4. MAKING YOUR OWN SURVEY Students take an aspect of the Ecological Footprint and design a survey around it.

 

Questions to investigate include:

1. How are people using transportation?

2. Are sources of locally produced food being protected? Do people value this food?

3. How has the neighborhood changed?

 

Handheld possibilities:

Build a survey using one of the database programs for the Palm (Mobile DB, HanDbase,ThinkDB, Filemaker Mobile)

Food: Animal-based products, Food amounts, Food waste, Locally Grown Food, **their consumption of locally raised produce.

Relate to weight rise, use of fats, energy it takes to raise animals vs. plant energy; why local foods are good; protecting local farmlands
Use Inspiration or PALM concepts, including concept of population rise.

Transportation: Miles driven per year, Ride sharing, Fuel efficiency, Public transportation, Air travel,

Relate to traffic , asthma, new hybrid vehicles vs. SUVs, (NB: who keeps the local data?) Miles driven per year, Ride sharing, Fuel efficiency, Public transportation, Air travel,
Use Inspiration or PALM concepts, including concept of population rise. Relate to traffic (who keeps the local data?), asthma, new hybrid vehicles vs. SUVs,

 

Students can interview people working in the areas of recycling, fuel efficiency, or energy efficiency. Will there be more or fewer gas stations? Will more or less food be locally grown?
http://www.concord.org/intl/beacon2/energy_detectives.htmlents might also design a survey of their community for attitudes towards the future, towards sacrifice for the future, towards helping people with less, both inside and outside the country.

Students can also research improvements in their variables, as well as monitoring their footprint.

 

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