Some resources from federal government sites are currently unavailable; when possible, we’ve provided alternative non-government links to ensure continued data access.
Provided by: MIT Climate Action Through Education |Published on: January 28, 2025
Lesson Plans
9101112
Synopsis
In this lesson, students will learn about the chemical and physical factors that contribute to the trapping, reflecting, and storing of heat energy on Earth and to sea level rise.
Students will explore climate models, the Earth's energy budget, the thermal expansion of water, melting sea and land ice, and the albedo effect.
The Albedo Demo is a great hands-on activity for students to understand the effects of albedo on the climate.
The student worksheet is broken up in a way that allows students to learn about the aspects of energy conservation in a step-by-step manner.
Prerequisites
Students should be comfortable with calculating the area of a circle and solving equations.
The answer key, Student Version With Solutions (pdf), is no longer available so teachers will need to create their own for the assignment.
Additionally, teachers will need to request access to the Albedo Demo (pdf).
The link for Global Impact may be broken.
Differentiation & Implementation
Teachers can have students work in groups, using strategic grouping and ensuring that each group has a student strong in reading comprehension and a student strong in solving equations.
Students can research the impacts of melting sea ice and sea level rise on animal habitats and coastal communities.
