Students will be able to identify their own habits that most impact the environment.

1. Handout:  "What is Climate Change?"
2. Dictionary
3. Computer and overhead:  www.salamanderpoints.com
4. Computer:  Daily points calculator on www.salamanderpoints.com
5. Chart:  team goals and daily team tallies

1. One full day for introduction of assignment.
2. On the following five days, ten minutes should be set aside for group tallying.
3. One full day for group discussion and presentations to class.

1. Introduction: Ask students what they know about climate change.  What things cause 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. Read the selection about climate change and answer the questions on "What Is Climate Change?" 
4. Explore point values on www.salamanderpoints.com.  Discuss:  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. Students should estimate their Salamander Point daily total.  Then, in groups of three to five, they can brainstorm ways to lower their daily points that are realistic.  They can set a group goal, or you can set a class goal, perhaps 100 points per day.  Another option is the 10% challenge--reduce their output as a team by 10%. 
6. 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. 
7. 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 way to lower their totals. 

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, and much more.

There are a variety of reasons, such as environmental change:
Rising sea levels as frozen areas warm and ice melts,
Increased number and severity of storms,
Increased drought and heat waves,
Endangered and extinct animals, plants, and other organisms,
Changing ecosystems.

Famine,
Disease,
Water and food shortages,
Political chaos.

Reduce:  don't buy anything you don't need or drive anywhere you can walk or bike. 

Reuse:  shop at second-hand or consignment shops. 

Recycle:  buy reusable goods rather than disposable, and try not to buy products that have been overpackaged. 

1. How many tons of carbon per year should we try to limit ourselves to in order to be sustainable?
2. How many ppm of carbon was in our air before industrialization?
3. How many ppm of carbon was in our air in the year 2007?
4. What will increase in the environment as a result of climate change?
5. How many deaths each year does the World Health Organization attribute to climate change?
6. Why will it take time for the Earth to respond to positive changes we make?
7. What is the importance of the golden toad? 
8. What are some benefits to reducing how much carbon we emit each day?
9. List five ways you can reduce how much carbon you emit.

1. The age of ___________________ was when people first began using machines for transportation and manufacturing.
2. Many animals' natural ____________________ will change as a result of our activities.
3. Whenever we plug in, turn on, or start up an engine or electronic device, we probably will _______________ carbon. 
4. As people focus on being more ____________________ and conserve energy, they will make different decisions about what to buy and how to live.
5. Roads and telephone lines are just two of the things that make up our ________________, which we use on a daily basis to transport and entertain ourselves. 

1. What did you do that helped you keep your points low? 
2. What was hardest for you to do? 
3. Were there any habits you found that stopped you from attaining your daily goals?
4. What surprised you most in your daily totals?
5. Brainstorm some ways that you could try to keep your Salamander Point totals low for an entire year.  Is it realistic to try to stay under 50?  Under 100?  Why or why not?
6. Figure out what is ten percent of your daily Salamander Points average.  Could you reduce how much you emit by that much?