In this video interview, professor Alyssa Goodman talks with professor Daniel Kammen from the University of California, Berkeley about the future of energy production, paleoclimatology, predicting future climate, reducing energy waste, integrating climate discussions into the social sciences, and being good global citizens.
This video is part of PredicitonX, a Harvard course that traces the history of humans making predictions and the role of uncertainty in models.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This fascinating video is broken up into segments with links to more information on the topics discussed.
The conversation includes several topics such as sensitivity analysis, performance contracts, social media mining, Carbon 40 cities, and behavioral economics.
A time-stamped transcript of the video is available.
Additional Prerequisites
The link for the section, An Energy Plan the Earth Can Live With, is broken.
Differentiation
This video is long, but the segments make it easy for teachers to show parts of the video at different times.
Science classes could continue the discussion about the need for climate change conversations to include experts in the fields of humanities and social sciences.
The resource explains the importance of building climate models with clear precision and balancing it with socioeconomic variables and trade-offs. Although the video is lengthy, this 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.
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-ESS3-5 Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems.
ETS1: Engineering Design
HS-ETS1-1 Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants.
HS-ETS1-2 Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.
HS-ETS1-3 Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics, as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.
HS-ETS1-4 Use a computer simulation to model the impact of proposed solutions to a complex real-world problem with numerous criteria and constraints on interactions within and between systems relevant to the problem.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Civics
D2.Civ.12.9-12 Analyze how people use and challenge local, state, national, and international laws to address a variety of public issues.
D2.Civ.14.9-12 Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.
