GREEN NINJA
TEACHER SUPPORT MATERIALS
NAME OF GREEN NINJA VIDEO: Dr. Burrito
MAIN TOPIC OF VIDEO: Carbon emissions related to food choices
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Frame:
1. Usually when you go see a doctor, the nurses will take your blood pressure to see if
it’s too high (which has life-threatening consequences). Instead of taking the blood
pressure of the two burritos, Dr. Burrito takes their “carbon pressure.” What is carbon?
2. How is “carbon pressure” measured, according to the video?
3. Why is it bad to have “high carbon pressure” and how is it related to carbon
emissions?
Focus:
1. As Dr. Burrito was taking the carbon pressure of his patients, he found that one of
the burritos has lower carbon pressure. Which burrito has lower carbon pressure?
2. The initial reading of carbon pressure gave Dr. Burrito an estimate of carbon
(measured in grams) associated with each burrito. Fill in the chart to compare the
grams of carbon for the two burritos.
Burrito
Beef
Veggie
Amount of Carbon
3. Describe the carbon pressure of rice, beans, cheese, and beef when Dr. Burrito took
their carbon pressures individually. Which ingredient(s) are responsible for the high
carbon pressure of beef burritos?
Follow-up:
1. At the end of the video, Dr. Burrito stated that, “the beef in the burrito takes far more
energy to produce, thus emitting far more carbon emissions into the atmosphere,
compared to a veggie burrito.” What processes go into the making of meat (like beef)
that requires so much more energy to produce? For help, visit:
GREEN NINJA
TEACHER SUPPORT MATERIALS
http://www.ewg.org/meateatersguide/interactive-graphic/
2. Beef isn’t the only meat that is used in wraps and burritos at fast food restaurants.
Think of some other types of meat that may be the main ingredient in a wrap or burrito.
How do they rank in terms of carbon emissions? For help, visit:
http://www.ewg.org/meateatersguide/a-meat-eaters-guide-to-climate-change-healthwhat-you-eat-matters/climate-and-environmental-impacts/
3. Everything we do affects the planet. What are some food choices you can make
from now on that can help make our planet a healthier one?
ANSWERS TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Frame:
1. Carbon is an element that exists in all living things. It can combine with other
elements to create molecules. The most familiar one to us is carbon dioxide, CO2.
Carbon pressure is just another way of saying how much carbon emissions (amount of
carbon released into the atmosphere) is associated with the making of something.
2. In the video, carbon pressure is measured by how much energy it takes to produce
the item. The more energy it takes to produce something, the higher the carbon
pressure (carbon emissions).
3. High carbon pressure means high carbon emissions (more carbon released into the
atmosphere). Carbon combines with other elements to create CO2, which is a
greenhouse gas. Increased levels of greenhouse gases have contributed to global
climate change — rising temperatures, which has deadly effects on our planet (just like
how high blood pressure has life-threatening effects).
Focus:
1. The veggie burrito has lower carbon pressure.
2.
Burrito
Amount of Carbon
Beef
3800 g
Veggie
500 g
3. Rice and beans had low carbon pressure, cheese was higher, and beef was
overwhelmingly the highest. Since beef is the only ingredient missing from a veggie
burrito, beef is the culprit for giving beef burritos high carbon pressure, adding 3300g
more carbon pressure per burrito.
Follow-up:
1. Answers may vary, but could include energy used in transportation, production of
pesticides, fertilizer, feed, machinery used in slaughterhouses and processing as well
as waste.
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TEACHER SUPPORT MATERIALS
2. Carbon emissions associated with pork rank similarly to cheese but a little less,
salmon and turkey are a little less than pork. Chicken seems to be the most ecofriendly meat product as the associated carbon emissions is about a quarter of what’s
required for the production of beef.
3. Answers may vary, but should mention less consumption of meat products,
especially beef and lamb.
ADDITIONAL TOPICS AND LEARNING EXPERIENCES:
1. Often times lamb and beef products are faulted for the most impact on the
environment. The production process not only includes carbon emissions, but also
emissions of other greenhouse gases more potent than CO2. In addition, the grazing
process also results in other negative environmental impacts. Read about and identify
ways in which these ruminant animals hurt the environment.
Discussion may include how methane and nitrous oxide from manure has a warming
potential 300 times greater than that of CO2. Grazing also causes erosion and
contaminated waterways, resulting in many acres of unusable land/natural resources.
ADDITIONAL NOTES AND RESOURCES
“Engaging Students Through Global Issues” from Facing the Future
Lesson 12: Watch Where You Step
“Climate Change: Connections and Solutions” from Facing the Future (this is a free
download)
Credit: This teacher resource has been adapted from content originally developed
by Hannah Sun.