Lesson: Delivered to Your Door

Ask students if they have ever bought an item from an online store like Amazon. How does the experience compare with shopping in a physical store? What types of items do they prefer to buy online? Why? Ask students to describe the steps they think are involved in getting a product delivered to a person’s home after placing an order online. Brainstorm the process as a class and write down students’ responses.

Have students read the article, and then discuss what they learned. Ask for volunteers to describe the types of technology used in Amazon’s order-fullfilment process. How do these tools help improve delivery times? What did students learn about Amazon’s warehouse workers and transportation delivery network? Use the information to update the steps you wrote down in Step 1. Have students complete the article’s “Check for Understanding.”

Distribute the “Warehouse Map” skills sheet and discuss how Amazon might use data to determine where to open warehouses. Ask students to describe their initial observations about patterns in the locations of Amazon warehouses around the country. Which warehouse might ship products they buy from Amazon? Have students complete the skills sheet.

Assign the “Climate Connection” graph activity. When students have completed it, discuss their answers. Were they surprised by any of the data? Does the information make them want to make any changes to the way they shop? Why or why not? Ask for a volunteer to share an item they recently bought online. As a class, brainstorm the steps needed to create the item before it was available for purchase. Discuss the possible ways these steps also add to shopping’s carbon footprint.

Model how to complete the “Examining Claims” skills sheet and analyze the first claim together. Then let students analyze the remaining two claims. When they have finished, encourage students to search for additional claims in the article. Instruct them to look for facts, statistics, quotes, and examples the writer gives to back up a claim.

⇨ VIDEO EXTRA: Watch a video that takes you inside an Amazon fulfillment center.