Where Are You Going?

Save the Earth’s limited resources by planning. Combine trips to go places. This early mapping experience helps pave the way to a greener lifestyle.

• 1.

  How are you trying help the earth stay healthy? One good way is to plan trips in advance with your family. What do you need to do? Where do you need to go? Is your library near the park? Is the grocery near your school? When you drive, it takes energy to fuel a car or a bus. Can you walk or bike instead? Can you combine two or three trip destinations to conserve fuel? Carpool with someone?

• 2.

  With your classmates, find out about greenhouse gases and why they are affecting the global climate. Brainstorm ways children and adults can reduce their carbon footprints—the amount of CO2 emitted by activities such as driving cars and using electricity. Then do this art project to help you see why it’s important to plan trips ahead of time.

• 3.

  Cover your art area with recycled newspaper. On construction paper, use Crayola Washable Markers to mark where you might start a typical trip, where you usually stop along the way, and how you finish a typical neighborhood trip with your family. Are you meeting friends or doing errands? Going to practices or picking up groceries. Draw lines to show the routes you could take between the places you usually go. You’re making a map of the places you know!

• 4.

  On your map, paint landmarks you see as you travel in your neighborhood. Is it a country scene or cityscape? Air-dry the paint.

• 5.

  Measure the distances that you travel. Figure out how much less distance you could travel if you combine trips or share rides instead of making single trips to each destination. Share what you’re learning about conserving energy by taking shorter routes w

Benefits

• Children recognize the advantages of planning their local travels.
• Children depict their travels graphically in a map of their own neighborhood.
• Children measure distances to calculate and predict the benefits of trip planning.

Adaptations

• Students can interview each other and their families. How many families already plan their trips? Who carpools? Why do people make these choices? To save fuel? List other ways that families can help to take better care of the Earth’s environment.
• Try a similar learning experience on the playground using Crayola Sidewalk Chalk to map typical destinations. Count the steps saved by combining trips instead of going back and forth separately.
• People living in the United States use six times more energy than the rest of the world and own one-third of all cars everywhere. Study ways to cut down on energy use. Look around your school for energy wasters. Plan an environment fair to share information with families and the community.
• Assessment: Do children understand the differences between going out a lot of times versus going on a planned trip? Were children’s maps filled with different markings to illustrate distances, locations, surroundings, and destinations? Did the children use mixed media in their representation?