Human impact on environments
Use vocabulary for human impact on the environment — pollution, habitat destruction, deforestation, biodiversity, conservation, renewable energy, non-renewable energy, fossil fuel, carbon footprint, sustainability, endangered, extinct — and apply these when discussing environmental issues and human choices
What a learner can do afterwards
- Distinguish between renewable and non-renewable energy sources using the correct terms and give examples of each
- Use 'biodiversity' and 'conservation' correctly in discussing why protecting habitats matters
- Apply 'carbon footprint' and 'sustainability' correctly in a discussion about everyday human choices
The lesson
Every day, people affect the world around them, sometimes through pollution, dirty or harmful material released into air, water, or soil. When a forest is cut down, that is deforestation, one kind of habitat destruction, since it removes the natural home of plants and animals.
Biodiversity means the many different kinds of living things in a place. Conservation means protecting habitats so that biodiversity can survive. A species with very few members left is endangered. A species with none left anywhere on Earth is extinct.
Every choice adds up. When Ravi's family drives to school each day, they burn fossil fuel and add carbon dioxide to the air, which adds to their carbon footprint. When they walk or bike instead, their carbon footprint gets smaller. Living in a way that does not use up the Earth's resources faster than they can be replaced is called sustainability.
Small choices matter. Turning off lights, recycling, and walking short trips instead of driving are easy ways to shrink your carbon footprint and support sustainability.
These words, like biodiversity, carbon footprint, and sustainability, help you talk clearly about how people affect the Earth and what we can do to help it.
Watch it
Where it sits
Learn first
Nothing; this is a starting point.
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.