Global Climate Change
EPA's Personal Greenhouse Gas Calculator
 Overview of Activity
This online interactive site allows students to enter lifestyle information to determine their personal contribution to the greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. This activity can be used as a method of getting the whole family involved in a discussion of the human impact on global warming.
Activity Type:
Online
URL: http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/
ResourceCenterToolsGHGCalculator.html
Level of Difficulty:
Advanced
Amount of Time Required for Activity:
Two 45-minute periods
Description
Students enter information about how much energy their family uses at home, the types of transportation they use, and where they dispose of waste to get an estimate of their personal greenhouse gas emissions. They can then enter choices they might make to reduce these emissions.
This site allows the students to answer the research question:
What evidence is there that my family and I are contributing to greenhouse emissions?
How does this evidence relate to the Global and American CO2 emissions calculated during the visit to the museum?
This web site is produced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Relation to the Science Standards
High School
Content Standard D – Geochemical Cycles
Content Standard F – Environmental Quality
Content Standard F – Natural and Human—Induced Hazards
Related Part of the Exhibit
Responses to Change
Links for Additional Information Related to the Activity
An explanation of the assumptions and sources used by this calculator http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/
ResourceCenterToolsCalculatorAssumptions.html
Related Resources
Carbon Offsets Allow Businesses to Trade Environmental Credit -NewsHour, March 8, 2008
Physicist Searches for Alternative Fuel Technologies - NewsHour, May 2, 2007
Alternative Fuels - An Indepth Report - NewsHour
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