Carbon Footprint & Strategy Worksheet
Carbon Footprint · Antarctica unit, Lesson 6 · Years 9–10
The Carbon We Can't See
Part A: map the evidence → Part B: evaluate a strategy
The emissions investigated here contribute to warming of the Southern Ocean and Antarctica's ice. Part A identifies the evidence a defensible footprint calculation would need; Part B evaluates whether a real climate strategy works.
Part A · Map the Evidence — He Mahere Taunakitanga
A credible calculator needs real activity data and stated boundaries. Use your household, a fictional household, or a school scenario; nobody must disclose private family information.
| Category | Evidence needed | Could we access it? |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday transport | Distance, mode, vehicle fuel/electricity and passengers | |
| Flights | Routes, cabin class and trips over a stated period | |
| Food | Eating pattern, quantities, origin and avoidable waste | |
| Home energy | Metered electricity/fuel, heating type and dwelling efficiency | |
| Goods and services | Purchases, useful life, repair/reuse and supply-chain data |
My two highest-emitting categories — prediction only, until tested with data:
Three possible changes — who holds the strongest power over each (individual / whānau / school / business / government)?
One boundary choice that could change the result (for example, production vs consumption, or one year vs one month):
If you test the hypothesis with an online calculator, record its source, year, boundary and assumptions. Different calculators can legitimately return different totals because they count different things.
Part B · Evaluate a Strategy — He Arotakenga Rautaki
Choose one real climate strategy and judge how well it works — with evidence. This is the science skill: not "do I like it," but "does it actually move the carbon, and what's the catch?"
Pick one: shifting to electric vehicles · planting native forest on marginal land · cutting livestock methane (diet/genetics) · free or frequent public transport · individuals going plant-based · rooftop / community solar.
1. The strategy I'm evaluating:
2. Which sector does it target — and why does that matter for Aotearoa's profile?
MfE's 2022 gross inventory: agriculture 53%; energy (including transport) 37%; industrial processes 6%; waste 4%. A strategy powerful elsewhere may matter differently here. Source: Ministry for the Environment, 2022 inventory summary.
3. How much could it realistically move? What's the evidence?
Use a number or a credible source if you can (He Pou a Rangi, MfE). "It helps a lot" is not evidence.
4. The catch — what's the limit, cost, or barrier?
Who can't access it? What does it cost? Does it need policy, or can individuals do it alone?
5. My verdict — individual action, systemic change, or both? And in what proportion?
Back it with one piece of evidence from above, and name the strongest point on the other side.
Back to the ice — if this strategy worked at scale, what would it do to the carbon warming Antarctica?
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Science — Earth Systems (Phase 4 | Years 9–10)
"Human activities remove carbon from the lithosphere (e.g. combustion of fossil fuels, cement production) and biosphere (e.g. logging) and release it into the atmosphere."
Quoted verbatim from this unit's verified Te Mātaiaho alignment. Part A identifies the evidence behind human-emissions claims; Part B evaluates a response to those emissions.
🪶 He Kupu Kaitiaki
Carbon footprints sit close to people's homes, budgets and cultures. The point of this worksheet is to understand the system and where change has real leverage — never to rank or judge any whānau. A kaitiaki acts at every level they can reach: tinana, whānau, kura, and beyond.