This article simplifies the concept of climate change into five short and easy-to-communicate facts: scientists agree, it's real, it's us, it's bad, and there's hope.
The document elaborates on each of the five facts, using graphs and charts to help explain the concepts.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This resource presents climate change facts in a succinct and straight-forward manner.
Each of the five facts are backed with data.
Additional Prerequisites
Students should have background knowledge on climate change.
Differentiation
Science or English classes could do group projects, in which each group does a presentation on one of the five facts.
History and social studies classes could use this article for lessons about the Industrial Revolution and the influence of political discourse on public opinion.
Music classes could write a song using the ten words as a refrain.
Art classes could translate the five facts into visual images (drawings, collages, paintings, three-dimensional artwork, etc.)
Other resources on this topic include this lesson plan on having climate conversations with people who do not believe in climate change, this article on communicating climate change through visual images, and this activity that shows students how climate change impacts people differently.
Scientist Notes
The resource contains scientific evidence that human activity is causing climate change. It presents accurate facts from NASA and also a qualitative analysis on the beliefs systems and behavioral patterns of the American population towards climate change. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
MS-ESS3-2 Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.
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.2.6-8 Classify series of historical events and developments as examples of change and/or continuity.
Dimension 3: Developing Claims and Using Evidence
D3.4.6-8 Develop claims and counterclaims while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both.
Dimension 3: Gathering and Evaluating Sources
D3.2.9-12 Evaluate the credibility of a source by examining how experts value the source.
