This resource explains greenhouse gases, the greenhouse effect, and the negative effects of adding more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere in a short amount of time.
It includes a video, transcript, and interactive quiz.
Teaching Tips
Positives
Engaging visuals accompany this video.
This is a great introductory video to climate change and the greenhouse effect.
Additional Prerequisites
Teachers can link the resource to their Google Classroom but in order to track progress, you must set up a free account.
There are standards for AP Environmental Science classes listed under the video.
Differentiation
Teachers could use the quiz to measure students' understanding of the topic.
Focusing on the graph of historic CO2 levels compared to where they are today should be shocking for students to see. Discuss where they think temperatures will go, given the huge increase in carbon dioxide, and what that may mean for life on Earth.
Click here for a resource on greenhouse gases for 9th-12th graders.
Scientist Notes
This 7-minute video presents an overview of the greenhouse effect and the impact of human emissions of greenhouse gases. This resource presents the topic clearly and with sufficient detail without getting bogged down in jargon. At the end, the resource discusses how the greenhouse effect in our atmosphere is different that how actual greenhouses work. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS1: Earth's Place in the Universe
HS-ESS1-6 Apply scientific reasoning and evidence from ancient Earth materials, meteorites, and other planetary surfaces to construct an account of Earth’s formation and early history.
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.
HS-ESS2-4 Use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth’s systems result in changes in climate.
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
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.
