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Year 11
AQA

The environmental impact of data systems

I can identify the environmental impacts of data systems, discuss sustainability and propose reduction strategies.

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New
New
Year 11
AQA

The environmental impact of data systems

I can identify the environmental impacts of data systems, discuss sustainability and propose reduction strategies.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Data systems have a significant environmental impact, especially due to large-scale data centres.
  2. Data centres consume vast amounts of electricity, mainly for running servers and cooling systems.
  3. Most electricity for data centres comes from fossil fuels, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.
  4. Sustainable practices can reduce impacts, such as using renewable energy and efficient cooling systems.

Keywords

  • Data centre - facility that houses servers, storage systems and networking equipment to store, process and distribute data

  • Renewable energy - energy that comes from natural sources that are constantly replenished and will not run out

Common misconception

Because data is stored in the cloud, it doesn’t have a physical or environmental impact.

The term "cloud" sounds invisible, so many people assume their photos, videos and files are floating around in some harmless digital space. But in reality the cloud is made up of millions of physical data centres which are based across the world.


To help you plan your year 11 computer science lesson on: The environmental impact of data systems, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

This lesson covers multiple areas of the evironmental impact of data centres. You may wish to extend the lesson by getting pupils to research one particular topic in more detail and conduct an extended piece of writing on the topic.
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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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5 Questions

Q1.
What is one reason big data is difficult to process using traditional computers?
It is always stored on paper.
It is only made up of numbers.
It never changes.
Correct answer: It is too large and arrives too quickly for older systems.
Q2.
Which of these best describes the term “variety” in big data?
Correct answer: the different types and formats of data collected
the size of the data files
the cost of storing data
the number of users accessing the data
Q3.
Why do organisations often use cloud storage for big data?
Correct answer: Cloud systems can scale up to handle very large and complex data sets.
Cloud storage is limited in space.
Cloud storage is always free.
Cloud systems only store text files.
Q4.
Put these in order for handling big data:
1 - Data is generated by devices.
2 - Data is stored using cloud systems.
3 - Security measures are applied.
4 - Data is processed and analysed.
Q5.
Match the example to the big data characteristic:
Correct Answer:billions of emails sent every day,volume

volume

Correct Answer:videos, images, and text on a website,variety

variety

Correct Answer:millions of updates every second,velocity

velocity

Correct Answer:data stored in the cloud,storage challenge

storage challenge

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Put these in order for understanding the environmental impact of cloud storage:
1 - Data is uploaded to the cloud.
2 - Data is stored in physical data centres.
3 - Data centres use electricity, often from fossil fuels.
4 - Electricity use leads to greenhouse gas emissions.
Q2.
What are large facilities called that store, process, and manage vast amounts of digital information for organisations?
Correct Answer: Data centres, Data centre
Q3.
Match the term to its meaning:
Correct Answer:data centre,facility for storing and processing data

facility for storing and processing data

Correct Answer:renewable energy,power from sources that don’t run out

power from sources that don’t run out

Correct Answer:cooling system,equipment to keep servers from overheating

equipment to keep servers from overheating

Correct Answer:greenhouse gas emissions,release of gases that contribute to climate change

release of gases that contribute to climate change

Q4.
Put these steps in order for making a data centre more sustainable:
1 - Assess current energy use.
2 - Install renewable energy systems.
3 - Upgrade to efficient cooling systems.
4 - Monitor and reduce overall consumption.
Q5.
What does “renewable energy” mean?
Correct answer: energy from sources that are constantly replenished
energy that will run out soon
energy from burning coal
energy used only once
Q6.
Which of the following is an environmental impact of data centres?
reduced need for electricity
lower air pollution
decreased energy use
Correct answer: increased greenhouse gas emissions