This online text discusses the many treaties, protocols, and other legislative actions taken in the past to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.
Students can read the text, view diagrams, watch a video, answer reflection questions, check vocabulary terms, and answer interactive quiz questions.
Teaching Tips
Positives
Students engage in a clearly outlined introduction about what can be done about CO2 emissions and the protocols and agreements already in existence.
Teachers can edit the chapter, adding their own additional resources before assigning it to their class.
Additional Prerequisite
Students should have a basic understanding of what CO2 emissions are and their impact on the planet.
Teachers and students must sign in to use some of the interactive features.
Note that the embedded video from NETL is from 2008. Please search our site for more recent videos for up-to-date numbers.
Differentiation
When signed in, students have access to a toolbar that allows them to highlight, take notes, view a summary, and access additional information about the chapter.
Consider having students read the text as a homework assignment and then work in groups to answer the questions in the Explore more section.
Social studies classes could discuss the Paris Agreement and how it compares to other legislation and protocols of the past.
To extend this lesson, have students use this carbon footprint tool and review this interactive table of climate solutions to determine what the most effective actions can be taken by individuals and governments.
Scientist Notes
This resource provides an understanding of the various protocols and treaties established to cut down CO2 emissions to reduce climate change impact. The resource is valid and recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
MS-ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
MS-ESS3-5 Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Science & Technical Subjects (6-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.2 Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; provide an accurate summary of the text distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.10 By the end of grade 8, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
