Consumption topic box

Consumption topic box

Welcome to the ‘Consumption topic box’, a WWF ‘Teaching and learning’ project for the UK primary schools focusing on consumption and ecological footprint. The topic box includes:

• help with planning a topic on consumption;
• classroom activities and resources;
• 'The very hungry school’ story and pupil worksheet
• A place to share your work with other teachers.

Teaching and Learning

Over the years we've been privileged to work with schools throughout the UK as they explore joined-up approaches to sustainability. The experience of these schools shows the importance of teaching and learning that:

• puts children at the heart of the process
• shows a logical progression
• develops thinking skills
• encourages informed values and attitudes
• inspires through doing and through direct experiences with the environment
• makes the links, eg between issues, subjects, other places, other times (past, present and future).

Our work at WWF-UK aims to support such teaching and learning by:

• providing stimulating resources that help build teachers' capacity
• offering professional development opportunities
• facilitating learning networks.

Why consumption matters

Every individual, every household, every business and, ultimately, every country consumes resources. Ecological footprinting measures the amount of resources we use compared with what is available in the world. This tells us what kind of mark we are leaving on the planet.

In the UK, our footprint is too big: we use and pollute more than our fair share. If everyone in the world lived like the average person in the UK, we would need an extra three planets to support us. Knowing our ecological footprint can help us decide how to make our lives in the UK more sustainable, so other nations and future generations can also enjoy the wonders of our planet and wildlife can thrive.

Further information