In this interactive resource, students will learn about polar regions, coral reefs, vector-borne diseases, extreme weather, and biodiversity.
This is part 5 of 9 in Explaining Climate Change, a series of lessons from The King's Centre for Visualization in Science.
Teaching Tips
Positives
The resource provides an in-depth look at the impacts of climate change on five key areas.
Students can explore topics such as polar ice, sea surface temperature, food chains, and climate modeling using the visualization tools included in the lessons.
The resource allows for self-paced exploration of the topics and many vocabulary terms are identified.
Additional Prerequisites
The Climate Models learning tool does not work.
Students should be able to read maps that represent temperature and other climate data.
Some of the data sets are not updated beyond 2005-2011 but they still provide pertinent and accurate information for learning about historic changes in climate, greenhouse gases, temperatures, and precipitation.
Differentiation
The climate model projections can be customized for use to answer specific questions or investigate particular scenarios in a science or social studies class.
Parts of this resource could be used for homework assignments, virtual learning situations, or in-class supplemental activities.
The reading level for this text is high school to college level, so consider employing reading scaffolds such as graphic organizers for students who may require them.
Students could choose to investigate and research one of the impacts further and present what they found to their peers.
Scientist Notes
Assumptions that the Earth will survive climate change in the future as it did during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) about 55 million years ago are not substantial. Anthropogenic activities are accelerating and would keep triggering extreme weather patterns if we don't achieve net zero by 2050. Resource is recommended to understand the General Circulation Model and paleoclimate in the PETM era.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS2: Earth's Systems
HS-ESS2-2 Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth’s surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth systems.
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
HS-ESS3-5 Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems.
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.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Science & Technical Subjects (6-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.4 Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 11-12 texts and topics.
