Google Earth Timelapse - Tokyo's Heat Island Effect

• This interactive resource lets students explore 3-D maps, images, text, and data about the heat-island effect in Tokyo.
• Students will explore some of the reasons for the increasing urban temperatures and discover some of the solutions they are implementing in the city. 

Positives

• This resource discusses topics that can affect the temperature of a city such as wind flow, heat exhaust, green spaces, heat-reflecting coatings, and proximity to a large body of water.
• Students will learn why Tokyo's temperature has increased so much more than the rest of the country.
  

Additional Prerequisites

• Using a slower internet connection or wireless internet may slow down the images while loading.
• Students should be familiar with line graphs and reading maps.
  

Differentiation

• Cross-curricular connections could be made with social studies classes when discussing the effects of urban planning, the number of parks and trees in urban areas, and the differing conditions in various urban communities.
• Biology courses could explore the connections between urban heat-island effects and the intensity of heatwaves or heat-related illnesses as temperatures increase.
  
• Other resources related to this topic include What Happens if We Cut Down All of a City's Trees, Benefits of Urban Trees, Dangerous Humid Heat Extremes, and the Tree Equity Score.
  

• College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
  • Dimension 2: Geography
    • D2.Geo.12.6-8 Explain how global changes in population distribution patterns affect changes in land use in particular places.
• Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
  • ETS1: Engineering Design
    • 3-5-ETS1-2 Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
  • ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
    • HS-ESS3-4 Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.