Sustainability and the Environment - Marty Learns about Transport

Warm-up:

Revise the word scale and what it means for a map. The video below does this succinctly. This video features on the PowerPoint presentation slide, after the objectives and success criteria.

Carry out a series of estimates: about how far is it to get to... For potential options, include other countries, local landmarks, cities within a country, geographical features, school, doctor's, etc.

There are several scale maps in the workbook. Learners are asked to measure the distance between two locations for each map, in cm, and then to convert to the real-world measurement. Each map has a small scale icon at the bottom right, showing the relative distance between the map and the real world.

Time for Practice

Now that learners have an idea of distances to travel for a variety of locations, have them watch a quick video to see the emission comparisons for different modes of transport. This video can't be embedded in the lesson so you will have to click the link, below, to access it at the correct place or click the image on the presentation, following the video on scale.

YouTube video for comparison

Each of the mentioned modes of transport refers to a different distance travelled. To get to approximately the same distance, there are expressions in the workbook to aid learners to get a distance that is about the same; they will need to calculate the emissions from what is given in the workbook, this makes it easier to talk about which vehicle produces more emissions.

Now, learners need to look at either the included map resource or one you have printed, which is perhaps more local. Using any of the suggested points on the map, learners need to measure the distance between them, in cm and convert using the scale.

Challenge learners to code Marty to walk the distance on the map and count the number of steps, then they could apply the scale to see how many steps it would take Marty to walk in the real world.

Here is a quick video of some measurements being taken on the printed map (from the resource section) and the converted distance for the real world, along with Marty walking the first part of the map. Each step Marty takes is 2.5 cm. The distance for the first part of the map is 12.5 cm. Marty completes that distance in 5 steps: 5 x 2.5 = 12.5. With this information, learners could make estimates, or calculations, about the number of steps for different parts of the map. Learners could then consider how many steps Marty would need to take 'in the real world'.

Cool Down

Bring learners back together to discuss the challenges they faced and overcame. Have groups model their creations and explain what is happening, when. Encourage other groups to ask questions to deepen the understanding of the processes.

Suggested questions you might ask:

• Did any of the emission amounts surprise you?
• Were there any strategies you used to support your work on the scale map?
• Were there any difficulties you faced for having Marty walk the route on the map?

Carry out any end of lesson routines.

Log off devices and clear everything away.