This resource consists of a video, article, and discussion questions on how climate change is affecting the lives of the Iñupiaq people who live in Barrow, Alaska.
Students will learn how warmer temperatures and melting ice have changed the Iñupiaq people's subsistence way of life.
Teaching Tips
Positives
The background essay and discussion questions allow for the enrichment and assessment of student understanding.
The video can be viewed online or downloaded.
Additional Prerequisites
Teachers may want to show students Barrow on a map or globe.
Teachers can share this resource on Google Classroom.
Differentiation
The Discussion Questions could be used for whole group or small group discussions or individual writing prompts.
Geography classes could look at a world map to determine other regions that are likely to experience the effects of climate change. Students consider how climate change impacts polar regions, coastal regions, and islands.
This resource includes a 4-minute video and supporting textual information describing the impact of climate change on the Indigenous lifestyles of Iñupiaq communities living near Barrow, Alaska. The video itself seems to be from between 2007 and 2009, but nothing in it is outdated. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
MS-ESS3-5 Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
HS-ESS3-6 Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Geography
D2.Geo.5.6-8 Analyze the combinations of cultural and environmental characteristics that make places both similar to and different from other places.
D2.Geo.10.6-8 Analyze the ways in which cultural and environmental characteristics vary among various regions of the world.
D2.Geo.9.9-12 Evaluate the influence of long-term climate variability on human migration and settlement patterns, resource use, and land uses at local-to-global scales.
