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C2.1 · Describe computing impacts on environment and health

Learn to describe computing impacts on environment and health through clear examples and targeted practice.

Ontario Grade 10 Computer Science

Computers and Society

Ontario Grade 10 Computer Studies — study topic C2.1

Computers and digital devices help people learn, communicate, create, and solve problems. They also use materials and energy, and the ways people use them can affect health. This lesson looks at those impacts through concrete situations. A useful way to describe a situation is to name its input, process, and output: what goes into the situation, what happens, and what results. Here, those words help organize an explanation; they do not mean every example needs a program. The aim is to describe impacts, not to claim that a device or habit always has the same effect for everyone.

What you will learn

Describe ways computing can affect the environment.
Describe ways computing can affect human health.
Explain how a particular computing choice can have both benefits and costs.

1. Environmental impacts: materials and energy

A digital device has an environmental impact before and after someone uses it. Making devices requires materials and energy. Operating a device also uses energy, and the amount depends on the device and how it is used. When a device is no longer wanted or useful, what happens to it matters too.

For example, replacing a working tablet just because a newer model is available can mean that the old tablet is discarded while a replacement has to be made. Keeping a suitable device in use for longer may reduce how often a replacement is needed. However, a device that no longer meets a person's needs may still need to be replaced. The important skill is to describe the trade-off rather than say that one choice is always best.

A useful input–process–output description is: input — a working but older tablet; process — decide whether to keep, repair, or replace it; output — a device stays in use, is repaired, or becomes unwanted equipment. This makes the decision and its possible environmental result clear without pretending to measure the result.

Device production uses materials and energy.
Using a device uses energy; use and impact can vary.
Keeping a suitable device in use can avoid replacing it sooner, while repair or replacement may be needed when it no longer works or meets needs.
Describe the situation and possible result; do not turn a possibility into a universal claim.

2. Environmental impacts: what happens to unwanted devices

A discarded computer or phone is not ordinary household rubbish in every situation. Some of its materials may be recovered through an appropriate collection or recycling program, while other parts may need special handling. Reuse is another possibility: a device that is no longer useful to one person may still work for someone else, if it can be safely and suitably passed on.

Consider a school replacing a set of devices. The input is the old equipment and the school's plan for it. The process is choosing whether devices can be reused, repaired, or sent to an appropriate electronics collection program. The output is a decision about where each device goes. A responsible plan considers the device's condition and local options rather than assuming every item can be recycled in the same way.

This is a description of possible choices, not a claim that recycling removes every environmental impact. Making and using the devices already had impacts. Reuse, repair, and appropriate collection can be part of a more thoughtful response to equipment that is no longer needed.

Unwanted electronics should be handled through suitable reuse, repair, or collection options.
Different devices and local programs may have different requirements.
Recycling or reuse can help address waste, but does not erase the impacts of making and using a device.

3. Health impacts: how computing is used

Computing can affect people's health through the way they use devices. For instance, someone who uses a laptop for a long study session may feel discomfort from staying in one position or looking at the screen for a long time. The impact is not identical for every person or every situation. Describing the activity and its effect is more accurate than claiming that all screen use is harmful.

A practical response might be to adjust the workspace, change position, or take a break when comfortable and appropriate. These are general ways to respond to discomfort, not medical advice or a guarantee that discomfort will disappear. If someone has ongoing health concerns, they should seek help from a suitable adult or health professional.

Input — a long period of laptop use in one position; process — the person notices discomfort and changes position or takes a break; output — the person has changed the way they are using the device. This simple model helps explain the connection between a computing activity and a possible health response.

Describe the specific computing activity and the possible health effect.
People may experience the same activity differently.
A change in use may help address discomfort, but do not promise a particular health result.

4. Access, convenience, and thoughtful choices

Computing can also support health and participation when a device or service is designed and used to meet people's needs. For example, a student who has difficulty reading small text may use a device's text-size setting to make school material easier to read. The benefit is improved access to that material for that student. It is not a claim that a setting works equally well for everyone or fixes every access barrier.

There can be trade-offs. The student still needs a device and a suitable digital copy of the material, and spending time on a screen may not suit every task. Input — a student and digital school material; process — adjust the text size; output — material that is easier for that student to read. This example focuses on a computing impact on a person's ability to use information.

When describing an impact, identify who is affected, what computing choice or activity is involved, and what result may follow. Then consider whether there is a limitation or trade-off. This keeps the explanation balanced and grounded in the example instead of making a broad claim about all technology.

A computing feature can make information more accessible to a particular person.
A benefit in one situation does not prove that the same feature suits everyone.
A clear impact description connects a person, a computing activity or choice, and a possible result.

Worked example

Choosing what to do with a working laptop

A student has a working laptop that still meets their school needs. They are considering replacing it with a newer model. Describe a possible environmental impact of keeping it or replacing it.

Identify the situation
The input is a working laptop that still meets the student's needs. No measurement of energy use or environmental impact is provided, so the answer should stay qualitative.
Describe the choices and possible outcomes
Keeping the laptop in use may avoid replacing it sooner. Replacing it means another device is obtained, and the old one needs a suitable next step, such as reuse or appropriate collection. These are possible impacts, not exact measurements.
Give a balanced conclusion
If the laptop remains suitable and works well, keeping it is one reasonable way to avoid an unnecessary replacement. If it stops meeting the student's needs, repair or replacement may be appropriate. The best choice depends on the situation.

Answer: Keeping a suitable working laptop in use may avoid replacing it sooner. If it is replaced, the student should consider whether the old laptop can be reused, repaired, or sent to an appropriate electronics collection program.

Check: The response identifies a possible environmental impact without claiming that keeping every device is always best.

Worked example

Planning for unwanted school devices

A school has several devices that are no longer needed by one class. Describe a responsible way to decide what happens to them and one possible environmental benefit.

Name the input
The input is a group of devices the class no longer needs. Their condition is not specified, so do not assume they are all broken or all suitable for reuse.
Describe the process
The school can consider the condition of each device and whether it can be used elsewhere, repaired, or sent to an appropriate electronics collection program. The appropriate option may differ by device and local program.
State a possible result
If a device can be reused, it may remain useful instead of being discarded. If it cannot be reused, suitable collection may help manage electronic waste. Neither choice removes the environmental impacts from making and using the device.

Answer: The school can check device condition and consider reuse, repair, or a suitable electronics collection program. Reuse may keep some equipment useful for longer; appropriate collection provides a way to handle equipment that cannot be reused.

Check: The answer treats reuse and collection as options and does not claim that every device can be recycled.

Worked example

Making digital reading easier

A student finds the small text in a digital reading assignment difficult to read. They increase the text size using a device setting. Describe a possible benefit and one limitation of this choice.

Identify the person and need
The student is having difficulty reading small text. The input is the student, the digital assignment, and the need for text that is easier for them to read.
Explain the computing choice
The student changes the text-size setting. This is the process: using a device feature to change how the material appears.
Describe both impact and limitation
A possible benefit is that the text becomes easier for this student to read. A limitation is that the setting only helps with this particular barrier; it does not guarantee that the material or device is accessible in every other way, or that the same setting suits everyone.

Answer: Increasing text size may make the assignment easier for this student to read. The setting addresses small text, but it does not remove every possible access barrier or work the same way for everyone.

Check: The example names a specific possible benefit and avoids promising a universal result.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Saying that all computing is harmful to the environment or health.

Correction: Name the particular device, activity, person, and possible effect. Impacts depend on the situation.

Assuming that recycling a device removes all of its environmental impact.

Correction: Explain that collection may help manage unwanted electronics, while production and use have already had impacts.

Claiming that one accessibility setting works for every person.

Correction: Describe who benefits in the example and note that people and needs differ.

Giving a solution without explaining the impact.

Correction: Connect the choice to a possible result, such as keeping suitable equipment in use or making digital text easier for a particular student to read.

Lesson summary

Computing affects the environment through the materials and energy involved in making and using devices, and through what happens to unwanted equipment.
Reuse, repair, keeping a suitable device in use, and appropriate electronics collection are possible choices; each depends on the situation.
Computing use can affect health, and a computing feature can support access. Describe specific people, activities, possible results, and limitations.
Input, process, and output can organize a description: identify what is involved, what choice or activity takes place, and what may result.

Check your understanding

Question 1

A working school laptop still meets a student's needs. Which statement is the most balanced description of a possible environmental impact?

Keeping it in use may avoid replacing it sooner, though a later repair or replacement may still be needed.
Keeping it in use removes every environmental impact of the laptop.
Replacing it is always better because newer devices have no environmental impact.
Discarding it is harmless if it still turns on.

Show answer and explanation

Keeping it in use may avoid replacing it sooner, though a later repair or replacement may still be needed.

This describes a possible benefit without claiming that keeping the device is always right or that its earlier impacts disappear.

Question 2

A student increases digital text size because small print is difficult to read. What is a careful description of the possible result?

It may make the text easier for this student to read, but it does not address every possible access barrier.
It guarantees that every student can read the assignment.
It proves that using a screen has no health effects.
It makes the device's environmental impact disappear.

Show answer and explanation

It may make the text easier for this student to read, but it does not address every possible access barrier.

The setting may help with the specific difficulty in the example, but it is not a universal solution.

Question 3

A school has devices it no longer needs. Which is a reasonable next step to consider?

Check their condition and consider reuse, repair, or a suitable electronics collection program.
Assume every device can be reused without checking its condition.
Put every device in ordinary rubbish because all electronics are identical.
Claim that recycling will undo the impacts of making the devices.

Show answer and explanation

Check their condition and consider reuse, repair, or a suitable electronics collection program.

The condition of the devices and suitable local options matter. Collection or reuse can help manage unwanted equipment but does not erase earlier impacts.

Key terms

Environmental impact: An effect a computing device or activity may have on the environment, such as through materials, energy use, or unwanted equipment.
Electronic waste: Unwanted electronic equipment, such as an old computer or phone, that needs an appropriate next step.
Input, process, and output: A way to describe a situation by naming what is involved, what happens, and what result may follow.
Accessibility: How well a person can use or access information or a service; a feature may help with a particular barrier.

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About this lesson and its review

Published by DoAssignment. This reviewed lesson follows Ontario Grade 10 Computer Science (ICS2O), expectation C2.1. It is a study resource, not an official curriculum publication.

Before publication, content is checked for structure, mathematical or chemical notation, calculations, course boundaries, and readability. Errors can still occur, so corrections are welcomed.

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