This video by the National Park Service describes how a decrease in snowfall and a shorter winter season are negatively impacting Yosemite National Park.
Using stop motion and drawings, the video explains how important the winter season is for the health of this park's ecosystem.
Teaching Tips
Positives
The artwork in the video is engaging and unique.
This video is a great resource for students to learn about how climate change is affecting local ecosystems in California.
Additional Prerequisites
Students should be familiar with the terms dormancy, prolonged, and deposits.
For students who may need it, there is an audio-described version of the video linked in the description.
Differentiation
Science classes could expand on this video by evaluating how climate change is impacting ecosystems in national parks near them.
Cross-curricular connections could be made with art classes by using this video as inspiration for students to create their own artwork about climate change.
Other resources on this topic include this video about pine bark beetles, this video about drought in California, and this article about disappearing winter snowpack.
Scientist Notes
The video presents a critical evaluation of Yosemite National park and how the park leverages seasonal weather changes for restoration. The importance of protecting biodiversity in the park is highlighted and there have been successes in this, which need to be replicated in other ecological/tourist centers. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
5-ESS3-1 Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.
LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
MS-LS2-4 Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
HS-LS2-6 Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.
