In this activity, students will review articles from the National Resources Defense Council, TechTimes.com, and the Union of Concerned Scientists and answer
questions about the relationship between climate change and droughts.
This resource includes a student worksheet, a lesson plan, a student handout, and a PowerPoint presentation.
Teaching Tips
Positives
The lesson plan provides discussion questions for many academic subjects.
The PowerPoint presentation and activity can be used in a virtual or in-person lesson.
Additional Prerequisites
Teachers must create a free account to access the materials.
Teachers may want to research the sources ahead of time to understand the viewpoints and biases.
Differentiation
Students could respond to questions individually or in small groups before discussing the questions as a class.
The reading for this activity is a bit
dense, so a structured reading process may help some students.
Other resources on this topic include this interactive map on droughts in the United States, this short film about how a drought changed a farming community, and this video featuring a youth activist working to fight water waste during times of drought.
Scientist Notes
This resource will educate students about the risk of droughts and other climate change problems. The resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS2: Earth's Systems
MS-ESS2-1 Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.
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-ESS2-5 Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Geography
D2.Geo.2.6-8 Use maps, satellite images, photographs, and other representations to explain relationships between the locations of places and regions, and changes in their environmental characteristics.
Dimension 4: Taking Informed Action
D4.6.6-8 Draw on multiple disciplinary lenses to analyze how a specific problem can manifest itself at local, regional, and global levels over time, identifying its characteristics and causes, and the challenges and opportunities faced by those trying to address the problem.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Science & Technical Subjects (6-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.7 Integrate 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).
