Human Footprint Interactive

Background Info

Did you know that during the course of your lifetime you will eat about 12,000 oranges? These oranges will travel a total of about 23 million miles to reach your fruit bowl or glass of OJ. Shipping fruit takes energy. Energy comes from fuel. Everything that you eat (bread), use (newspapers), and do (take showers) has an impact on the world. This impact is called your human footprint. While there's no need to swear off oranges, and, please, don't stop bathing, this interactive will help you learn about how you live and the impact it will have over your lifetime.

Vocabulary

Term	Part of Speech	Definition
carbon footprint	Noun	the measurable total impact of one or more people on the environment. Also called environmental footprint.
energy consumption	Noun	use of power, usually defined as power produced by human beings in plants run on electricity, fossil fuels, or nuclear fission.
green	Adjective	environmentally safe and sustainable.
human footprint	Noun	single person's lifetime use of natural resources.
natural resource	Noun	a material that humans take from the natural environment to survive, to satisfy their needs, or to trade with others.
recycle	Verb	to clean or process in order to make suitable for reuse.
water footprint	Noun	total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual or community.

Credits

Producers

Tirzah Weiskotten
Jessica Shea

Sources

National Geographic Channel

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