Climate Change: Introduction
Learning Objectives
- Students will understand how the greenhouse effect contributes to climate change and how human activities contribute to increasing global average temperatures.
Length
One 45-minute period
Grade Level
High School
Materials
Class
- (5 Minutes) Think-Pair-Share: Ask students to think about what they know about climate change. Pair with neighbors to discuss. Share as class.
- (7 Minutes) Watch: What Is Climate Change? (4:25)
- Ask: How have humans contributed to climate change? What are the challenges moving forward if climate change becomes more dramatic? How can humans address climate change?
- The guided reading handout MAY BE USED IN FOR NEXT STEPS
- (8 Minutes) Read/ View Charts: The Greenhouse Effect
- Have students read/look over graphics on the Greenhouse Effect alone or with a partner.
- Ask: What role do greenhouse gas emissions play, and why is this cause for concern? How does human activity increase the greenhouse effect? How does this impact the natural state of the environment? When did Greenhouse emissions see a noticeably increase?
- (15 Minutes) View: Why Scientists Are Watching Greenland
- Discuss Interactive: “Greenland’s Tracy and Heilprin Glaciers Melt” - Ask students what they notice about the change in Greenland’s cover. What are problems that might arise as this trend continues?
- Read/ View: ”Healthy + Unhealthy Melting Cycle Chart” - Ask: How has climate change impacted the natural cycle in Greenland? How does this impact the oceans?
- Watch: Greenland Ice Loss (34 seconds): This covers 2002-2016 - ask students what they notice about the trend since 2002. Look at the embedded chat on video. Is the annual recovery (up trend) changing? Is the process of loss accelerating? Do levels of recovery increase, decrease, or stay the same?
- View: Interactive Chart - Global Warming and Sea Level Rise Chart - look over with students. How are climate change and sea level rise related? How does this factor into environments like those in Greenland?
- View: Interactive Map - Rising Sea Levels - Have students look at major coastal cities to see how sea level rise could impact them. (New York City is pinned).
- (10 Minutes) Discuss: Why is climate change so important to understand? How have humans contributed to it? How might climate change affect daily life for people? What should humans do with this knowledge?
Homework
- Have students read over Sources of Energy: A Comparison (Reading/ Charts)
- Have students pick a source of energy to research in depth and defend its use in producing electricity (paragraph, page, mock tweet).
Vocabulary
- emissions
refers to the amount of greenhouse gases an entity, such as a country or company, produces.
- Industrial Revolution
a transition, beginning in the eighteenth century, from small-scale, largely agricultural economies to more industry-intensive ones.
- greenhouse gases
gases that absorb heat in the atmosphere and re-emit it back toward earth, causing a warming effect.