Teacher Preparation

Download Google Earth for free at earth.google.com or use www.google.com and click on maps on the menu bar.

See what other schools are doing by exploring a case study here.

Activity outline

Begin this activity by asking your students to define the term ‘green space'. What do they think it means? Does it refer only to public parks and gardens or should it include private gardens as well? The Oxford Dictionary defines green space as: 'an area of grass, trees, or other vegetation set apart for recreational or aesthetic purposes in an otherwise urban environment'.

Using Google Earth, ask students to look up their neighbourhood or local area and find out how much green space there is around their school, their home and in the suburb or town that they live.

Challenge 1

Students have to estimate what percentage or ratio of the local area is green space. They are to attempt this just once coming up with their own solutions. (E.g., create a print out of the local area, draw a graph over the printout and count the squares that are green space and those that are not.)

Once students have made their estimates, compare the estimates and the methods other students tried.

Did students come up with the same estimates?
Which solutions to the challenge were quick to do?
Which solutions were the most accurate?
Which solutions would students recommend?

A Greener Neighbourhood

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