Positives

• The scientific report includes numerous figures such as thematic maps, box plots, infographics, tables, and graphs to help visualize the information.
• The resource helps students understand the connection between city planning and climate change and will inspire students to advocate for more environmentally conscious city plans.

Additional Prerequisites

• This report is challenging and includes difficult vocabulary, data collection techniques, and statistical analysis. Teachers should use it with advanced high school students or in college courses.
• Students should understand the urban heat island effect and the impact of gray infrastructure on the environment.

Differentiation

• Students will likely need support to understand the text and interpret the figures. Teachers should consider walking through the report as a class to explain unfamiliar concepts and answer student questions.
• Students can research and propose strategies to increase the tree canopy cover on private and public properties and create a means to communicate these ideas to their city planners or private landowners.
• When using this resource in civics, students can focus on how this research can guide city planning decisions and how to influence this change.
• Science classes can use this report to learn about satellite data collection, surface temperature, heat index, the causes of rising temperatures, and the environmental impacts of land-use changes.
• Statistics classes can make cross-curricular connections due to the statistical analysis used to interpret the relationship between changes in land use, land cover, and surface temperature.
• Younger students or students with low reading stamina can read just the Executive Summary to understand the basics of the report.