Hello, my name is Mrs. Mehrin, and I'm so excited to be learning all about reducing our carbon footprint with you.

Let's begin.

Welcome to today's lesson from the unit, "Climate Change and Sustainability." Your learning outcome is, "I can explain what carbon footprint is and how we can reduce it." Now, I know that learning can sometimes be a little bit challenging, but that's okay, 'cause it just means that we are going to learn really well together and we are going to work really hard and learn some fabulous new things.

So let's begin.

Here are your keywords for today's lesson.

Now I am going to be referring to these keywords throughout today's lesson.

However, if you find it helpful, you can pause the video here and you can jot these down.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

Now our lesson is split into two parts today.

Let's begin with the first part, carbon footprints.

So some children are talking about greenhouse gases, and Alex says, "I heard that we are producing too many greenhouse gases, but I don't know what they are." Sofia says, "I think they're gases that make the air smokey and polluted." And Jun says, "I think they're gases that make you feel hot." What do you think? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So greenhouse gases are gases, including carbon dioxide that trap heat in Earth's atmosphere.

And this causes temperatures on Earth to rise over time, which can make it harder for living things to survive.

Now, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere leading to something on Earth.

Is it a, smog and smoke, b, warmer temperatures, or c, sunny weather? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answer is b, "warmer temperatures." Now, greenhouse gases are produced in lots of different ways.

Burning fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Now, do you know any places where fossil fuels are burned? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So fossil fuels are burned in power stations to generate electricity.

Petrol and diesel are made from crude oil and are often used in the engines of cars and other vehicles.

And many homes burn natural gas to provide warmth and cook food.

All of these actions produce greenhouse gases.

Now, greenhouse gases are also produced during food production and manufacturing.

So this includes farming animals or crops, as well as creating objects such as clothing, books, furniture and technology.

So every part of our life, we could be responsible for creating greenhouse gases.

Now we are often far away from the sources of greenhouse gases when we use products, like electricity generated from fossil fuels or food from farms and factories.

We also can't see, taste or smell greenhouse gases, making it really hard for us to realise how our actions are contributing to their production.

So thinking about our carbon footprint can help us to understand our impact.

Now, before I tell you, do you know what a carbon footprint is? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So a carbon footprint is a measure of how much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are released when we do everyday things.

So the measure of a carbon footprint includes how we travel, what we eat, how often we buy new things, and much more.

So the more greenhouse gases are produced by our actions, the larger our carbon footprint is.

Now the measure of how much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are released when we do everyday things is called our what? Is it a, carbon footprint, b, smoke production, c, fossil fuel record, or d, eco score.

I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answer is a, carbon footprint.

Now, Aisha was woken up this morning by the alarm on her phone.

She had a shower, got dressed, then watched some television for 10 minutes.

Now can you think of anything Aisha did that may have contributed to her carbon footprint? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So Aisha's phone and television use electricity, which may have been generated at a power station by burning fossil fuels.

Her shower needed hot water, which may have been warmed either by a natural gas or by an electric boiler.

Aisha had a carton of milk at school this morning, and I want you to think about the way that this milk was produced and transported to Aisha's school.

How do you think it could have impacted on her carbon footprint? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So the milk came from a cow, and dairy farming produces greenhouse gases.

And refrigeration of fresh milk needs electricity, which may have been generated by burning fossil fuels.

And the production of milk carton packaging also produces greenhouse gases.

And the vehicle used to transport milk to Aisha's school may be powered by burning fossil fuels, creating more greenhouse gases.

And most of the products we buy, such as clothes, toys, and books, also increase our carbon footprint.

And greenhouse gases may be produced not only while they are being made, but also while they are transported to shops or delivered straight to your home.

So which of these are adding to your carbon footprint? Is it a, what we eat, b, the things we buy, c, the amount of air we breathe, d, how we travel or e, when we sleep? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answer is (keyboard clicking) what we eat, the things we buy, and how we travel.

Now, true or false, this is for your first task.

You need to have a look at these statements.

I'll read them to you, and then you need to decide whether or not they are true or false.

So, "Everyone has a carbon footprint.

A carbon footprint is a measure of the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere when we do everyday things.

Burning fossil fuels increases our carbon footprint.

Buying more things, like books and clothes, decreases our carbon footprint." So I'll give you some time now.

I'd like you to pause the video here and have a go at doing this activity.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So the first one, "Everyone has a carbon footprint," is true.

The second one is false.

The third one is true, and the last one is false.

So for breakfast this morning, Izzy had buttered toast and a glass of orange juice, all delivered to her house yesterday from her local supermarket.

I want you to identify as many ways as possible that this could have contributed towards her carbon footprint.

So again, I'd like you to pause the video here and have a go at doing this activity.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So her food was transported to the shop from farms and factories and then delivered to her house.

The butter and orange juice needed to be stored in an electric fridge.

The bread was manufactured in a factory or bakery.

The orange juice has been grown on a farm.

The butter came from milk, which came from cows on a farm.

And the toaster used electricity to toast her bread.

Did you think of anything else? So now we are onto the second part of our learning today, which is reducing our carbon footprints.

Now it's impossible not to have a carbon footprint.

Everybody has got one.

And Jun says, "I don't want to have a negative impact on the environment.

Is there anything I can do to reduce my carbon footprint?" What do you think? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

If you need a little bit longer, that's absolutely fine.

Just pop the video on pause and then come back once you are ready.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So everyone can take action.

So they can do things to reduce their carbon footprint.

And we can do this by making changes to the things we do, eat, buy, and the way we travel.

Now, which of these statements is false? "A, everyone has a carbon footprint, b, the things we do every day add to our carbon footprint, or C, there is nothing we can do about our carbon footprint?" So out of those three, which one is false? Which statement is false? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answer is, of course, c, "There is nothing we can do about our carbon footprint." Now, using less electricity can help to reduce our carbon footprint, and actions like turning off lights when they are not in use and switching electronics off rather than using standby mode can help.

We can also reduce the amount we use electronic devices and appliances.

So Alex, for example, says, "I'm going to switch my laptop off at the wall instead of leaving on standby mode." And Sofia says, "I'm going to spend less time watching TV." Now we can change the things we eat to reduce our carbon footprint.

So buying food that has been grown or produced closer to home has a lower carbon footprint because it hasn't been transported as far to reach us.

So producing meat produces more greenhouse gases than most plant-based foods.

And eating less meat can help to reduce our carbon footprint.

Jun says, "I'm going to have meat-free Mondays instead of eating meat every single day." And Jun says, "I'm going to choose the vegetarian option for my school dinner more often." Now, buying new things increases your carbon footprint, but by reusing things you already have, it does not.

So Sofia says, "I make sure we take bags when we go shopping instead of getting new ones." Alex says, "I wear school uniform that used to be my older cousins instead of buying new clothes." And Jun says, "I use the library instead of buying new books." And those are all fantastic ways to reuse things that you don't need to buy again brand new.

Now, we can also reduce our carbon footprint by choosing to walk, cycle, scoot, or skate instead of using a car for shorter journeys.

So for longer journeys, using public transport instead of a car can reduce your carbon footprint.

Now, which of these actions would reduce our carbon footprint? Would it be a, using a library instead of buying new books, b, driving to school instead of cycling, c, choosing fruit grown in hot countries instead of from the UK or d, eating meat less often? Again, I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answers are a, using a library instead of buying new books and d, eating meat less often.

B and C would increase your carbon footprint.

Now here is Task B.

It says, "Complete the table with two actions people can take to reduce their carbon footprint in each area." So for travel, what two things could they do to reduce their carbon footprint to make it less? What about with food, buying things, and using electricity? So I'd like you to pause the video here and have a go at doing this activity.

Off you go.

So for travelling, you could walk rather than taking the car on short journeys.

And if you've got a longer journey, you could use public transport instead of using a car.

For food, you could eat less meat or you could buy fruits that have been grown locally or in the UK.

So for buying things, you could swap computer games with friends instead of buying new ones.

And you could take reusable bags to the shops instead of getting new ones each time.

Using electricity, you could have switch lights off whenever we leave a room or turn off the classroom interactive whiteboard when we leave the room.

There's so many different options that you could do for each of these.

So for example, travel, you could scoot to school, for example, if it's close enough.

You could try and eat, well, it says to eat less meat and buy your fruits that have been grown locally or in the UK.

You could even try growing your own food as well.

Buying things, you could, like we've discussed before, go to the library and get books from there, like Jun does, rather than buying new books.

You could wear hand-me-downs, so things that belong to older siblings or family members or friends that are still in good condition.

They don't need to be thrown away.

They could be passed down.

With the using electricity, there's so many different things that we could do.

For example, turning off the television if we're not watching it, not just walking out of the room for example, or turning off the radio or any of those kind of things as well.

Watching less TV as well is a great one too.

So the second part of Task B, it says to choose two actions that you could take to reduce your own carbon footprint.

So think about how you're going to travel, what you might eat, the things you buy new, and how much electricity you use.

So what two actions could you do to take, that you could do, to reduce your own carbon footprint? So again, I'd like you to pause the video here and have a go at doing this.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So Jacob says, "I'm going to borrow my friends' games instead of buying new ones and start riding my bike to school instead of going in the car." Laura says, "I'm going to try to eat less meat and take the stairs in my block of flats instead of using the lift, which uses electricity." And Andeep asks, "What are you going to do?" So we've shared so many different ideas, and perhaps, you have some of your own as well.

And maybe you could share this with family or friends to really inspire them to reduce their own carbon footprint as well.

So now we are onto the summary of our learning.

So carbon footprint is a measure of how much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are released when we do everyday things.

The measure includes what we eat, how we travel, how often we buy new things, and much more.

Everyone can take action to reduce their carbon footprint.

You have worked so hard today.

I'm incredibly proud of you.

You've worked really well.

Well done.