Climate Tipping Points

Positives

• This video exemplifies scientific discourse related to climate change at the college level and can be used to prepare high school students for future science classes.
• The professor references well-known examples of climate tipping points with which students are likely already familiar and also draws analogies to riding a bike or using a kayak.
• Various climate tipping points are illustrative examples for studying positive feedback loops and thermodynamics.

Additional Prerequisites

• Students should understand scientific concepts and terms such as atmosphere, equilibrium, evaporation, and ocean circulation.
• It may benefit students if they understand the human impacts that push Earth's systems out of sync.

Differentiation

• Before watching the video, have students explore observable tipping points by trying to balance various objects around the classroom and identifying their tipping points.
• Before watching the video, consider having students predict a climate tipping point using a think-pair-and-share format, leading to a whole group discussion to formulate one class prediction.
• While watching the video, pause after each example that the professor explains and have students describe how the example fits the definition of a tipping point.
• Have students choose one example from the three listed (Amazon Rainforest rainfall, Arctic ice melt, and ocean circulation changes) and research the causes and consequences of their chosen climate tipping point.