Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

Online carbon calculators help users determine the amount of carbon emissions they (or their household) is responsible for introducing into the environment. This kind of interactive exercise can be a good language-development opportunity, as well as one for expanding content knowledge in either science or social studies.

There are quite a few of them out there, and I’ve included some on my previous The Best Sites To Introduce Environmental Issues Into The Classroom.

With the increase in their availability, I thought I would create a quick “The Best…” list sharing links to ones I think are the best and most accessible to English Language Learners.

I’m not going to describe each one because all the calculators on this list are fairly similar. However, I will differentiate between the first two, which are probably accessible to Beginning or Early Intermediate English Language Learners, and the last five, which are best for Intermediate and Advanced ELL’s. The primary difference between the two groups are the number of questions and amount/complexity of the text. Also, most of the ones in the second group provide more precise figures since they incorporate data from the area where you live, too.

Here are my picks for The Best Online Carbon Calculators:

FOR BEGINNING & EARLY INTERMEDIATE ELL’S:

Zero Footprint Kids Calculator

Ecologic Bigfoot Calculator

FOR INTERMEDIATE & ADVANCED ELL’S

Cool Climate

The Nature Conservancy: What’s My Carbon Footprint?

Low Impact Living Calculator

Personal Footprint Calculator

Consumer Consequences

One Did It

You can find links to these and other calculators on the Science page of my website.

Also, there’s a somewhat related simple Water Footprint Calculator that might be worth trying-out.

The Bonneville Environmental Foundation has very engaging carbon and water calculators to determine your environmental impact. In addition, their suggestions for how to reduce them are equally well-done.

Feel free to offer additional suggestions.

If you found this post useful, you might want to check out my other “The Best…” lists.

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