Climate Change and National Parks

This lesson educates students on the impact that climate change has on national parks.

Step 1 - Inquire: Students explore national parks in Google Earth and discuss a series of images related to climate change and national parks.

Step 2 - Investigate: Students watch Warming Up to Adaptation: Everglades National Park, read an article on how climate change is impacting national parks, and complete a graphic organizer.

Step 3 - Inspire: Students create an infographic in Canva or Google Slides to educate the public about the impact that climate change has on national parks.

Positives

• Students are introduced to the causes and effects of climate change.
• Students are able to make real-world connections on how climate change impacts national parks across the United States.

Additional Prerequisites

• Students should have a basic understanding of climate change vocabulary in order to comprehend the reading material.
• Students should be comfortable using technology to be able to create the infographic.

Differentiation

• The Warming Up to Adaptation: Everglades National Park video can be paused midway to discuss with students and assess their understanding of the impacts and mitigation solutions.
• Students with lower level reading skills can be paired with a peer with higher comprehension skills.
• If a student is not comfortable creating the digital infographic, they can be paired with a more tech-savvy peer.
• Students can also create infographics on paper or posters.
• Infographics can be printed and placed around the room for a gallery walk. Students can walk around the room, observe the different infographics, and discuss their observations with their classmates.

This lesson demonstrates the impact of climate change on national parks and lets students investigate and communicate through infographics the best solutions for building climate resilience in the parks and other ecologically sensitive habitats. All materials embedded in the lesson are factual, and this lesson has passed our scientist review.

Primary Standards

• Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
  • ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
    • MS-ESS3-4 Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.
  • LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
    • MS-LS2-4 Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.

Supporting Standards

• Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
  • Reading: Science & Technical Subjects (6-12)
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.6 Analyze the author's purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an experiment in a text.
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.9 Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic.
  • Writing: History, Science & Technical Subjects (6-12)
    • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently.