Climate Change: Introduction
Learning Objectives
- Students will understand how the greenhouse effect functions and how it is pushing the earth toward tipping points.
Materials
Homework
- Have students read The Greenhouse Effect and answer the questions in the handout.
Class
- (20 Minutes) Working alone or in small groups, have students create an infographic that explains how the greenhouse effect functions. They should come up with an original representation, not copy the graphics from their homework reading. Refer to the Instructions for Creating an Infographic linked above for tips.
- (15 Minutes) In small groups, have students read one of the following readings, and complete the corresponding guided reading questions:
- How Climate Change Can Get Even Worse (longer, covers several examples)
- Why Scientists Are Watching Greenland (shorter, focuses on a single case study)
- (5 Minutes) Have students share their answers. Make sure they understand what a feedback loop is (as well as a tipping point, if they read the first reading) and make sure they articulate why these concepts are important for understanding climate change.
- (5 Minutes) In small groups, have students brainstorm:
- What are some ways in which climate change is affecting or will affect their community? The goal is not to create a comprehensive list, but for students to connect their conceptual learning to their own lives, and to lay groundwork for future lessons.
- What are some ways in which they can help address climate change. This is to help students feel empowered rather than despairing as they leave class.
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.
- renewable energy
energy derived from sources such as sunlight, wind, and water, which have a steadily replenishing supply.
- alternative energy
energy sources that are not fossil fuels. Derived from biofuels, solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, or even nuclear power, these sources release few to no greenhouse gas emissions.
- Paris Agreement
a nearly universal international agreement reached in 2015 that requires signatories to offer concrete emissions reductions pledges, establishes rules to monitor their performance against those pledges, and sets up a process to review and increase the ambition of the pledges over time. The Paris Agreement’s goal is to limit global warming by 2 degrees Celsius (about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial temperatures.