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Database Provider

Author

The Climate Initiative

Grades

8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th

Subjects

Science, Social Studies, Biology, Earth and Space Sciences

Resource Types

  • Interactive Media
  • Digital Text
  • Video, 6 minutes, 20 seconds
  • Video, 2 minutes, 24 seconds, CC, Subtitles
  • Video, 2 minutes, 55 seconds, CC, Subtitles
  • Video, 9 minutes, CC, Subtitles
  • Video, 16 minutes, 13 seconds, CC, Subtitles
  • Game

Regional Focus

Global, North America, United States, USA - Northeast, Maine

Format

YouTube Video

Floods and Droughts Learning Lab

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Synopsis
  • In this learning lab, students will have the chance to explore three different interactives to learn about the increasing pervasiveness of droughts and floods, their ecological, social, and financial effects, and what can be done to mitigate them.
  • Students will investigate a virtual classroom full of links to relevant content, complete learning missions in a game format, and learn about the effects of flood and droughts on communities.
  • Six lessons that pair with this learning lab are also available through this teacher guide to allow you to easily integrate the materials into your classroom.
Teaching Tips

Positives

  • Students will find each presentation engaging and will enjoy exploring what each has to offer.
  • There are opportunities to learn about droughts and floods from different perspectives, giving students a rich learning experience.

Additional Prerequisites

  • Make sure students know that sometimes text will appear just from hovering over the interactive elements, but other times students will need to click the elements for corresponding text to appear.
  • The "Register Here" button at the end of the second presentation is not clickable.
  • The videos discuss drownings from floods, so be prepared to support students emotionally if they have experienced a similar event.

Differentiation

  • In the virtual classroom, it may be helpful for students to know which graphics or how many graphics are clickable links, so they are exploring the resources fully.
  • The teacher can use the drought and flood sighting tools to introduce students to the importance of citizen science.
  • After watching the second video in the third presentation, students can compare and contrast how the dry conditions are affecting the two families from the video.
  • Connections can be made to lessons about the water cycle, the effects of global warming on the water cycle, and how changing weather patterns affect society.
Scientist Notes
This resource from The Climate Initiative is an interactive web-based lab that introduces students to floods and droughts. The resource begins with a classroom graphic where clicking objects in the room open external resources and videos. The second interactive panel tasks students with completing missions to understand the ecological, social-cultural, and economic impacts of floods and droughts. The final panel is an ‘all about’ format and features several linked resources, including an excellent drought basics slideshow from PBS. This entire resource is engaging and all of the links lead students to informative, well-sourced material that are sure to leave students with a deeper understanding of both how floods and droughts are linked to climate change and their often devastating impacts. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
  • Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
    • ESS2: Earth's Systems
      • HS-ESS2-5 Plan and conduct an investigation of the properties of water and its effects on Earth materials and surface processes.
    • ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
      • MS-ESS3-1 Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth's mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.
      • 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.
      • HS-ESS3-1 Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity.
    • LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
      • 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.
  • College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
    • Dimension 2: Geography
      • D2.Geo.10.9-12 Evaluate how changes in the environmental and cultural characteristics of a place or region influence spatial patterns of trade and land use.
      • D2.Geo.11.9-12 Evaluate how economic globalization and the expanding use of scarce resources contribute to conflict and cooperation within and among countries.
      • D2.Geo.12.9-12 Evaluate the consequences of human-made and natural catastrophes on global trade, politics, and human migration.
      • D2.Geo.6.9-12 Evaluate the impact of human settlement activities on the environmental and cultural characteristics of specific places and regions.
      • D2.Geo.9.9-12 Evaluate the influence of long-term climate variability on human migration and settlement patterns, resource use, and land uses at local-to-global scales.
  • Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
    • Reading: Science & Technical Subjects (6-12)
      • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.7 Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., quantitative data, video, multimedia) in order to address a question or solve a problem.
      • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.8 Evaluate the hypotheses, data, analysis, and conclusions in a science or technical text, verifying the data when possible and corroborating or challenging conclusions with other sources of information.
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