In this activity, pupils explore how they contribute to CO2 emissions as they travel to school. The aim of the activity is to raise pupils’ awareness of the drawbacks of traveling in general and in relation to their own traveling behavior. By the end of this activity, pupils have become aware of the fact that different forms of transport have different CO2 emissions and they will also be able to understand and explain the connection between transportation and climate change. At the end of the activity, pupils will organize and participate in a “climate conference” during which they discuss and negotiate a plan on how they could decrease the overall emissions of school transportation.

The activity raises awareness about the environmental costs of the different ways of traveling to school. Pupils are inspired to consider and discuss traveling options by making comparisons between different CO2 emissions of classmates. This activity can be easily expanded to involve parents and local authorities.

The activity is an adapted version of the Carbon Detective in Transport activity produced by the Mind the Gap online project: http://www.migaproject.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=161%3Acarbon-detective-in-transport&catid=35%3Atransportation&Itemid=89&lang=en

The description of the activity

The activity starts by asking pupils to read a story about a real life situation where pupils are introduced to the problem statement concerning environmentally-friendly travelling: 

"I have to go to school every day, some things I cannot change! My house is close to school so it is only a 5 minute walk. My friend Sammy lives next door but she is driven to school, I think she is quite lazy! When I arrive at school I often wait for my friends who travel on the school bus. Then we all go to our classroom together. Guess what...all the teachers come by their own car. I want a Porsche when I am old enough.

After school there are lots of clubs and sports I can do. My favourite is football. We practice twice per week. When we have finished I am tired and sometimes wish someone would drive me home instead of walking. On Saturday we have a football match against another school. Sometimes we have to travel many miles to play a game. I am lucky because we travel by car, it is a big one so I have lots of space to sleep on the way back home."

After reading the text, pupils are told to solve the following question:

Pupils will try to answer the research question by doing four activities. During the activities pupils will collect data in a table (can be downloaded from the website), interpret their data and drw conclusions based on the research. Pupils can use Google Maps to measure the travelled distances.

An example of how the table for the data collection may look like: 

Activity 1: In the first activity, pupils will write down how they travel to school, and work out the distance from their homes to school (15 minutes). 

Activity 2: In the second activity, pupils will interview at least 10 classmates and ask them about how they travel to school and write down the information in the same table (30 minutes).    

Activity 3: In the third activity (20 minutes), pupils are asked to investigate how big their CO2 emissions are when they travel to school. The emissions can be calculated by using the following website (https://www.co2nnect.org/?nmlpreflang=fi)

Activity 4: In the fourth activity (25 minutes), pupils are asked to calculate CO2 emissions of their classmates.

Additional resources to calculate CO2 emissions are provided through different links on the Mind the Gap website: http://www.migaproject.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=161%3Acarbon-detective-in-transport&catid=35%3Atransportation&Itemid=89&lang=en#T4Activity2 .

By interpreting the results from the calculations, pupils are asked to draw conclusions and discuss the following questions: 

• Which vehicle emits the most CO2?
• Is there any relationship between the type of  transport and the distance travelled between home and school? If yes, what is it?
• Is there any relationship between the level of CO₂ emissions emitted by the transport and the distance travelled between home and school? If yes, what is it?

At the end of the activity pupils will organize and participate in a climate conference during which the results and conclusions of the research are discussed:

• The purpose of the conference is to negotiate how the emissions of school transportation could be decreased
• The “class delegates” will start the conference by deciding on their own opinions regarding the topic. These opinions are then presented in a meeting of the delegate representatives who are trying to find a shared opinion on the topic. If delegates disagree, the topic is brought back to the class delegates for discussion. If a shared opinion can be found, the solution will be voted in the conference of all the pupils in the school.
• The delegates can also decide about “prizes” that are given if the goals are achieved
• A representative of the Town Hall or the City Council can be invited to take part in the discussions and the negotiations. The representative is also asked to share information on how they negotiate and make decisions in the Town Hall/City Council.
• A local environment organization may also be asked to take part in the negotiations in the role of an expert partner

If the decisions of the climate conference include political aspects, pupils can write a proposal for the Town Hall/City Council etc.

Resources needed

• Computers and internet access