Some of the words and phrases used in the original have been changed to preserve anonymity. This is a copy of the original task as it was presented to the students. The original formatting has been removed.
ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT
1.
Gain an understanding of the ecological footprint
concept. Go to the Ecological Footprint web site and complete the survey to
estimate your ecological footprint. Explore the website to see how and where
you can reduce your footprint.
2.
Identify one ‘footprint factor’ that is of
interest to you on which to focus your inquiry (i.e. one factor that influences
the size of your ecological footprint) and some ‘sustainability strategies’
(i.e. strategies that you, your family or local community could implement to
reduce your ecological footprint).
3.
Construct a set of geographical questions to
guide your inquiry and identify the research and primary data collection
strategies you will use. Use this to construct a research proposal to show your
teacher.
4.
Carry out research using your geographical
questions to guide you. Ensure your research involves the use of both primary
and secondary sources of evidence. As well as researching the ‘footprint
factor’ you must identify a strategy that could be implemented (either by you
and your family or more widely in the community) to reduce that ‘footprint
factor’. As you carry out your research you must submit draft sections.
5.
Analyse and evaluate your results. Decide on how
to present the data you have collected and decide on the strategy/solution you
will present. Construct your annotated visual display (AVD) and exhibition
materials for the presentation evening.
STEP
ONE –GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONCEPT OF AN ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT AND
COMPLETE THE SURVEY AT WWW.MYFOOTPRINT.ORG
This will involve working in class with your
teacher who will lead you through a number of lessons introducing relevant
ideas and concepts.
Some basic questions to consider.
1. What is meant by the term ecological
footprint?
2. Read the FAQ section of the web site. What is
meant by the following?
a) Carbon footprint
b) food footprint
c) housing footprint
d) goods and services footprint
3. How big is your footprint? How does it compare to the
national and international average?
4. Compare and contrast your results with someone else in the
class.
5. What are some ways
you could reduce your footprint?
STEP
TWO –IDENTIFY AN AREA OF INTEREST THAT WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR YOUR INQUIRY
What does this involve?
You are required to select and focus your
research on a particular ‘footprint factor’ relevant to you or your community.
How do I do this?
Consider the questions in the quiz. The ‘FAQ’
section of the myfootprint.org website has a useful explanation of the kinds of
factors that influence your ecological footprint. See
http://www.myfootprint.org/en/about_the_quiz/faq/
Select one ‘footprint factor’ for further
investigation. Do some basic research about this ‘footprint factor’ to gain a
basic understanding of how this factor impacts on a person’s ecological
footprint and identify some strategies that are, or could be, used to reduce
this ‘footprint factor’.
Here are some examples:
Example 1.
Mary notices in the ecological footprint survey
that transport is a significant source of greenhouse emissions and that car use
is one of the major contributors to this. She notices that the Ecological
Footprints web site says that one way to reduce her transport footprint is to,
"Walk, bike, or take public transport whenever possible." She does
some research, including some ‘at home’ data collection on her family’s car use
and finds out how many kilometres her family travels and how much petrol they
are consuming. She then discovers that in some cities around the world (such as
Seattle) the use of bicycles to travel to and from work occurs at a much higher
rate than in Australia. She wonders what Australia is doing to encourage people
to use bikes for commuting to and from work?
Example 2
Phoebe notices from the survey that where you
obtain your food influences your ecological footprint. She does some research
and discovers that most of her food is sourced outside Brisbane: some of it
even comes from other countries. She sees that one of the solutions suggested
on the Ecological Footprint web site is "Shop at your local farmer's
market or natural foods store. Look for local, in-season foods that haven't
travelled long distances to reach you." She is aware that farmers’ markets
are held regularly in a nearby suburb and wonders whether these are successful
and if more could be held in the city.
STEP
THREE –REFINE THE AREA OF INTEREST FOR YOUR INQUIRY BY DEVELOPING A SET OF
GEOGRAPHICAL QUESTIONS TO FOCUS YOUR GEOGRAPHICAL INQUIRY.
What does this involve?
To provide an initial direction for your inquiry
(and to enable your teacher to evaluate your proposal) you must construct a set
of “geographical” questions about the ‘footprint factor’ you have identified as
your research focus. Your inquiry will focus on answering these questions.
How do I refine my research?
Time will be devoted in class to this process,
stressing the importance of developing suitable open-ended as well as closed
questions.
You refine your inquiry by developing a set of “geographical
inquiry questions” about the ‘footprint factor’ you have identified as your
focus. Geographers structure their inquiry around a particular set of questions
that we refer to as “geographical questions”.
These “geographical questions” are:
What is it?(i.e. defining the issue/problem of study)
Where is it?(i.e. analysing where the issue/problem occurs)
Why is it like that? (i.e. analysing how and why the issue or problem occurs and
why the particular patterns of occurrence exist)
What impact?(i.e. analysing the relationships between the problem or
issue being studied and people and the environment –how they impact on each
other)
How should it be managed?(i.e. what is the best way to solve the issue or
reduce/control the problem?)
To refine your inquiry proposal apply these
questions to your topic. As you work through the research process new questions
will occur to you.
Here are some examples.
Example 1
After doing some very basic research Mary
develops the following set of “geographical” questions to focus her research
-What is a carbon footprint? What are greenhouse or carbon emissions and what
are the main ways that transport creates emissions? Where in Australia are most
transport-related greenhouse emissions created? How much petrol is consumed by
driving me around? Can bikes reduce greenhouse emissions and my ecological
footprint? What is the level of bike use in Brisbane/Australia and how does it compare
to other cities/countries? Would my family use bikes more often? Why are bikes
used less in Brisbane/Australia than in some other places? What are some ways
to encourage bike use? What are other places/countries doing to encourage the
use of bikes? What recommendations would I make to decision-makers such as the
City Council or the State Government?
Example 2
Phoebe develops the following geographical
questions to focus her research-
How does food get to the table? What types of
emissions and in what quantities does food production create? What are’ food
miles’? How many food miles would I be responsible for? What alternative
strategies can be implemented to reduce the ‘travel time and distance’ and ‘eat
local’? How could we encourage more ‘farmers’ markets’?
STEP
THREE (CONTINUED) –IDENTIFY SUITABLE RESEARCH STRATEGIES YOU WILL USE TO GATHER
RELEVANT INFORMATION ABOUT EACH SECTION OF YOUR INQUIRY.
What does this involve?
You need to indicate in your proposal how you
will find the information you require to answer your inquiry questions. You
must include primary data collection strategies as well as secondary research.
There are number of primary research strategies you could use in this
assessment task to gather primary data such as:
taking and using photographs
collecting and analysing statistics
conducting interviews
constructing and conducting a questionnaire or
survey or an audit
direct observation
A ‘geographer’s toolkit’ is available in
Masterfile.
STEP
FOUR –CONDUCT YOUR INQUIRY GATHERING RELEVANT PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES OF
INFORMATION. MAINTAIN A RECORD OF RESEARCH. DRAFT EACH SECTION OF YOUR INQUIRY.
What does this involve?
This involves working toward answering your
inquiry questions using the research strategies you identified in Step 3 above.
As you work your way through your inquiry you are
required to keep a record of your research. The Record of Research should
include:
a)
all information gathered during your inquiry,
b)
completed organisers,
c)
drafts of each section of the final product as
submitted to your teacher,
d)
reflection pro formas and
e)
a bibliography of the secondary sources you used.
These items help determine how effectively you
have planned, organised, conducted and reflected on your inquiry.
It is also expected that as you proceed with your
research and you will develop and/or refine your research focus by developing
new inquiry questions and research strategies.
STEP
FIVE –ANALYSE THE RESULTS OF YOUR INQUIRY. DECIDE ON THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS TO
PRESENT THE DATA AND INFORMATION YOU HAVE COLLECTED AND CREATE YOUR AVD.
PRESENT YOUR AVD AS PART OF A DISPLAY AT THE PRESENTATION EVENING.
What does this involve?
The task requires you to analyse the results of
your research, communicate the results of your inquiry using a genre called an
Annotated Visual Display. On this document will be relevant information and
data about your ‘footprint factor’ and ‘sustainability strategy’ organised
using the key questions of your geographical inquiry.
How do I make the Annotated
Visual Display?
The AVD is created in Microsoft Word. It will
contain a mixture of text and graphical materials (such as maps, graphs,
photographs, diagrams.) arranged on two A3 pages in landscape format. Data
presented will be accompanied by analysis written into a text box. Referencing
and geographic conventions (BOLTSS) must be applied where appropriate.
The AVD is produced and submitted electronically.
However you must print a copy to display on the presentation evening. Examples
of AVDs will be shown to you by your teacher.
How do I present the primary
data collected?
You need to table or graph statistics you have
gathered. Questionnaire results would need to be tallied and presented in a
table or graphs. Microsoft Excel and Word 2010 can be used here. Photographs
need to be resized and annotated. The Social Science Research Organiser, Word
2010 and Huelab’s Fun with Mindbook can be used to present ideas in mindmaps
and other graphic organisers.
Exhibition Extras
As well as your AVD you are required to construct
a number of additional items that will be part of your display/exhibition. The
two items listed here are compulsory. You may include other items in your
exhibition.
Curiosity Box
The Curiosity Box is a container with 10
interesting, open-ended questions about your research for which you have
prepared an answer. As guests view your AVD you talk to them about your
‘footprint factor’. Because the guests may know little about your topic, the
Curiosity Box provides them with a question to ask you. Hopefully this will
start a conversation!
Use your creativity to construct an interesting
way to present your Curiosity Box.
Tokens
Tokens are small offerings you can
distribute to guests on the night. It allows you to share your understanding of
the sustainable strategy in an unusual way. It should be something that relates
to your sustainable strategy/recommended action. Use your creativity so that
you can pleasantly reward guests who spend some time at your stand.
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