Lesson Plan: Classroom Footprint
Summary: Through this lesson, students examine their individual ‘global footprint.’ In other words, students discover how much land and water is necessary to sustain what they use as well as discard. In doing so, students also discuss the quality of life, particularly how their quality of life compares to that of others, as well as what factors affect quality of life. This lesson includes various activities, specifically discussions which obtain data from the Earth Day Network Site, and graphing the ‘global footprint’ of the class, to be completed individually, in pairs, and as a whole class.
Advantages: This lesson effectively embeds social justice themes overall, and allows for singular as well as group work.
Disadvantages: Although the lesson differentiates instruction, provides a link to global issues related to the quality of life, and incorporates contributions from each student, the assessments do not fully evaluate students’ attainment of the lesson objectives.
Scores: 13.75/18, 3 stars
Inclusivity of multiple perspectives: 2.5
Link to real world problems: 2
Differentiation: 2
Agents of change: 2
Connections to students’ lives: 3
Lesson assessment: 2.25