Consumer Stuff for kids (PDF, 6.2 MB) - Consumer Affairs Victoria

VELS Humanities - Economics
The key elements of the Economics knowledge and
understanding standard addressed by this unit are:
•
Unit
6
"Students describe their own roles as producers
and consumers of goods and services. They explain
the need to be an informed consumer".
Refer to the Level 4 Humanities - Economics Domain Learning
Focus statement on page vii to provide a context for the standards.
Learning Objectives
Consumer and Financial
Literacy Framework
This unit addresses the
following outcome:
See page viii for
more information.
• Students will be introduced to sustainable consumption and
identify sustainable and unsustainable consumer behaviours.
• Students will consider the problems created by excessive
consumer waste and identify potential solutions.
Lesson Duration
» 60 minutes
Consuming Planet Earth
ACTIVITY 1 - What a Waste!
Preparation
» copy the Our Consumer Waste Problem sheet
R 2
Key Terms
• sustainable
• reduce
• reuse
Teacher Notes
Being sustainable means considering the environment in all we do.
The following facts and figures demonstrate why sustainable consumption has become an
important consumer issue.
• Australians are per capita the second-biggest consumers of water and energy, and producers
of waste on the planet, just after the USA.
• Over-consumption is the root of many environmental problems such as climate change,
biodiversity loss, water and air pollution, deforestation and general land degradation. The
first step in addressing these issues is to make more considered lifestyle choices and to
consume more efficiently.
• Each year, 560,000 computers are discarded in Victoria with 182, 875 of these dumped in
landfill. A desktop computer takes 22kg of chemicals, 1500kg of water and 240kg of fossil fuels
to produce.
• Many natural resources are used in food production. Over $5.3 billion of food is thrown out in
Australia each year.
Introduction - What am I?
• recycle
• E-waste
• landfill
Provide students with the following clues:
"I’ve only had a couple of jobs in my life and for the rest of my life I’ve drifted from place to place."
"Some people think I’m really strong but sometimes I can’t hold it all together."
"Other people think I am a noisy nuisance but it’s not my fault, that’s just how I am."
"I sometimes get turned inside out or tied up in knots."
"I have close encounters with dolphins, seals and other marine life."
"I just wish I didn’t end up in the waterways."
CONSUMER AFFAIRS VICTORIA NEED CONSUMER HELP? 1300 55 81 81 www.consumer.vic.gov.au
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