For a free copy of the Flick Off Action Kit that accompanies this study guide, please email us at mediaed@muchmusic.com

The following questions and activities are based on the program Much Talks: Climate Change and the book Climate Change by Shelley Tanaka.  The activities included here cover three different types of questions and assignments: basic review questions on information that is presented in the program and book; questions which deal with issues or events requiring further research; and assignments which require personal reflection on the issues being explored. You may wish to view the program, or sections of it, more than once.

The activities included here are only suggestions. You may wish to adapt these for the students in your class. Some of the questions might be best addressed in small group discussions or in a form of classroom debate; you may wish to extend others to include specific actions or participation in a campaign. Obviously, it is important to use those activities that best suit the students and the curriculum.

The book Climate Change addresses fundamental issues concerning global warming, including the basic science behind climate change, how we got where we are today, and what the future holds for us. While the author addresses why it is so hard for us to accept what is happening, she also explores what we can do to take action against climate change.    

The Much Talks: Climate Change program explores the phenomenon of climate change and global warming with a focus on the Alberta tar sands and the Athabasca glacier, and the people and communities affected by them.  It also explores our role in reducing the impact of human activity on climate change, and includes specific resources and strategies for taking action.  

I  CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE TAR SANDS

1.     Climate Change, by Shelley Tanaka, provides a context for examining the issues of climate change and global warming, as well as the Athabasca glacier in Jasper, Alberta, and the controversy over the tar sands in Fort McMurray, Alberta. 

In the first chapter of the book, “Climate Change is Real and It’s Here”, Tanaka provides readers with important background information.  Using the first chapter as a guide, respond to the following questions:

a)  Define the terms listed below:
-global warming
-greenhouse gases
-IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
-fossil fuels

b)  According to the information presented in this chapter, how do we know that climate change is taking place?  List and briefly explain three examples cited as evidence that climate change is occurring.  Who has identified that climate change is a problem?  Who—and what—is primarily responsible for climate change? 

2.  “Modern human lifestyles now depend on consuming vast amounts of energy—to keep billions of people sheltered and warm; to produce, refrigerate, preserve and transport food; to carry humans and cargo from place to place; and to produce the many goods that fill people’s daily lives.  The world’s energy use has nearly doubled in the past 30 years, and is expected to increase 60 percent by 2010.”  (p. 32, Climate Change)

Measure your own consumption of resources by calculating your “ecological footprint”.  Visit the Flick Off website at http://www.flickoff.org to complete the calculations required.  What is the impact of your lifestyle on the planet? 

3.  Based on the information in chapter 3, create a storyboard that illustrates how the climate system works.  Include frames that depict the role of the sun, atmosphere, water, and land, and the ways in which humans are affecting the carbon cycle.  Consider how audio and visual components could be used to emphasize key information about the climate system.

4.  “Warmer global temperatures affect more than daily or monthly weather forecasts.  They have an impact on everything from the world’s shorelines and the planet’s fresh water supply, to where we live, what we eat, the jobs we work at—even the survival of some species.”  (p. 46, Climate Change)

a)  In chart form, summarize the effects of climate change outlined in chapter 4.  In the left column of the chart, identify what is affected by an increase in global temperatures, and in the right hand column summarize how these effects are, or will be, seen.

5.  At the beginning of the Much Talks: Climate Change program, we hear a statement by Al Gore, from the documentary An Inconvenient Truth: “We have a climate crisis that is a planetary emergency.”

a)  How is the opening sequence of this program constructed to underscore the statement he makes?  Consider the use of images, editing and sound.  What message is conveyed to the viewer as a result of this sequence?

6.  With MuchMusic VJ Hannah Simone and members of the band Sum 41, we visit the Athabasca tar sands that are described both as an example of “climate crime” and a necessary oil operation in Fort McMurray. 

a)     What is happening at the site of the tar sands in Alberta?  According to several environmentalists interviewed, what are the environmental effects of the operation in the region? 

b)    Darcy Park is the representative for Suncor, an “integrated energy company” that is involved in the tar sands.  What is Suncor’s position on their tar sands operation and its impact on the environment?    

c)     Account for the differences in opinion about the tar sands.  Who benefits if certain opinions are accepted?   Who loses?

7.  Describe your impression of the tar sands based on the images shown to us during Sum 41’s flight over the area.  What are the observations made by the band members about their experience? 

8.  This program is based on the conventions of documentary filmmaking.  How does this kind of filmmaking convey a sense of reality?  (Consider the use of on-camera testimonials, on-location footage, unscripted dialogue, use of real people, etc.)

9.  Two of the major concerns about the tar sands are the tailings ponds and the impact of the operation on the boreal forest. 

a)  What is a tailings pond?  What are the possible environmental effects of the tailings ponds in the region? 

b)  Explain the concerns about the impact of the tar sands operation on the boreal forest.  What measures are taken to protect against this impact? 

c)  Why do several environmentalists believe these measures are not effective?  

II  CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

10.  Darcy Park, the Suncor spokesperson, believes that the oil sands project could become “the poster child for responsible energy in the world”. 

a)  Visit the website for Suncor at www.suncor.com.  What overall message or image about the company and the tar sands project is conveyed through the website?  What elements are used to create this image?  Consider the use of colour, font, details, layout, images, etc.  What can you learn about Suncor’s environmental policies and public relations efforts?

What information is missing or omitted? 

b)  Now move beyond the website and company image.  Visit an ‘alternative’ site such as the one for Corporate Watch, www.corpwatch.ca, or one for an environmental organization such as the David Suzuki Foundation (www.davidsuzuki.org) or Environmental Defense  (www.environmentaldefence.ca)

What makes these sites “alternative”?  What kind of information do these organizations provide for citizens and consumers?  Is there any evidence on these sites that Suncor, and its work at the tar sands, is becoming the poster child for responsible energy?     

Based on the websites you visit, complete the following questions:

·        What companies have been investigated by these organizations?·        What companies have been praised for being 'good' corporate   citizens?  What have they done to earn this praise?
·        What companies are receiving criticism?  Why?
·        What can you learn about Suncor’s activities and its environmental record? 
·        According to the environmentalists interviewed in the program, what is necessary to achieve “responsible energy”?  Is it possible for corporations to be “responsible” corporate citizens? 
·        Investigate the campaigns being undertaken by these organizations in an effort to make corporations more accountable for their environmental practices.  Describe one campaign in detail.  How effective do you think this campaign is?  Explain your response with examples.

III  The Athabasca Glacier, The Tar Sands, and the People of Alberta

11.  Hannah Simone and members of Sum 41 participate in The International Day on Climate Action.  What takes place on this day across the country?  Why do some of the activists feel like events such as this one are necessary?  What do they hope this day will accomplish?  Using the Internet, locate information about the International Day on Climate Action.   What kinds of activities and events are available for people in your community, or communities around the world?

12.  Members of the band Sum 41 talk to environmentalists and business executives about the importance of the Kyoto Protocol--the first international framework to address climate change.  Using the comments from the video and information from Climate Change, respond to the following questions:

·        What is the purpose of the Kyoto Protocol?
·        Who is involved in it?
·        Why has it provoked controversy? 
·        If most people acknowledge that an agreement addressing climate change is necessary, why are some governments resisting the recommendations set forth in the Kyoto Protocol?

13.  Several people interviewed state that there are key reasons why politicians aren’t clamping down on pollution and moving us closer to our Kyoto targets.  If oil production at the tar sands slowed down or halted, what might the consequences be for the economy and for individuals, families and communities?  More directly, the Rick Hyndman, the CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers asks:  “Who will do without the gasoline?”    

a)  Debate the following statement:  Reduction in oil consumption in “rich” countries is NOT possible.   Consider the arguments that can be formulated in support of, and in opposition to, continued oil consumption.  

14.  What is the impact of the tar sands operation on the Aboriginal community of Fort Chipewyan?  How does George Poitras of the Mikisew Cree First Nation feel about the political response to the situation the people there are facing?  He describes it as a social justice and human rights issue—not exclusively an environmental one.  Do you agree with this assessment?  Do you think the government reaction to this situation would be any different if the river flowed in the opposite direction—that is, if the community affected was urban or predominantly white?  Why or why not?

15.  The Athabasca glacier is another site visited by Hannah Simone and members of Sum 41.   David Lavalee, an Athabasca hiking guide, states that the glacier has been there 10,000 years and will be gone in 100 years.  How are the tar sands and the melting of the glacier connected?  What impact will the loss of the glacier have on people living in the prairies?

16.  Lavalee states that we are already “committed” to a certain amount of global warming.  In chapter 5 of Climate Change, “The Frightening Numbers” Tanaka describes this carbon commitment. 

a)  What does this “commitment” mean?  What are the implications of this for individuals and for communities?

b)  How should the reality of this commitment affect any action taken to fight global warming?   

IV  The Environment and the Media

17.  Juan Moreno-Cruz, a Ph.D student at the University of Calgary, says that the topic of the environment is “fashionable” right now.  What makes something “fashionable”?  How does this term apply to the environment?  Describe examples you have seen that would support this observation.    While being--or becoming--fashionable can have its advantages, what are the drawbacks associated with it?  What are the implications for the environmental movement?   

18.  Many people have suggested that celebrities can make certain causes or issues seem “fashionable”.  What are the advantages of having celebrities involved in promoting a cause?  Are there any disadvantages?  Explain.

19.  To what extent does an actor’s or musician’s political ‘statement’ or ideology matter to you as a fan?   Do these reasons influence your consumer habits (that is, for example, whether or not you would buy someone’s  music)?  Do those reasons influence whether you would become active in political or social causes yourself?  Explain.

20.  “I think it’s the responsibility for each of us, not just myself, I’m not special… I have opportunities that other people don’t have, I have a stage to stand on and a microphone to speak into, but I see those as opportunities, more than responsibilities, because my responsibility is simply that [of] a human.”  Ani Defranco, Musician

“All musicians need to be responsible.  There’s no such thing as neutral. That’s what everybody’s got to realize.” Martin C-Perna of the band Antibalas

Discuss your responses to each of the above quotations.  In light of these statements, what role do you think artists or musicians should play in environmental or political activism?  Offer reasons for your answer.  How do you respond to Defranco’s statement that social activism is everyone’s responsibility because we are human?  What role are you willing to play?  Write a reflection in which you explore your responses to these questions and your own feelings about environmental activism.

21.  Dr. David Keith from the University of Calgary says that current media coverage is providing a window of opportunity for the environmental movement.  What does he think should be happening during this time? 

22.  Investigate to what extent the environment is making the news. 

a)  Examine the front section of several daily newspapers to explore the coverage given to environmental issues.  How can you account for the amount of coverage environmental issues receive? 

b)  What kinds of stories are making the news?  How would you categorize the stories that typically make the news of the day?  (Politics, Entertainment, Sports, Business, Human Interest; etc.)  What kinds of stories are absent?   

c)  List the factors that seem to determine what stories are included in mainstream newspapers or news broadcasts.  (Consider such factors as prominent figures or celebrities; local events; events of consequence for the viewer; stories with powerful visuals, events that are current; etc.)

d)  How do the factors from the above list seem to affect the inclusion of stories about the environment?   What are the consequences of this for us as citizens? 

e)  According to Dr. David Keith, why is an issue like global warming difficult to report on?   What would you recommend to people who want to be informed about environmental issues?   What sources of information can they turn to?  What role can alternative media play here?

23.  In chapter 6 of Climate Change, Tanaka provides us with a number of tough questions to answer.  She explains that in order to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide we are putting into the atmosphere, we need to do two things: reduce the amount of fossil fuels we burn; preserve and manage the world’s existing forests and plant new forests.  Tanaka asks: “So what is standing in the way?”  As she indicates, one of the major obstacles is our consumer culture.

“Western culture, rapidly spreading throughout the globe, is based on acquiring stuff, and success is judged by whether one has more or better stuff than others.  This is how economies grow and people and nations become rich.  The whole idea of using less and producing less is unacceptable, so consumers are constantly encouraged to want more, buy more, use more.”  (p. 82, Climate Change)

Tanaka explores the way we think about cars in our consumer culture, what we think they “say” about us, and how our dependency on them is contributing to global warming.  It is clear that in our media-saturated culture, consumer habits are influenced, to a large extent, by the powerful advertising messages that surround us. 

a)  Deconstruct a current television or print ad for a car of your choice.  Pay close attention to the logo, the brand image, and the techniques used to appeal to the emotions of the viewer. 

b)  How have the advertisers created meaning for their product?   In what ways does the ad try to appeal to our emotions and feelings of success and self worth? What “story” is the ad telling?  How is this “story” created?  Consider the use of such elements and techniques as colour, setting, models, camera angles and types of shots, lighting, sound, and editing.

c) After examining a variety of ads, discuss the desires, fears and needs that seem to be created by most advertisements today.  Identify the consumer values that underlie the various emotional appeals.  For example:

·        You are what you own, and if you have nothing, you’re nobody.
·        New products give more pleasure than old ones.
·        Old age is a pathetic state to be resisted in every possible way.  You can buy youth if you choose the right products.   

d)  Visit the website for Adbusters at www.adbusters.org.  What anti-consumer ads are available on the site?  These “spoof” ads make use of parody to make a critical point.  Do you think this technique is effective?  Based on the information you have gathered from this program, create your own spoof ad that sends a message about our consumer culture and/or the environment.

V   GET INVOLVED:  SWITCH and FLICK OFF

24.  In the chapter “Facing the Music” in Climate Change, Tanaka identifies what we have to do to lessen our impact on the environment: adapt; reduce emissions; develop renewable energy sources; develop new technologies; plant trees.

a)  For each requirement listed above, identify one or two examples included by Tanaka which prove that these changes are beginning to take place. 

25.  “Industrialized nations got rich by burning fossil fuels and creating the climate change problem in the first place.  These countries continue to have higher per capita emissions of greenhouse gases than developing countries, because they are wealthy enough to consume wastefully.  So shouldn’t it be up to these rich nations to assume most of the burden of fixing the problem?” (Climate Change, p. 103)

a)  The last section of the MuchMusic program calls for action.  What suggestions are given for promoting environmental responsibility and activism?  Using the information in chapter 7 of Climate Change, research the kinds of alternative, renewable sources of energy available for us today. What is the potential impact of these energy sources on our environment?   

26.  Students at William Lyon MacKenzie Collegiate Institute in Toronto have founded SWITCH.  What does SWITCH stand for?  What is the purpose of this group?  How have teachers and environmentalists responded to their work?  How do the students themselves feel about what they are doing?

a)  Using the Internet, research the kinds of activities and projects that are part of the SWITCH initiative.   

b)  In your opinion, are we experiencing a rise in environmental activism among youth today?   Is SWITCH the norm or the exception in school communities?  What do you think needs to happen in order for SWITCH initiatives to part of every school community?  What environmental programs, or possibilities for programs, exist at your school? 

27.  “We have at most ten years—not ten years to decide upon action, but ten years to alter fundamentally the trajectory of global greenhouse emissions.”  Jim Hansen, NASA

a)  Visit the website for FLICK OFF at www.flickoff.org

“FLICK OFF is a movement to fight climate change by getting Canadians to use less energy.  We need you!  Time is short to prevent a climate crisis, but it hasn’t run out.  Join the FLICK OFF movement.”

What kind of information is available on this site?   Who is the target audience for this information?  In what ways is this site designed to grab our attention and inspire change?  

b)  Revisit your ecological footprint from activity # 2.  What suggestions are given on this website for cutting energy consumption and reducing your ecological footprint?

c)  Based on the suggestions under “Go FLICK Yourself!” on the Flick Off website (under “What You Can Do”), make a list of all of the energy saving suggestions that you could implement in your home.  Record this list in chart form.  In the left hand column record the suggestion, and in the right hand column record the amount of energy saved AND the amount of money saved by implementing these suggestions.   

Share this information with your family.  Prioritize the changes everyone in your household can make each season, and year round.   Place flyers from the Action Kit in locations that will serve as a reminder to everyone to FLICK OFF.

28.  “Revolutionary Change begins with youth.”  Billy Bragg, Musician

Dr. David Keith, from the University of Calgary, says that the hardest question about the topic of global warming is “why should we care?”    Keith recognizes the fact that our concern about, and commitment to, the issue of addressing climate change is both challenging and necessary.  Reflect on the information presented in this program, and in the book Climate Change.   What would you say to someone if you were asked the questions “why should we care” and “what can we do”?   Using a medium of your choice, produce a response that effectively communicates your message.

Written by Carolyn Wilson

Carolyn Wilson is a teacher, author, consultant and President of the Association for Media Literacy in Ontario, Canada.  Co-author of the best selling textbook, Mass Media and Popular Culture, Version 2, Carolyn has been invited to speak at conferences around the world by such organizations as UNESCO and UNICEF.

In 2005, Carolyn received the Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence for her pioneering work in media literacy and global education.

She is an instructor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.

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