Sea Level Rise: Climate Change Impacts

Lesson Plans

Grades6, 7, 8Science

Scientist Reviewed

Provided by Project Look Sharp

Open Resource

What it is

In this activity, students will look critically at web content and videos from The Guardian, The International Forecaster, and The Climate Institute about the impacts of sea level rise due to melting polar ice and glaciers.
The resource includes a student worksheet, lesson plan, student handout, and two downloadable video clips.

Teaching tips

Positives

The lesson plan offers many possible variations, depending on your focus.

Additional Prerequisites

Teachers must create a free account to access the materials.
The worksheet asks students about the reliability of the sources they are given, so you will need to provide instruction on how they can determine this.
Be sure you have researched the sources ahead of time so you are aware of their viewpoints and biases.
Links in the Media Constructions of Sustainability document are not clickable.

Differentiation

The lesson plan refers to a "constructivist media decoding process," details about which can be found in the lesson plan.
You may want to use some process or protocol where students are responding to questions individually and in small groups before discussing as a whole class.
The reading for this activity is a bit dense, so a structured reading process may help some students.
Other resources about sea level rise include this NASA resource, this NOAA resource, and this StC lesson plan.

From the scientist review

Datasets used fit in modeling future climate projections and scenarios. This resource can engage students in managing data, analyzing, determining the factors that contribute to climate change, and computing estimates for future climate change impact on human settlement, sea level rise, and other weather events. This is recommended for teaching.

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At a glance

Grades: 6, 7, 8
Subjects: Science
Other types: Articles/Websites, Videos, Activity - Classroom, Worksheets
Format: PDF, Downloadable MP4/M4V
Language: English
Location: Polar Regions
Provider: Project Look Sharp
Authors: Project Look Sharp, Sox Sperry
Published: April 27, 2021
Last updated: July 16, 2026
: Reviewed by our climate scientists How we review

Standards alignment · D2.Geo.2.6-8 + 13 more

Core

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards

D2.Geo.2.6-8Use maps, satellite images, photographs, and other representations to explain relationships between the locations of places and regions, and changes in their environmental characteristics.
D2.Geo.8.6-8Analyze how relationships between humans and environments extend or contract spatial patterns of settlement and movement.
D3.2.6-8Evaluate the credibility of a source by determining its relevance and intended use.

Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.6Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.1Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.3Delineate a speaker's argument and specific claims, evaluating the soundness of the reasoning and the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.1Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.1Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.6Analyze the author's purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an experiment in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.7Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

MS-ESS2-4.Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.
MS-ESS3-5.Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
MS-ESS2-D.3.The ocean exerts a major influence on weather and climate by absorbing energy from the sun, releasing it over time, and globally redistributing it through ocean currents. (MS-ESS2-6)
MS-ESS3-D.Human activities, such as the release of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, are major factors in the current rise in Earth’s mean surface temperature (global warming). Reducing the level of climate change and reducing human vulnerability to whatever climate changes do occur depend on the understanding of climate science, engineering capabilities, and other kinds of knowledge, such as understanding of human behavior and on applying that knowledge wisely in decisions and activities. (MS-ESS3-5)

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