This video about the history of climate science provides historical background about the field of climate science, how drastically we've changed the planet, and how changes to the planet and our climate can have catastrophic effects for life on Earth.
It also discusses climate denial, the impacts of agriculture, geoengineering, and the need to find equitable solutions.
Teaching Tips
Positives
The video identifies the people most recently involved with our understanding of climate change.
It brings up other important topics to consider related to climate science that students may not be aware of.
Additional Prerequisites
There is some text in the closed captioning that does not sync with the video towards the end.
Differentiation
Students could be grouped after watching the video to discuss different topics in more detail.
This resource could be used in media literacy lessons, as it discusses climate denial campaigns.
This video, created by the aptly named folks at Crash Course, offers a quick lesson on the history of climate science and the political questions regarding what to officially call the era we are currently living in. The science in this video is sound and verifiable. This resource is recommended for teaching.
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.
MS-ESS3-5 Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: History
D2.His.1.6-8 Analyze connections among events and developments in broader historical contexts.
D2.His.1.9-12 Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Speaking & Listening (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.3 Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.3 Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used.
