Lesson video

This lesson is called, be better and do more.

Within this lesson we will be looking at climate change.

We will be looking at the causes and effects of climate change and what action we can take.

And you will also conduct your very own experiment.

In this lesson, you will need some paper or an exercise book, a pen or a pencil, two plastic tubs with lids, your eco warrior brains, and a piece of fruit or vegetable.

You can choose whichever you like, pause the video, collect your materials, and come right back.

Hello children.

How are you all doing? Good.

I'm well, too.

So let me introduce myself.

My name is Mrs Walsh.

And I am going to be taking you on a journey around the world.

I like exploring.

No, I'm not just dressed like this because, I am Fiona the Explorer and we are going on a journey together.

Are you ready for that? Fabulous.

Let's see where we're going shall we? Hmm.

Does anybody know where that yellow star is? I can hear lots of guessing.

Ireland? Nope, guess again.

England? Yes, the flag gives it away.

Today, children, were going to England.

But I wonder why we're going to England? Let's find out.

Does anybody know where that is? Look at the Picture.

Yes, I think so too.

Is that the Big Ben? Yes, I thought so.

Okay.

Let's find out a few facts about England.

Oh, this is not looking good, is it children? Oh, approximately 39 million vehicles are on the road in England.

That's not good.

1,674 factory farms in England.

Does anybody know what a factory farm is? Not many of you, I'll tell you.

So a factory farm, it's a farm that is purposely for breeding animals so that we can have food.

So the farmers breed animal, after animal, after animal, and then they use that animal for food so they can sell it in the shops.

Now let's think about this.

If a farm has more animals, cows trump, sheep trump.

Let's think about that.

If more and more animals are born so that we can have food, that means that there's more trumps.

And within the animal trumps is a gas called methane.

That methane gas goes up into the air.

That air is the air that we breathe.

So basically the more cows and sheep there are, the more trumps there are.

The more methane gas is going into the air.

That's not good either.

There are 1.

75 billion carrier bags sold each year.

What can we do about that, children? I'm sure in this lesson, we'll find out.

9.

95 million pounds of electricity is wasted each year and 4.

4 billion pounds is lost on lights because they are left on.

Children, we can certainly do something about this, can't we? I can't hear you.

Can we do something about this, children? Excellent.

So we can make a difference, children.

But before we get started, I want to read you a little poem.

Whilst I'm reading, listen to the words.

Are you ready? Good.

The stars in the sky used to be so crystal clear.

Human activity are making them disappear.

Carbon dioxide and other pollution.

It's hard to find the real solution.

You will do more, I hear you say.

When will that be? Another day.

Another day is much too late.

Our planet is in such a state.

That was a sad poem, wasn't it, children? It really makes you stop and think about how our actions affect the planet.

Now we're going to talk about something called climate change.

Don't worry if you don't know what it is, because I'm going to explain to you.

So look out of the window where you are right now.

It might be raining, it might be sunny, or it might be snowing.

This is called the weather.

Many people get the weather confused for climate change, but climate change is something much longer.

So scientists look at the weather over a period of about 30 years and that is the climate change.

So if it's raining today and sun shining tomorrow, that's not climate change.

Climate change is over a period of 30 years and many, many scientists study climate change.

We've got global climate change.

So that means that it affects the whole world.

And as I've already said, scientists sit and watch the weather over a period of time.

And what these scientists have observed is that over a long, long time, the planet is getting warmer and warmer.

So if the planet is getting warmer and warmer, we have to think about what this can do to our precious planet and how we can change our actions to make sure that we are helping our planet.

So the scientists that have observed the climate over a period of time who have noticed that the planet is getting warmer and warmer, they are convinced that this is because of something called greenhouse gases.

Has anybody heard of a greenhouse gas? Okay, well, before I tell you what a greenhouse gas is, I want you to think about this image here.

So this is a greenhouse and inside this greenhouse there are all different kinds of plants growing tomato plants, tropical plants in some cases.

And the reason that these plants are in a greenhouse is because a greenhouse gets really, really hot.

And this happens because of the rays from the sunshine and the rays of the sunshine go through the glass and they warm the greenhouse up.

Sometimes they are scorching hot.

So scientists believe that this is the reason why our planet is getting warmer and warmer and becoming more and more affected.

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas.

Now, children, can you think of anything that would produce carbon dioxide? If you think about the beginning of the lesson, where I told you about the facts of England.

Who said vehicles? Absolutely brilliant.

Give yourself a pat on the back.

So vehicles produce carbon dioxide, and factories produce carbon dioxide, and that goes up into the air and it affects our planet.

So we've discovered what kinds of things produces CO2.

Now please take a look at this image because this is our planet.

Now there are other activities that produce carbon dioxide as well.

So let's just have a look at some of these.

We mentioned factories but there are also power plants that produce carbon dioxide.

Even the boiler in your house, when you're heating in on, produces carbon dioxide.

And when you go on holiday on an aeroplane, if some of you have been on an aeroplane, that also produces carbon dioxide.

Or even if you go on holiday on a train that produces carbon dioxide as well.

So look at the blue ring around the planet, around the earth.

Can anybody tell me what that blue ring represents? Yes, well done.

Who said that? Give yourself a pat on the back, it represents the ozone layer.

Now in between the earth's surface and the ozone layer is an empty space, and that space is called the atmosphere.

So the atmosphere protects the earth.

But what that essentially does is when the carbon dioxide is being produced and it rises up to the air, it gets to the ozone layer and it's got nowhere to go, because that protects the earth.

So some of the carbon dioxide floats around in the atmosphere, and that is what scientists believe is the reason why the planet is getting warmer and warmer.

So if our planet is becoming warmer and warmer, how do you think that it will affect it? Have a think about it and use these images to help you.

Okay, who said that? So you're clearly thinking of the Antarctic, aren't you? So basically if our planet is getting warmer and warmer, that means that all the ice will melt.

Which will do what? Absolutely.

It'll make our sea level rise higher and higher.

And if our coast lines can't cope with the amount of water, what will happen then? You guys are good.

Yes, we will have floods.

And that is an effect of global warming.

So what can we do about it, children? I've given you one idea.

So I'm going to make a promise to myself that I will switch off the lights when I'm not using that room.

Pause the video and write down some of the things that you think you can do in your homes to help our precious planet.

Okay, welcome back.

I hope you've got a huge list of things that you are going to do to help our planet.

Here are some of mine and you can take on some of these because I know that they are all doable.

So I already said, switch off the lights.

We could turn off the plugs when we're not using them so that we're not using more electricity than needed.

When it's hot outside we don't need our central heating on.

So we can actually turn our boilers off and that'll help the planet.

Instead of using the car for a little journey, we could perhaps walk and that'd helped save our environment.

If we cut down on eating meat, then, remember when I told you about the cows and sheep trumping? Well, if we're not buying the meat, then the animals won't be needed.

So we could cut down on that and we could eat healthier, greens, fruit and vegetables.

Yeah? We could wear a jumper.

So if we're cold in our homes and we think, "Oh, I'm going to turn the heating on." Put a jumper on first and see if that warms you up.

And we could also close the doors in our house so that the heat stays within that room, rather than having to heat the whole house up, you just have to heat that room up.

Do you think you could do some of these children? Oh, brilliant? I know the planet will appreciate it.

Okay, so now it's your turn.

We're going to conduct a little experiment # and I'm going to talk you through it step by step.

So what you need to do is get your fruit or vegetable and your two tubs that you was collecting at the start of the lesson.

And you need to cut two similar size pieces of your fruit and vegetable and place one in each tub.

Pause the video and do that now.

Okay, you should have your two tubs and your piece of fruit or vegetables in each tub.

Once you've done that, you need to cover one of those tubs.

You can use clingfilm.

I used clingfilm because I couldn't find my tub lids.

You can either use clingfilm or your tub lid.

But pause the video and do this now.

Welcome back children.

Now what you need to do is you need to copy this table down in your exercise books or piece of paper.

Pause the video and do that now.

Okay, so over the course of a week, you are going to observe your two pieces of fruit.

One with a cover and one without.

And you're going to write down your observations in each box.

So every single day you need to check on your piece of fruit.

And by the end of it you should have an outcome of what your piece of fruit look like.

And that is the same effect as a greenhouse gas.

So you'll notice that one piece of fruit looks different to the other.

So your success criteria is place one piece of fruit or vegetable in the container, cover one of them with clingfilm, or the tub lid, and you need to record your observations.

Make sure you check every single day on your pieces of fruit or vegetable.

I can't wait to see what your experiment produces.

I would love to see your images of your fruit and vegetables, no matter what they look like.

And I would like it if you could take a picture of your recordings on your observation sheet, if you'd like to please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak.

Good luck and see you soon.