This video features an interview with Nina Leopold Bradley, who discusses her family's legacy of recording natural history, while the article explores how phenological data can reveal the changes already occurring.
Students will be introduced to a local Wisconsonite, learn about phenological record-keeping, and see how numerous life cycles have already been altered due to climate change.
Teaching Tips
Positives
The video features an excellent quote by Aldo Leopold about the importance of record-keeping.
There are a few great teaching tips listed on the right side of the article.
Additional Prerequisites
Students need to know that global temperatures are increasing and that other changes in climate have occurred because of this.
The video can be downloaded for use offline, if needed.
Though phenology is briefly defined in the article, it may be beneficial for students to have the term defined for them, prior to watching the video and reading the article.
Differentiation
Teachers can use the article as a conceptual introduction to Aldo Leopold's land ethic philosophy.
Students can use this resource for an informative essay on how climate change impacts ecosystems around the world.
This resource can be used to introduce nature journaling and data-collecting in the field or classroom.
Have students research citizen science projects that they can contribute to, giving their work an authentic purpose.
This resource can enhance a classroom discussion about how the life cycles of plants and other animals are connected to human activities and the rate of climate change.
Scientist Notes
Well-kept climate records are a vital part of how we know the climate is changing. Phenology records clearly indicate a changing climate. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
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.
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.
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.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Informational Text (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.2 Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
Reading: Science & Technical Subjects (6-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.9-10.8 Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the author's claim or a recommendation for solving a scientific or technical problem.
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.
Speaking & Listening (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.3 Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used.
