Hello, Mrs. Lomas here.

I'm a primary school teacher.

And hopefully, you can guess what my favourite subject is.

Of course, it's geography.

So, I'm super excited to be joining you for your geography lesson today.

So, let's find out what we're going to do, shall we? So, today's lesson is carbon footprints, and this is part of our Sustainable World: Does It Matter How We Live unit.

And by the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain what a carbon footprint is, and identify changes likely to make a positive difference.

We have some key words in today's lesson.

They are climate change, greenhouse gas, global warming, and fossil fuels.

Let's do my turn, your turn.

Ready? Climate change.

Greenhouse gas.

Global warming.

Fossil fuels.

Well done.

Let's have a look at what they mean, shall we? Climate change is a large scale and long-term change in the planet's climate, including weather patterns and average temperatures.

Greenhouse gases are gases in Earth's atmosphere that trap heat.

Global warming is the increase in Earth's average temperature over a long period of time.

Fossil fuels are natural substances that were formed over millions of years from the buried remains of ancient organisms. They include coal, oil, and gas.

So, look out for these words in today's lesson.

Today's lesson is in two parts.

Why is carbon important? And what is your carbon footprint? In the first part, we will find out what carbon is and why it is important.

Then, we will try and work out our carbon footprints, and think about how we could reduce this further.

So, let's get started on why is carbon important? So, what is carbon and where does it come from? Carbon is a naturally occurring substance that can be found in all living things, as well as the Earth's atmosphere.

So trees, soil, cows, people, and the air that we breathe.

Some of this carbon is stored for long periods of time in one place.

For example, fossil fuels are a natural store of carbon.

When plants and animals die, their remains go into the soil.

Over millions of years, some of the remains of ancient plants and animals have turned into coal, oil, and natural gas.

These are known as fossil fuels, and they are full of carbon.

Trees and plants are another huge store of carbon.

During a process to make food, called photosynthesis, plants absorb carbon dioxide, or CO2, to make energy.

An incredible 600 billion tonnes of carbon are thought to be stored in land plants alone.

The third store of carbon is the atmosphere.

This can hold around 750 billion tonnes of carbon, mainly as the gas carbon dioxide, or CO2, which then collects in the atmosphere.

When plants and animals die, they begin to decay.

CO2 is released during this process, and again, enters the atmosphere.

Even venting volcanoes can add CO2 to the atmosphere.

So, let's do a quick check, shall we? Where can carbon be found in nature? Pause the video and see if you can remember the three main stores of carbon.

Come back when you're ready to check your answers.

How did you get on? If you said fossil fuels, plants and the atmosphere, you would be correct.

Well done.

Today, we will be talking a lot about how carbon and sustainability are connected.

But to do this, we need to understand what climate change is and how it is caused.

Gases in the atmosphere around the Earth trap heat from the sun and keep our planet warm.

The gases, including carbon dioxide, act like the glass walls of a greenhouse.

Hence the name, greenhouse gases.

Without this, temperatures would drop to as low as minus 18 degrees C, or minus 0.

4 degrees Fahrenheit.

Too cold for life on Earth.

As well as carbon dioxide, other greenhouse gases include methane, which is actually common in cow farts, ozone, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and water vapour.

But human activities are changing Earth's natural greenhouse effect by dramatically increasing the release of greenhouse gases.

Scientists agree that extra greenhouse gases released by humans are the main cause of global warming and climate change.

A higher concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is like putting an extra thick insulating blanket around the Earth.

This keeps more of the heat in our atmosphere.

And as a result, global temperatures increase.

Scientists agree that these extra greenhouse gases are the main cause of global warming and climate change.

They know that carbon dioxide plays a crucial role in maintaining the stability of Earth's atmosphere.

Human activity has had a big impact on the amount of carbon that is stored naturally.

This, in turn, has increased greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere.

But what activities have caused this change? Burning fossil fuels releases CO2 into the atmosphere.

Cars, heating in homes, some factories and aeroplanes all burn fossil fuels.

This adds to global heating and climate change.

Meanwhile, deforestation, the act of cutting down trees, means there are fewer trees to trap natural carbon.

These effects have increased the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

Okay, time for a quick check.

What has caused an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? A, burning fossil fuels.

B, planting more trees.

Or C, deforestation? Pause the video, have a go, and come back when you're ready.

How did you get on? If you said that, A, burning fossil fuels and, C, deforestation has caused an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, you would be correct.

Well done.

As we have seen on the carbon cycle, humans have had a significant impact on the natural carbon cycle.

Look at this graph showing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over time.

As we can see from the peaks and troughs of the graph, carbon dioxide levels go up and down due to the Earth's natural cycles.

This has been happening over tens of thousands of years, taking us into and out of ice ages.

However, due to human actions, carbon dioxide levels today are rising a hundred times faster than any of these natural increases.

There is now more carbon dioxide in our atmosphere than there has been in over 3 million years.

By adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, people are supercharging the natural greenhouse effect.

All of the extra heat energy trapped in our atmosphere, as the result of greenhouse gases from human activity, is causing major changes to our climate and producing more extreme weather.

Changes include increased global temperatures.

Over the past 150 years, the average temperature on our planet has increased by just over one degree Celsius.

We can see this illustrated on the graph.

In fact, the Earth is now hotter than it has been in over 100,000 years.

Melting ice caps.

We usually lose Arctic Sea ice at a rate of almost 13% per decade.

And over the past 30 years, the oldest and thickest ice in the Arctic has declined by a stunning 95%.

And finally, extreme weather.

Global warming is causing heat waves, drought, and wildfires through an increase in overall temperatures.

As temperatures warm, it rains more heavily causing flooding.

So, let's have a quick check, shall we? What effect have humans had on the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? A, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has decreased.

B, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has remained the same.

Or C, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased.

Pause the video, have a go, and come back when you're ready.

How did you get on? If you said that C, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased, you would be correct.

Well done.

Okay, it is time for task A.

For your first task today, I would like you to explain why carbon is important.

You can use these sentences to help you.

Carbon is important because it can- The greenhouse effect.

This causes- Humans have affected the amount of carbon in the atmosphere by- This has increased or decreased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which has caused global temperatures to increase or decrease.

So, one more time, I want you to explain why carbon is important.

And you have three sentences, or sentence starters, to help you with your explanation.

Pause the video, have a go, and when you're ready, come back.

How did you get on? Did your answer include any of the following correct information? Carbon is important because it can increase the greenhouse effect.

This causes climate change and global heating.

Humans have affected the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by digging up and burning fossil fuels and cutting down trees.

This has increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which has caused global temperatures to increase.

Pause the video and make any corrections you need to make to your answers now.

Okay.

So, we've had a look at why is carbon important? And now that we understand that and how humans have affected the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, it is important to look at what we can do to improve this situation to create a more sustainable world.

So, let's have a look at what is your carbon footprint? Scientists are very concerned about the amount of CO2 being currently released into the atmosphere as a result of human activity.

Therefore, there is a huge interest in tracking how much carbon humans use, and a push to investigate ways that this can be reduced.

You might have heard lots on the news about carbon footprints or carbon net zero.

Many governments and organisations set targets for dramatically cutting down the amount of greenhouse gases produced by human activity.

And for encouraging activities that capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, such as planting new forests.

These targets are sometimes known as net zero.

For example, the UK government have promised to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

This is called the UK net zero target.

Not everyone creates the same amount of greenhouse gases.

In fact, certain continents produce a lot more CO2 than others.

Asia, with 60% of the world's population, and North America, with under 10%, are the continents that produced the most carbon dioxide in 2022.

Whereas other continents, such as Africa, only account for 3% to 4% of global emissions.

And you can see that on this map here, can't you? So, let's have a quick check shall we? Which continents produce the most carbon dioxide? A, North America.

B, Africa.

Or C, Asia? Pause the video, have a go, and come back when you're ready to check your answers.

How did you get on? If you said that it was, A, North America and, C, Asia, you would be correct.

Well done.

To help us try to achieve net zero, it is now possible to work out how much CO2 an organisation, business, or individual currently emits, and then use this knowledge to help them identify changes likely to make the most positive difference.

A carbon footprint is a measure of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of our activities.

Calculating our carbon footprint helps us to measure our impact on the planet through our daily activities.

The larger the carbon footprint, the more greenhouse gases are emitted, the more this will contribute to climate change.

Do you remember that the geography unit we are working on is called Sustainable World: Does It Matter How I Live? We can see, from these carbon footprints, that it definitely does matter how we live, as our actions could result in a large carbon footprint or in a smaller one.

So, let's have a quick check, shall we? Which carbon footprint is the most sustainable? A, the largest carbon footprint with the most emissions.

B, the medium carbon footprint.

Or C, the smallest carbon footprint with the least emissions.

Pause the video, have a go, and come back when you're ready.

How did you get on? If you said that C is the most sustainable, you would be correct, because it releases the least amount of carbon in the atmosphere and contributes the least to climate change.

Now, it's time for task B.

There are two parts to this task today.

For the first part, I would like you to complete a carbon footprint quiz to see how big your current footprint is.

You'll need to answer the questions as well as you can.

Then, use the answer sheet to work out the size of your footprint.

This will tell you whether you are contributing lots of CO2 to the atmosphere.

And here's the quiz.

What type of food do you eat regularly? A, vegan, no dairy or meat.

B, vegetarian, no meat.

C, meat in some meals.

Or D, meat in every meal.

The next question.

How much food do you waste or throw away? A, none.

B, not very much.

C, about half of the food.

D, more than half of the food I'm given.

And the next question.

Where is your food from? A, it is all grown locally.

B, some of it has come from local areas.

C, most of it comes from different countries.

Or D, I don't know where my food comes from.

And the next question.

How do you usually travel to school? A, walking, scooting, or cycling.

B, walk, but sometimes come in a vehicle.

C, using public transport, the bus, the train.

Or D, car.

And the next question.

How do you usually travel to school? A, walking, scooting or cycling? B, walk, but sometimes come in a vehicle.

C, using public transport, bus or train.

Or D, the car.

The next question.

Energy efficient tasks include: turning lights off when you leave a room, turning off appliances left on standby, and turning heating down or off when the house is empty.

How many energy efficient tasks do you do at home? A, all of them.

B, two.

C, one.

Or D, none.

And the final question.

How many items do you usually recycle? A, paper, glass, plastic, and batteries.

B, paper, glass and plastic.

C, paper and glass.

Or D, I don't recycle.

When you've completed the quiz, it's now time to do part two of your task.

Using your carbon footprint quiz answer sheet, work out which changes are likely to make the most positive difference to your carbon footprint.

Pause the video, have a go, and come back when you're ready.

How did you get on with the quiz? If you scored mostly A's, then you have the smallest carbon footprint and are emitting the least amount of carbon into the atmosphere.

This is good news, and is the most sustainable result.

If you answered mostly B's or C's, then your carbon footprint is low in some areas, but verging on high in others.

If your answers were mostly D's, then this gives you the largest footprint.

Let's look at task B to see what we can do to reduce all of our carbon footprints.

Jung answered mostly As and B's, so his carbon footprint is very small, but he still has room to improve.

Using the answer sheet, we can see that all of the A answers would give you the smallest carbon footprint.

These might not be what you chose, but they are the most sustainable choices.

Eat less meat and dairy.

Do not waste food.

Where possible, buy locally grown food.

Walk, scoot, or cycle to school when you can.

Turn lights off when you leave a room.

Turn off appliances left on standby.

And turn heating down or off when the house is empty when you can.

And recycle paper, glass, plastic, and batteries where possible.

Don't worry if you aren't able to make changes in your life to reduce your carbon footprint.

Some people live too far away from school to walk there, for example.

But as long as we are aware of what the most sustainable choices are, when we do have the option to choose, we can make the most environmentally friendly decision.

So, to sum up today's lesson on carbon footprints.

We now know that human activity is a major cause of rapid climate change.

The main cause is burning fossil fuels.

By adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, people are supercharging the natural greenhouse effect.

A carbon footprint is a measure of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of our activities.

And calculating our carbon footprint helps us to measure our impact on the planet, and plan our daily activities accordingly.

Well done today, everybody.

I hope you had fun working out your carbon footprint.

I know I'll definitely be doing mine now, after today's lesson.

I'm also going to think really carefully about the choices I make, and see if I can reduce my carbon footprint a little bit more.

Hopefully, I'll see you again soon for another geography lesson.

Bye.