Lesson video

Hi, everyone, I'm Miss Reid.

And welcome to another lesson on energy and sustainability.

This is the fifth lesson out of six.

Let's have a look at the lesson title.

The title for this lesson is based on the question what is special about Freiburg? So, in this lesson, we'll be learning about a German city named Freiburg.

We'll be learning about how it has become a city that has thought about its long term environmental impact and has developed sustainable practises.

We'll be looking at our star words.

Then we'll be moving on to think about sustainability through people.

Then we'll be thinking about sustainability through the economy.

And then sustainability through the environment.

And finally, grow your own.

In this lesson, you will need an exercise book or a piece of paper.

You need a pencil, and you'll need your brain.

Pause the video now if you haven't got those things.

Excellent work.

Let's go through star words.

I'm going to say them and I want you to repeat them after me.

Freiburg.

Sustainable.

People.

Environment.

Economy.

Great work.

So let's have a quick think about the definition of sustainability.

We've been through this a few times in the past few lessons, but let's recap.

So sustainability is using resources that are good for people, the environment, and the economy both in the present and the future.

And now we have sustainability at the heart of all of those things.

Now remember, when we discuss resources, we're talking about the things that help a country to support itself financially, such as energy sources, like fossil fuels, or wind or solar energy, or the things that have found in the land.

Such as precious stones or the wood from rain forests.

Let's have another recap on that definition of sustainability.

If you can say it along with me.

Sustainability is using resources that are good for people, the environment and the economy, both in the present and in the future.

Great work.

So Freiburg.

Well, in 1970 Freiburg set itself the goal of becoming a sustainable city.

The aim was for sustainability that balanced environmental health, economic factors and social impacts.

We're going to learn about how it develops sustainable practises in three ways.

The people, the economy, and the environment.

So, sustainability through people.

Now this is an important one because, of course, the people are what make up a city.

Now, in Freiburg, the community is consulted when there are plans for new buildings.

For example, the football stadium is Germany.

The football stadium is Germany's first solar stadium.

The people of Freiburg were invited to invest their own money to help pay for the solar panels when it was being built.

This meant that people over time were able to gain money back from the programme.

In addition, the local government thanked people for investing with free football season tickets.

People are rewarded financially for the things they do for the city.

And this so the stadium is an example of one of them.

So you need to answer the question below.

What type of renewable energy is used to power Freiburg's football stadium? A, wind energy.

B, solar energy.

C, biomass energy.

Pause the video now and complete that task.

Let's see how you got it on.

So what type of renewable energy is used to power Freiburg's football stadium? It was of course solar energy.

Pause the video now so you can tick or fix your answer.

Let's move on.

So we're still thinking about sustainability through people.

And we talked about the fact that people are rewarded financially for the things that they do to help their city.

Well, one of the ways that people are rewarded financially is through composting their food waste.

I wonder how many of you compost, compost your own food waste at home.

I have a little brown bin that I put all of my food waste into and then it's taken away at the end of the week.

Another way that people are rewarded financially in Freiburg is for using items like clothed nappies for babies.

So, being rewarded financially means that the government offer people money for living more sustainably.

Now, you might not know this, but a single plastic disposable nappy takes 500 years to decompose.

You can see why the government of Freiburg want people to move to using cloth nappies that can be reused again and again.

Rather than using disposable nappies that sit in landfill sites for 500 years waiting to decompose.

In addition to these things, tickets for music, sports, or cultural events are valid on the tram network for free travel.

So you can leave your home with your ticket and travel for free in order to get there.

Here's a task.

You need to answer the question below.

And you can use the images to help you Name two things that the people of Freiburg do to live more sustainably.

Pause the video now, so you can complete that task.

Let's have a look at the answers.

So name three things that people are Freiburg do to live more sustainably.

One, compost their food waste.

Two, use cloth nappies.

Pause the video now so that you can tick or fix your answers.

Let's move on.

So now we're thinking about sustainability through the economy.

So this is how the country makes its money.

And it's about the jobs that people do to make the country richer so that it can sustain itself and support its people.

So the city is focused on making sure that there are lots of jobs for people.

For example, people from all over the world visit Freiburg to attend conferences on sustainability, which provides many jobs.

Now a conference is where lots of people come together to listen to people speak about a certain topic.

And they provide lots of jobs because they need people to steward people in and out of the building.

They need people to speak at the events.

They need people to cater the events with food and drinks and coffee.

They provide a lot of jobs.

The city has also supported the development of environmental technology and over 10,000 people are employed in such businesses with 1,000 people employed in the solar technology industry.

Many people use the tram system and the city has made parking very expensive to encourage people to use the tram.

As a result, there is less pollution in the city and a lot of money is saved as less money is needed to clean the air and the water.

It also means less money is needed to be spent on health care.

Because the people are healthier because they're not inhaling the toxic fumes that are released from cars, such as in other cities like London where I live.

The money can be saved.

The money that's saved can be reinvested into more sustainable practises and businesses.

Here's a task.

Answer the question below using the key words to help you.

What is the benefit of the tram system in Freiburg? So you can use this sentence starter.

The tram system is beneficial because and I've put some key words on the screen that will help you in answering this question or completing the sentence.

The keywords are pollution, cleaning air and water, health care, healthier, toxic fumes, reinvested sustainable practises.

Now, you don't have to use all of these keywords.

But if you do, your answer will be brilliant.

Now your answer will probably be more than one sentence.

Try and use the key words and the sentence starter to help you answer this question.

Pause the video now so you can complete that task.

Let's have a look at my answer and you can compare your own to it.

The tram system is beneficial because there is less pollution, which means less money needs to be spent on cleaning the air and water.

It is also beneficial because less money needs to be spent on health care as the people are healthier because they're not inhaling a lot of toxic fumes.

The money that is saved can be reinvested into sustainable practises.

So that's my answer.

Have a look at your own answer, compare them and see if there's anything that you need to add.

You might want to rewrite your whole answer based on mine.

Pause the video now so you can complete that.

Great work everyone.

That was quite a tricky one.

So I'm really proud of you for having a go and well done for fixing your answer if you needed to change something.

Let's move on.

So now we're thinking about sustainability through the environment, through the natural world.

Now the community has focused on very high levels of recycling.

So reusing materials, goods, and waste.

And its reduced the amount of waste that they produce.

Freiburg has a bio gas digester.

I'm going to say that and I want you to repeat after me.

Biogas digester.

Great and you can see a picture of it there.

Now the biogas digester processes food and garden waste to produce energy for thousands of homes.

It's a type of power plant.

Buildings have also been built to special environmentally friendly standards.

I want you to repeat that after me, environmentally friendly.

Excellent work.

Now, these environmentally friendly buildings need less heating during the winter because they're more insulated.

Lots of the buildings also have roofs and walls that are covered with vegetation.

Just like one you can see in the image.

Now this vegetation stores water and then the water can be recycled.

The vegetation also supports many ecosystems to develop and increases the amount of oxygen in the air, which is of course better for people.

There's also been a tree planting project in Freiburg.

Over 44,000 trees have been planted and 43% of the city is covered by forest.

The city uses the timber from the forest for building, but only at a rate which allows the forests to grow back.

Here's a task.

Answer the question below using the images to help you.

Name three environmentally sustainable features of Freiburg.

Pause the video now so you can complete that task.

Did you manage to use the images to help you? Let's have a look at the answers.

The first, recycling and especially that biogas digester.

Two, green buildings or you might have written environmentally friendly buildings.

Either would be correct.

And number three, the tree planting project.

Pause the video now so you can tick or fix your answer.

Great work.

Let's move on.

I've got another task for you based on the three features that we just learned about.

That's a sustainable and environmentally friendly in Freiburg.

You need to answer the question below and you can use the keywords to help you.

This is another written task.

What are the positive impacts of growing vegetation on buildings? Growing vegetation on buildings is positive because and here are the key words.

Vegetation, store water, recycled, mini ecosystem, oxygen.

You can use the sentence starter and the key words to help you with your answer.

This is another tricky task, but I know that you're going to be brilliant.

Pause the video now so that you can complete that task.

Let's have a look at my answer so you can compare it to your own.

Growing vegetation on buildings is positive because the vegetation stores water that can be recycled.

The vegetation also acts as a mini ecosystem and increases the amount of oxygen in the air.

Compare your answer to mine and see if you need to add anything.

You might need to rewrite your whole answer.

And that's perfectly okay.

Pause the video now so you can tick or fix your answer.

Well done everyone.

So grow your own.

I wonder how many of you out there have ever grown your own fruit or vegetables.

Put your hand up if you have.

Actually, in my garden, I've been trying to grow tomatoes and cabbage.

I've also been growing some lettuce and the things that I've produced have been delicious.

I don't know about you, but I would definitely try having a go.

It's a lot of fun.

And it's lovely to reap the rewards a bit at the end.

So, here is an image of a garden.

And it's a special type of garden because in this garden fruits and vegetables are being grown.

In Freiburg there are many places where the community can grow their own fruits and vegetables.

Why do you think that this helps the people live in a more sustainable way? I'd like you to stop and jot some answers on your page.

Why do you think growing their own fruits and vegetables helps them live more sustainably? Stop and jot and pause the video so you can do that.

I wonder what ideas you came up with.

Let's have a look at some of my ideas.

People eat more seasonal produce.

Well, this is the idea that you only grow things at a specific time of year.

So you're eating seasonally.

Things that you should eat in winter, spring, summer, and the autumn, rather than being able to eat any fruit or vegetable at any point in the year because that means it needs to be imported from other countries.

And that puts a lot of pressure on the environment.

People spend less money on buying food from supermarkets or greengrocers.

If you're growing the produce yourself, generally, you're spending money on the products you need to grow the things, such as the seeds, or the soil or the fertiliser.

And that's generally cheaper than going out to the supermarket constantly to keep buying the produce that you need.

Fruit and vegetables that people eat a fresher and tastier.

Well, just as I said, if you grow things yourself, generally you find that the produce is much fresher and definitely tastier.

Food doesn't need to travel a long way to on trucks or planes.

Well, this links to the idea of seasonal produce.

If I want to eat a mango in January, that mango generally has to come from very far away, such as South America or the Caribbean.

And it takes a long time to get there.

And it puts a lot of pressure on the environment as it needs to travel on boats, or planes and then trucks, which emit a lot of toxic fumes.

And of course, there's less waste.

Generally, if you grow your own project produce, you're growing enough for yourself or for your family and you don't waste the food that you've grown.

So those are my ideas.

I wonder what you came up with.

Pause the video now so you can stop and jot down the ideas that I've written.

Well done everyone.

We learned a lot about Freiburg and how its living sustained or how the people are living sustainably within it and how it has goals for its long term environmental impact.

As always, if you'd like to share your work or what you've learned, you can ask a parent or carer to share your work on Twitter @Oaknational with the hashtag #learnwithOak.

It was another great lesson.

I'm really, really glad that we've got one more lesson in this series on energy and sustainability.

I'll see you next time.