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Objective: 

Students will be able to identify their habits and decisions that most impact the climate. This lesson can be used in a variety of subjects or could be an inter-disciplinary project.  A sample of objectives in a variety of subjects follows. 

• Science:  Students will be able to research our energy sources, such as oil, coal, nuclear and renewables, to identify both the positives and negatives inherent in each resource. 

 

• Government:  Students will be able to identify and explain the various possibilities, pros and cons for energy sources, such as coal, nuclear and renewables.  They will draft letters to their Senators and representatives, articulating their concerns as citizens and calling for legislation to protect the climate. 

 

• English:  Students will be able to research our energy sources, such as oil, coal, nuclear and renewables, to identify both the positives and negatives inherent in each resource.  Or students could read and discuss environmental literature (see below).

 

• Math:  Students will calculate their daily Salamander Points and may be asked to determine the point value of some item not listed on the website.   Our calculations were based on averages from Energy Information Administrations.  We used the national average of 1.34 lbs CO2/kWh.  You can find your multiplier at <eia.doe.gov/oaif/1605/coefficients.html>.

 

• History:  Students will learn about the history of the environmental movement, beginning with industrialization, moving through the reformation of the Victorian age and the explosion of criticism in the Modern age, using environmental literature (see below).

Materials: 

1. Handout:  "What Can We Do About Climate Change?"
2. Handout:  "Salamander Points Discussion Questions"
3. Computer:  Daily points on www.salamanderpoints.com
4. Computer:  Daily points calculator on www.salamanderpoints.com

Activities:

1. Introduction: Ask students what they know about climate change.  What causees climate change?   [Note:  Some people call it "global warming," but that term does not capture the entirety of what climate change can mean.]
2. Using a dictionary, define the terms sustainable, emit, habitat, industrialization and infrastructure. 
3. Go to www.salamanderpoints.com's FAQ and answer the questions on the handout. 
4. Explore "Points System" on www.salamanderpoints.com.  Use handout, "Salamander Points Discussion Questions:  Are you surprised by the numbers attached to our daily activities?  Which numbers are most surprising?  Why?  What could you try to give up or reduce in order to lower your Salamander Points? 
5. Estimate your daily Salamander Points.
6. In groups of three to five, students will compare their estimated Salamander Points and brainstorm ways to lower their daily points.  They can set a group goal, or you can set a class goal, perhaps 200 points per day or the 10% Challenge, where students attempt to reduce their Salamander Points.  The trip to and from school counts!
7. Over the next week, they will keep track of their point usage on their charts.  The first five to ten minutes of each class can be used for groups to check on and record their totals on the class chart.  The remainder of class time can be used to complete a related project, such as researching and presenting our current energy sources (see "Objective" for ideas).
8. After one week, groups will meet to discuss their findings and present their totals to the class.  At this point, they can offer suggestions of tricks they found helpful to lower their totals. 
9. Students might be challenged to undertake the 10% Challenge over the next week. 

Environmental Literature

Here is a partial list of works commonly found in high school curricula that address either the environment or nature and our responsibilities.

Selections from Nature or Self-Reliance - Emerson
Selections from Walden - Thoreau
"The World is Too Much with Us" - Wordsworth
Frankenstein - Shelley
"God's Grandeur" - Hopkins
"The Second Coming" - Yeats
Silent Spring - Carson
Brave New World - Huxley
Feed - Anderson (YA book-not usually curricular)

 

 

Follow-up

Either concurrently with the Salamander Points assignment or afterwards, students could be assigned research projects on a variety of climate change topics, such as Kyoto Protocol, habitats, extinct animals, current energy sources, and much more.

Read the FAQ on www.salamanderpoints.com and answer the following questions.

1. Define the terms sustainable, emit, habitat, industrialization and infrastructure. 
2. Do we know what is causing climate change?  Explain.
3. Identify 5 effects of climate change.  How many human lives are lost each year from climate change, according to the World Health Organization?
4. Is it too late to stop climate change?  Explain.
5. What is a "carbon diet"?
6. Explain how individual carbon trading works. 
7. What is the goal of individual carbon trading? 
8. How much of our country's greenhouse gases are due to individual and household emissions?
9. What are "vampire" electronics?
10. Go to the Salamander Points home page:  what do you estimate your daily Salamander Points at?  Do you think you are at, above or below average?  Why?

1. Are you surprised by the numbers attached to our daily activities?  Explain
2. Which numbers are most surprising?  Why? 
3. What could you try to give up or reduce in order to lower your Salamander Points? 
4. Estimate your daily Salamander Points.  Then, using the Salamander Points calculator, determine your actual Salamander Points.  What are the things you do that use the most points?
5. If 22 Salamander Points = one ton of carbon emissions per year, how many carbon tons do you emit each year?
6. What activities could you change in order to reduce your points? 
7. What might be the hardest change to make?
8. What would be the easiest change to make?
9. Wordsworth wrote, "The world is too much with us."  What do you think he meant?  Do you agree?
10. Would you be able to go an entire week without watching TV, playing video games, or using a computer for entertainment?  Why or why not?  What changes would you expect to see in your daily life if you did?
11. Are you surprised by the numbers attached to our daily activities?  Explain
12. Which numbers are most surprising?  Why? 
13. What could you try to give up or reduce in order to lower your Salamander Points? 
14. Estimate your daily Salamander Points.  Then, using the Salamander Points calculator, determine your actual Salamander Points.  What are the things you do that use the most points?
15. If 22 Salamander Points = one ton of carbon emissions per year, how many carbon tons do you emit each year?
16. What activities could you change in order to reduce your points? 
17. What might be the hardest change to make?
18. What would be the easiest change to make?
19. Wordsworth wrote, "The world is too much with us."  What do you think he meant?  Do you agree?
20. Would you be able to go an entire week without watching TV, playing video games, or using a computer for entertainment?  Why or why not?  What changes would you expect to see in your daily life if you did?