Activity 2-Global Warming

1. There are many solutions to global warming, however, they all revolve a similar idea of reducing energy consumption. Some solutions that you can see everyday would be to take public transport instead of driving your own car, walk or cycle if your destination is near, using the fan instead of the air-con. Also, use energy efficient products like refrigerators with 5 ticks and light bulbs which uses less energy.These actions may only reduce a small amount of electricity per person, but if everybody does it, the amount of energy it reduces in total would be a really large amount. People can also plants trees to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the air and reduce the amount of rubbish burnt. Scientist across the world are also looking for alternative power sources to replace the burning of fossil fuels. The government can replace the burning of fossil fuels in their countries with nuclear power plants if they are willing to take the risk.
2. Singaporeans can also help save the planet by joining in the different campaigns organized in Singapore and going green by using the 3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Reduce by using less electricity, turning off the lights when you don't need them, switch to power saving light bulbs and electronics. Reuse by reusing paper which is only written on one side to print personal documents. Recycle by throwing newspaper to the recycling bins. The actions might seem simple, but they are all vital to saving the Earth, if everyone were to work together, the Earth will definitely be saved.
3. In HCI, the best way to engage the students would be to organize quizzes and events to promote the awareness of global warming, the need to save the Earth and to promote good habits. The school can organize competitions between classes to see which class recycled the most amount of newspaper and which class did the best job in reusing materials to decorate their classroom. By competing with each other, not only can the class strengthen their bonds as their goals are the same, they can also learn how to effectively reuse materials for decoration.
Extension activity
Environmental studies should be made a mandatory part of the science curriculum. Do you agree?
        Environmental issues are a huge topic now and everyone is aware of global warming. However, the problem lies with the determination that the people have to save Mother Earth. Most people are still unaware about the importance of going green now and thinks that there is still time. This sort of thinking is very hard to change, therefore, we should let the people learn from young, the importance of saving the Earth and going green and the skills needed to help them. Also, we must teach them the consequences of global warming if they do not save the Earth now. When these are taught to them young, they will never forget it and they would apply the skills for the rest of their lives. The only way to make sure that every child is taught these is by using education. Therefore, I agree that environmental issues should be made a mandatory part of the science curriculum.
         Since education is compulsory for every child, we can make use of this as a platform to raise awareness of global warming and the importance of saving our Earth. Environmental studies should be included in our studies from young so that we would understand more about the Earth and how to save it. The students would grow up and become responsible people and are capable of saving the Earth by using as little electricity as they can. Also, we can nurture more people to become leaders who can identify the problems and come up with solutions and solve the problem of global warming.
         When they know about the consequences of global warming, they will be encouraged to try their best to save the Earth and at the same time might try to gather support to save the Earth together. When more and more people starts to go green, others would feel "left out" and also join them in going green. This way, more people are encouraged to save the Earth.
         In conclusion, I agree that environmental study should be made a mandatory part of science curriculum as it would let more students be aware of the current situation of the Earth and better understand global warming. By making it a mandatory part of science curriculum, the students gets a better understanding of the environment and at the same time, help to spread the message of caring for the environment. Therefore, I agree that environmental study should be made a mandatory part of science curriculum.