Earth Day – Handout 1

Earth Day is upon us and in keeping with our pledge to raise awareness and help create a community to make every day Earth Day, we at TRC are excited to kick off that initiative. Our promise is to send weekly “Earth” packets containing exercises, tips, questionnaires and projects for the duration of April and May. These are not designed as tests or quizzes but are meant to help raise awareness, protect, and preserve our ever depleting natural resources and our planet. Let’s make 2010 a year of commitment, dedication and accountability towards our home and make a pledge to help clean it up. Remember: every little bit helps!

What is Global Warming and why is it a cause for concern?

According to timeforchange global warming is the observed and projected increases in the average temperature of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans.

Did you know?

The Earth’s average temperature rose about 0.6? Celsius (1.1? Fahrenheit) in the 20th century. According to different assumptions about the future behaviour of mankind, a projection of current trends as represented by a number of different scenarios gives temperature increases of about 3? to 5? C (5? to 9? Fahrenheit) by the year 2100 or soon afterwards. A 3?C or 5? Fahrenheit rise would likely raise sea levels by about 25 meters (about 82 feet).

The main cause of global warming

Almost 100% of the observed temperature increase over the last 50 years has been due to the increase in the atmosphere of greenhouse gas concentrations like water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and ozone. The largest contributing source of greenhouse gas is the burning of fossil fuels leading to the emission of carbon dioxide.

What can we learn?

In our technology and scientific minded world, we seem to have forgotten that mankind is only a relatively minor part of Nature. We ignore being part of a larger whole. We forget that the true cause of global warming is our thoughtless attitude towards nature.

The ultimate global warming solution is to behave as part of a larger whole. Here is the key point to remember:It’s your personal decision whether you want to be the cause of global warming.

In this critical time, we need to wake up and spark off a change in paradigm. We have to understand that essentially we all have to make a personal decision in order to achieve any real change and be accountable for our own actions. Only then can we induce fundamental changes in our attitude and behaviour towards Nature.

Earth Day Quiz 1

1. What is an ecosystem?

a. It is a place having unique physical features-including air, water and land?supporting plant and animal life.

b. It’s a process to name newly discovered plants and animals.

c. It is a popular computer game

Answer: a

2. What is the symbol for recycling

a. The Earth with a heart on it

b. Three arrows that create an endless loop

c. A gold star

Answer: b

3. How does planting trees help our environment?

a. Trees help clean the air,

b. Trees provide homes for birds and other animals,/p>

c. Trees help reduce pollution in water

d. All of the above

Answer: d

4. Which of these is not recyclable

a. Foam drinking cups

b. Cell phones

c. Plastic bags

Answer: a

5. What is composting?

a. Posting information about the environment online

b. Pulling weeds in your garden

c. Recycling scraps of fruits, vegetables and other organic material by planting them outside.

Answer: c

6. What is a carbon footprint?

a. A cute picture you made with your feet to give to mom

b. A dinosaur fossil

c. A measure of the impact our actions and daily activities have on our planet and the climate

Answer: c

7. What is the greenhouse effect?

a. When your mom decides to paint your house green one summer

b. When the weather gets warmer and plants start growing in spring

c. The rise in temperature the Earth experiences because certain gases in the atmosphere trap energy from the sun to warm up the Earth

Answer: c

8. What does it mean when food is organic?

a. It is food that is made or grown without the use of chemicals and pesticides

b. It won?t taste good

c. It was made while someone was playing the organ

Answer: a

9. Which of these things is something you could do to help save our planet?

a. Turn off the water while you brush your teeth

b. Carpool to school

c. Remind your parents to bring reusable bags when you go grocery shopping

d. All of the above

Answer: d