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Floods and Droughts Learning Lab Lessons

Provided by: The Climate Initiative |Published on: May 24, 2024

Lesson Plans

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Synopsis

In this 6-lesson unit, students will explore the causes and impacts of floods and droughts in their community.
Students will learn about different kinds of floods, the role of soil in floods and droughts, local drought conditions, how droughts and floods impact sociocultural, economic, and ecological contexts, how to write a case study about floods and droughts in their area, analyze data for droughts and floods in the United States, create a photojournalism project to chronicle local climate change impacts, interview community members about their perspective about local climate change impacts, and create a community action plan to inform others about flooding and droughts in their area.
This is a companion resource for the student lab.

Related Teaching Resources

Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences, Geography

Authors: The Climate Initiative

Region: Maine

Languages: English

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Teaching Materials

Positives

The photojournalism project will allow students to express their creativity as they explore the impacts of flooding and droughts in their area.
Students will love exploring the background information in the Bitmoji classroom.

Prerequisites

The links for UNU 5 facts on Drought, some of the case study examples, and the examples of physical structures in Lesson 6 are broken.
When reading about the destruction of extreme weather conditions, students, especially those near the coast, may need support in processing emotions.
The optional teacher slides give valuable information and help users understand the content.
Students should know how to support their claims with evidence.
Students will need an account on National Geographic to read the article with photography tips.
In the Teacher Slides for Lesson 5, teachers may want to change some of the references to wildfires to fit the context of floods and droughts.

Differentiation & Implementation

To make math connections and localize the data activity, students can use local precipitation data to create visualizations that best represent the data.
Students can use the Climate Visuals Gallery as a mentor resource as they work on their photojournalism project.
Some students may benefit from working with a partner on the case study assignment.

Scientist Notes

Teaching Tips

Standards

Resource Type and Format

About the Partner Provider

TCI (The Climate Initiative)

The Climate Initiative is a nonpartisan, science-based climate change organization based in Kennebunkport, Maine whose mission is to empower youth voices for climate action. Through national education and empowerment initiatives, youth are learning about climate solutions and becoming agents of change in their communities and beyond. Learn more about TCI by connecting with us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Related Teaching Resources

All resources can be used for your educational purposes with proper attribution to the content provider.