Provided by: Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education |Published on: February 20, 2024
Lesson Plans
5678
Synopsis
In this lesson, students learn about the social, economic, and ecologic benefits of urban forests, the connection between urban forests and urban heat islands, and the role of urban forests in reducing the impacts of climate change in Wisconsin.
Students complete a quiz activity, analyze maps of temperature data for Wisconsin, watch a video about urban heat islands, investigate Milwaukee and La Crosse as case studies, conduct an experiment about heat islands at their school, play a game to summarize their learning, and write about an urban forest in their community.
This lesson is the second of four in the LEAF Urban Forest Lesson Guide 5th-8th Grade Unit. Students should complete the first lesson before starting this one.
Students should understand the basics of climate change and the water cycle.
Preparation:
Teachers will need to provide infrared thermometers for the experiment in Activity 2.
Interdisciplinary Connections:
Language Arts:
Analyze the poetic devices the poet in the suggested video uses to illustrate the extreme heat in southern Wisconsin.
Extensions:
The lesson plan details an optional extension activity where students create a thermal map of their school using the data collected in the experiment.
There are three related lessons linked in the resource that teachers can use to modify or expand this lesson.
There is an article linked at the end of the lesson plan about the physical and mental health benefits of trees, which students can read after the introduction activity to further the discussion of the benefits to urban forests.
If desired, students can move on to Lesson 3 of the LEAF Urban Forest Lesson Guide 5th-8th Grade Unit to learn more about urban forest management and the impact of biodiversity.
Students can learn more about Wisconsin forestry through lessons on the LEAF website. When taught as a unit, these lessons provide students a well-rounded understanding of forestry in Wisconsin, but teachers can also use them individually.
Differentiation:
The lesson uses data and case studies from Wisconsin, making this ideal for classrooms in that state. If teachers outside of Wisconsin want to modify this lesson plan to emphasize their state, they must locate data, maps, and case studies specific to their location.
Teachers choosing to assign the La Crosse case study can utilize the text-to-speech feature at the top of the article for students with low reading stamina or ELL students who may benefit from listening to the article as they follow along.
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