Save energy. Save the world. with Slide 1 (kids) Who here is good at solving problems? That’s good. I hope you’ve brought your thinking caps today - because I need your help to fix a big problem.

You feel rotten with a high temperature. Slide 2 (sick kid) How do you feel when you have a temperature? Having a temperature can be a sign you are sick. You might have to take some medicine. You might have to make some changes to your day to get better – like resting instead of running around. Even staying in bed and not going to school for a day! Someone might have to look after you so you can get better.

The earth has a temperature too. Slide 3 (sick earth) The earth has a temperature too. Scientists can take the earth’s temperature. They measure the temperature of the water in the ocean and the air. They can work out if the earth’s temperature is changing by looking for a pattern – changes that are happening over a long time. Just like when we’re sick, scientists have discovered our planet has a temperature too. It’s getting warmer. Just like when we’re sick, our planet’s temperature is telling us there’s something wrong. Our planet needs people to look after it so it can get better too. And we need to make some changes to the things we do each day to help it get better. When we’re sick our mums or dads or family or people who love us help us get better. Now it’s our turn. We need to help Planet Earth get better.

Global Warming – Our Global Warning. Slide 4 (Surfer) Did you know that the ‘Globe’ is another name for our earth? Because the globe - the planet earth - is slowly getting warmer, we call it ‘Global Warming’. You might hear people talk about ‘Climate Change’ too, because as the planet gets warmer, our climate is changing too. Places that used to be cold are getting warmer. Places that are warm are getting hotter. Maybe we should call it ‘Global Warning’ instead of ‘Global Warming’– because it’s telling us something is wrong. The earth is getting hotter!

What’s the big deal? Slide 5 (?) So the earth is getting warmer. So what? Does it matter? Should we care? Or does a warmer planet sound good to you? People that live in cold places will have warmer weather. They might like that. Maybe we could all go to the beach and swim in winter! That would be nice.

Small changes in our climate could mean BIG changes to our… FOOD WATER Slide 6 (ocean, air, water etc) Or would it? Even a small increase in temperature over time can make big changes to our climate. Things we need to live might change – like the ocean, the places where we plant crops to grow food, the air we breathe, and the water we drink. AIR OCEANS

What might happen? Slide 7 (?) What might happen?

Too much water in some places… Too little water in other places… The sea gets higher. Floods. Too little water in other places… Drought – no rain. No water for drinking, washing, growing food. Less trees, plants and animals. Slide 8 (Floods/ Drought) If we don’t do anything to stop Global Warming, these are some of the things some scientists think could happen over the next 100 years. The level of the sea could rise by almost a metre. Glaciers – huge mountains of ice – might melt. Water takes up more space than ice – so all that extra water in the ocean would make the sea get higher. It would be like pouring extra water into a swimming pool that is already full. The extra water will overflow. That could cause floods in coastal places – where the land meets the ocean, like beaches. The sand and grass and plants at the beach could get covered and washed away. That's called erosion. Small islands in the middle of the ocean might totally disappear because the higher water will cover them. Even buildings along the coast could end up getting flooded. The salt water that flows further inland could hurt plants and animals that live near the coast. Salt is bad for a lot of plants and animals that aren’t used to it. They need fresh water. Fish and animals that live in warm or cold water might not survive if the water gets too hot. So some people will have too much water because of floods…. And others won’t have enough water because of droughts. There might be less rain in dry parts of the world. Plants and animals that need a cold or cool or warm place to live might not survive if it gets too hot for them. Lots of people might not have enough to eat. If there’s not enough rain, they won’t be able to grow the food they need. They might not be able to get the water they need for drinking, cooking, washing and growing crops for food. Many of the countries that would have the biggest problems are already very poor and already have problems with drought and not enough food. There might be less rainforests – and less trees. We need trees because they take carbon dioxide out of the air. Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas. We’ll find out a bit more about greenhouse gases in a moment.

Why? What’s making the earth get warmer? Slide 9 (?) So what’s making the earth get warmer? What’s making the earth get warmer?

The Greenhouse Effect Slide 10 (earth in agreenhouse) Global warming is caused by the “greenhouse effect”. It’s what keeps our planet at a nice comfortable temperature. We’re lucky our planet earth is the right temperature for us to live on. The warm air from the sun gets trapped by the atmosphere – that's the layer of air around the earth. What happens when you get into a car that has been parked in the sun? It’s a lot hotter inside the car than outside. Your seat might feel hot. And the metal on your seatbelt buckle might feel really hot. Why is it so much hotter inside the car? It’s because the sunlight gets in and the hot air gets trapped inside. It can’t get out through the glass. That’s an example of a greenhouse effect. Another example is a glass house, or greenhouse. That’s a glass building where some plants grow. The sunlight gets in, but the heat gets trapped inside. The same thing happens to the earth. The air is made up of invisible gases called greenhouse gases. It’s like an invisible blanket that keeps us warm. It’s all been in balance. We’ve had the right amount of greenhouse gases to keep the planet just the right temperature for a long time. But that’s slowly changing… The problem is, we’re now making too much warm air. People have been doing things that make too many greenhouse gases – especially carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. And the heat it traps is making the earth warmer.

How do people make greenhouse gases? Power Plants burning fuel. Slide 11 (cars and power plant) How do we make greenhouse gases? Big power plants burn coal and oil to make electricity. Burning coal and oil produces greenhouse gases When we burn fuels like coal and oil, we make greenhouse gases. Cars that use petrol and diesel fuel make greenhouse gases too. The rubbish we put in the bin ends up in a big garbage dump as ‘landfill’ – we call it that because it fills up a lot of space on our land. When the rubbish breaks down, it makes another greenhouse gas (called methane). In the last 100 years, people have been making lots more greenhouse gases than ever before. That’s because the way we live has changed. 100 years ago people used horses. Now we use cars. And in the olden days there weren’t many power stations burning coal to make electricity. Now we use a lot of energy like electricity. Just like your food gives you energy and power to do things like play and do sport and work hard at school, we use electricity for energy and power too. We use electricity every day – more than ever before - so we are making more greenhouse gases. And they are trapping more heat. So the earth is getting warmer. Lots of cars.

What about me? Slide 12 (?) What about you? Do you think you make greenhouse gases? Yes you do. We all do.

You make greenhouse gas when you… Watch TV Turn on a light Ride in a car Play a video game Use a dishwasher Cook in the oven or microwave Use a hair dryer Use a washing machine or clothes dryer Turn on the air conditioner Slide 13 (many pics) You send greenhouse gases into the air whenever you: Watch TV Turn on a light Ride in a car Play a video game Use a dishwasher Cook in the oven or microwave Use a hair dryer Wash or dry clothes in a machine. Turn on the air conditioner It’s not wrong to do those things – we just have to be smart about how we do it. We should try and use less energy like electricity whenever we can.

You’ve got the power! Little things can make a BIG difference. Slide 14 ( We can all make smart choices to help reduce greenhouse gases and global warming. We’ve all got the power to make a big difference by doing a few little things. Every little bit helps. Little things can make a big difference.

Make a difference – at home. Turn off lights. Short showers use less water and energy than a bath. Use energy saving bulbs. Make a difference – at home. Turn off lights. Use energy saving light bulbs. Switch off TVs and computers. Put on a jumper instead of the heater. Make sure fridge and freezer doors are closed and sealed properly. Let food cool down before it goes in the fridge. Short showers use less water and energy than a bath. Make sure fridge and freezer doors are closed and sealed properly. Let food cool down before it goes in the fridge. Switch off computers and TV’s. Put on a jumper instead of the heater.

Make a difference – at home. Check the ‘Star’ energy rating before you buy – the more stars the better. Recycle bottles, cans, paper and plastics. Skip the dryer – hang washing on the clothes line. Make a difference – at home. Fix drips and leaky taps Turn the tap off while you clean your teeth. Only use the washing machine and dishwasher when you have full load Wash your clothes in cold water. Skip the dryer - Hang washing on the clothes line. Check the ‘Star’ energy rating before you buy – the more stars the better. Grow green – Plant and protect trees. Recycle bottles, cans, paper and plastics. Fix drips and leaky taps. Turn the tap off while you clean your teeth. Grow green – plant and protect trees. Wash your clothes in cold water.

Make a difference – on the move. Slide 17 (bike, walk, Car) You can make a difference when you’re on the move too. The best way to cut the amount of carbon dioxide made by cars is to cut the number of car trips we make. Walk or ride your bike whenever you can – especially for short trips. Use public transport – catch a train, bus or ferry.

What else can people do? Switch to energy savers Wind power Slide 18 (solar, wind, light globe) Copy: What else can people do? People are trying to find and use new sources of energy to make electricity that don’t need coal and oil. There’s: Solar power from the sun. Wind farms that make energy from wind. New cars that don’t use as much – or any - petrol. Solar power

What are you going to do to save energy today? Save energy. Save the world. What are you going to do to save energy today? Slide 19 We’ve all been making our planet a bit sick. We’ve given it a temperature. We need to help it get better. We all have the power to save energy. Kids can save energy too. What are you going to do to save energy today?

as an educational resource for schools as part of the Produced by Philips as an educational resource for schools as part of the NSW Government project to reduce greenhouse gases © Copright 2006