These three brief videos introduce the importance of natural ecosystems to protect us from the effects of climate change, conserve water resources, and reduce our emissions.
The videos and article explain the effectiveness of different climate solutions like greening urban areas, protecting mangrove forests, and reducing deforestation.
Teaching Tips
Positives
The graphics in the videos make concepts like sea level rise and urban planning easy to understand.
The videos highlight the importance of protecting nature and help introduce students to some of the impacts of climate change.
Additional Prerequisites
Before watching the videos, students should be familiar with the causes of climate change.
Students should understand terms like groundwater, drought, urban, and fossil fuels.
The videos can be viewed in any order and the smaller videos can be viewed in full-screen mode.
Differentiation
Students may find it easier to visualize the solutions if they are also given examples of where extreme weather events or sea level rise have taken place.
Older students can expand on the solutions presented in one of the videos and research areas where the solutions have made a difference.
Social studies students can focus on the impacts of deforestation and water scarcity to rural and Indigenous communities that rely on rainwater to grow or harvest their food.
Have students research other ideas they have for adding nature to urban areas, protecting nature in coastal areas or in the oceans, and protecting trees in their communities or nearby forests. They can work in groups and then present their ideas for enacting their nature-based climate solutions.
Scientist Notes
This website provides a brief synopsis of a brief ~1 minute video that discusses the use of natural solutions to protect against drought. This would be a great addition to a classroom discussing sustainability and different ways to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change.
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-ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 4: Taking Informed Action
D4.6.6-8 Draw on multiple disciplinary lenses to analyze how a specific problem can manifest itself at local, regional, and global levels over time, identifying its characteristics and causes, and the challenges and opportunities faced by those trying to address the problem.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Speaking & Listening (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.2 Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its presentation.
