serve the LCC community? How frequent do the buses run? What are the present and future sites for bike paths in NDG.

 

THIS GROUP WILL MEET WITH Mr. MILLWARD FOR THE AFTERNOON ACTIVITY WHICH WILL INVOLVE STREET SURVEYS

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Our footprints grow the more we travel, especially when we travel by car”.

12- Topic: Traffic, Idling & Travel

THIS GROUP WILL MEET WITH Mr. MILLWARD FOR THE AFTERNOON ACTIVITY WHICH WILL INVOLVE STREET SURVEYS

           

Questions:

  1. Why are there anti-idling campaigns?
  2. What is the law in Montreal on anti-idling?
  3. How does traffic cause air-pollution? Noise-pollution?
  4. What measures has Montreal taken to reduce traffic?
  5. How  does the global airline industry emit per year?
  6. How much  does an average person emit when they travel by air, from Montreal to each of any three cities in the world (e.g., Montreal to London, Montreal to Shanghai, etc.)
  7. What are the 10 most polluted cities in the world and what can they do to overcome such a situation?

 

 

            Activities:

(Choose one of the following)

A: Calculate COemissions on various NDG roads (Sherbrooke, Monkland, Decarie, etc.)

C: Survey a street from one block to another and make a list of cars that are highly inefficient (SUVs), modestly efficient (cars) or highly energy efficient (e.g., hybrids). Survey of types of cars people drive (Decarie) and how many contain more than one passenger.

 

THIS GROUP WILL MEET WITH Mr. MILLWARD FOR THE AFTERNOON ACTIVITY WHICH WILL INVOLVE STREET SURVEYS