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Lesson 4.1 Vocab

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decarbonization
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Definition

The reduction or elimination of greenhouse gas emissions from processes, products, and systems.

Use In A Sentence

Decarbonization is essential for combating climate change, requiring a shift from fossil fuels to low- or zero-carbon alternatives.

emissions
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Definition

The release of substances, such as gases, particles, or radiation, into the air, water, or soil.

Use In A Sentence

The countries with the highest CO₂ emissions per person are wealthy countries—like Canada and Australia—or oil-producers like Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Grand Challenges
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Definition

The five categories of human emissions sources, which are also the five categories of mitigation solutions.

Use In A Sentence

The breakdown of the five Grand Challenges looks different in every country.

manufacturing
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Definition

The use of labor, machinery, and chemical processes to turn raw materials into products like cement, steel, and plastic.

Use In A Sentence

The manufacturing processes we use to create concrete, steel, glass, and other materials produce almost a third of humanity’s annual carbon emissions.

The Grand Challenges

Teacher Resources

Course Guide icon

Lesson Guide

Don’t forget! You’ll find lesson timing, sample answers, tips, and everything else you need to know in the Lesson Guide.

Driving Question: What are the Grand Challenges?

Each year, humanity releases 51 billion tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. How can we start to make sense of a number that big? This lesson will give you a better understanding of the types of things that release emissions, how they are connected, and what makes reducing emissions so challenging.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Identify the five Grand Challenges.
  2. Explain the obstacles to reducing emissions in each Grand Challenges.
  3. Understand how the Grand Challenges are connected.

Vocab Terms:

STEP 1

Opener: The Grand Challenges

Where do greenhouse gas emissions come from? These images will give you some clues into the major culprits.

Opener

Emissions Image Sort External link

Sort images of greenhouse gas emissions into different categories to prepare to learn more about the sources of these emissions.
STEP 2

Why Do We Release So Many Greenhouse Gases?

Teaching Tools

You’ll hear the term Grand Challenges throughout the next few lessons. We use it to group major sources of emissions into categories—an imperfect but helpful way for students to make sense of a complex problem.

The Grand Challenges can help us make sense of a complex problem like decarbonization. But what are the Grand Challenges, and what do they tell us about potential solutions?

Exploring the Grand Challenges External link

To solve climate change, we need to decarbonize. Sounds easy, right? Not so fast: this video will help you see how reducing emissions is anything but.

Activity

Grand Challenge Image Sort External link

Return to the sort from the start of the lesson to think about the best ways to categorize emissions.
STEP 3

The Five Categories of Emissions

What puts the challenge in the Grand Challenges? Explore the infographic to see how emissions are tied to pretty much everything we do, and then use the visual aid to dive deeper in the categories. Finally, use the activity to explore whether or not having categories is useful.

Infographic

The Grand Challenges External link

The Grand Challenges represent the main areas responsible for carbon emissions. Understanding these categories is the first step to addressing the problem.

Unpacking the Grand Challenges

What are the main areas responsible for carbon emissions?
How we plug in. Generating electricity: Producing the power that fuels everything from light and appliances to transportation and industry. Storing electricity: Saving generated power in batteries or other devices so it can be used at a later time. Transporting electricity: Moving power from where it's generated through transmission lines to homes, schools, and businesses where it's used.
How we make things. Manufacturing goods and materials: Using labor, machinery, and chemical processes to turn raw materials into products like cement, steel, and plastic. Assembling products: Putting together different parts and materials to create finished goods, from electronics and cars to clothes and furniture.
How we grow things. Agriculture and food production: Growing plants and raising livestock for food. Land use: Managing and using land resources for farming, forestry, development, and other activities.
How we get around. Transportation: The movement of people or goods from one place to another using vehicles like cars, buses, trains, ships, and airplanes. Urban design: Planning cities to meet transportation needs through public transit, walkable areas, and connected spaces for people to move around easily and efficiently.
How we keep cool and stay warm. Heating and cooling: Keeping our homes and buildings warm in winter and cool in summer.
What are the main areas responsible for carbon emissions?
How we plug in. Generating electricity: Producing the power that fuels everything from light and appliances to transportation and industry. Storing electricity: Saving generated power in batteries or other devices so it can be used at a later time. Transporting electricity: Moving power from where it's generated through transmission lines to homes, schools, and businesses where it's used.
How we make things. Manufacturing goods and materials: Using labor, machinery, and chemical processes to turn raw materials into products like cement, steel, and plastic. Assembling products: Putting together different parts and materials to create finished goods, from electronics and cars to clothes and furniture.
How we grow things. Agriculture and food production: Growing plants and raising livestock for food. Land use: Managing and using land resources for farming, forestry, development, and other activities.
How we get around. Transportation: The movement of people or goods from one place to another using vehicles like cars, buses, trains, ships, and airplanes. Urban design: Planning cities to meet transportation needs through public transit, walkable areas, and connected spaces for people to move around easily and efficiently.
How we keep cool and stay warm. Heating and cooling: Keeping our homes and buildings warm in winter and cool in summer.
Slide 1 of 6

Activity

Categorizing Emissions External link

What do the Grand Challenges tell us about reducing emissions? And are these categories even necessary or useful?
STEP 4

Closer: The Grand Challenges

Teaching Tools

If time allows, invite students to share their responses with a partner—or challenge them to map emissions from their school or community.

You understand the Grand Challenges on a global scale. Now think about them on a personal level.

Closer

Personal Emissions External link

What are your personal Grand Challenges? Think about the activities in your own life that release emissions.
Extension Materials
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Use this article if you’re looking for a text to explore the Grand Challenge framework.
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Understanding Emissions

Teaching Tools
This resource reinforces the Lesson 4.1’s video and infographic. Have students read it if they need a stronger foundation in the Grand Challenges before moving on to solutions.

How can we make sense of a number like 51,000,000,000? Discover how breaking up the problem can make it easier to grasp.

Article

Grand Challenge Overview External link

By breaking up a problem as complex as carbon emissions, we can make the problem—and its solutions—easier to grasp.