Footprints on earth

The teacher introduces the topic by presenting the following surfaces and types of terrain and asking the class on which of these the human footprint is most evident:

They are asked to imagine for each of the items on the list a possible footprint:

- soil

- mud

- water

- snow

- meadow

- sand

In this phase, the focus shifts to what are the indelible footprints of human beings and how everyday actions have a bearing on our planet. We start by sharing what the class considers to be the most impactful actions (using a car? Smoking? Cutting down trees?). It is then proposed that we all work together by writing down on a large white sheet of paper all the actions that are performed daily, including the objects, appliances, that are used. Next to each action, indicate the impact on the environment by choosing a scale from 1 to 5 (1=no impact, 5=has a strong impact).

But is this really the case? One's perception may not necessarily correspond to reality.

At this point, the teacher introduces the concept of ecological footprint using the glossary definition:

Ecological footprint - a measure of the amount of biological resources consumed by humans in a year in terms the 'planets' needed to maintain our standard of living.

Once the definition has been introduced, the class calculates their own ecological footprint to check whether or not their perception of the impact on the environment attributed to their daily actions is correct.

You can use the Ecological Footprint Calculator (link) to calculate your own ecological footprint.

Take the daily actions written on the sheet at the start of the activity and next to each action write down a strategy for limiting its impact. The teacher can guide the definition of strategies, consulting the website of the UN environment programme (link).

How can everyday actions contribute to the occurrence of disasters and emergency events? With the guidance of the teacher, the class can reflect on how many everyday actions contribute to climate change and the occurrence of phenomena directly or indirectly related to climate. To carry out this activity, the class can think about a typical day, how many appliances are used, the objects used every day, the foods, and the actions carried out by adults (smoking, shopping, etc.)