This video shows students that some landfills in New Jersey will likely be partially underwater or completely underwater in this century.
The video identifies that the Meadowlands area and the Middlesex County landfill are both at risk of inundation due to sea level rise.
Teaching Tips
Positives
Large font text accompanies the narration and there are many clips of the trash sites discussed in the video.
The aerial maps showing how far inland the ocean will come at high tide are very helpful.
Additional Prerequisites
There are ads before the video.
The video discusses Superstorm Sandy, so you may want to provide some information about that hurricane for context.
Differentiation
Social studies and civics classes could use this video to discuss the role of governments and regulations to protect the public and plan for natural disasters.
Science classes could use this video as a hook for lessons about sea level rise, decomposition, coastal ecosystems, and water pollution.
This video brings up a social justice topic that could be explored further: landfill locations and waste management in New Jersey and around the world.
This video spotlights two scenarios on the impact of sea level rise on landfills in New Jersey. In a changing climate and as shown in the two models, the maps provide critical information for efficient coastal planning and management of sea level rise in New Jersey's coastal communities. This is recommended for teaching.
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.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Geography
D2.Geo.2.6-8 Use maps, satellite images, photographs, and other representations to explain relationships between the locations of places and regions, and changes in their environmental characteristics.
D2.Geo.9.3-5 Analyze the effects of catastrophic environmental and technological events on human settlements and migration.
D2.Geo.10.9-12 Evaluate how changes in the environmental and cultural characteristics of a place or region influence spatial patterns of trade and land use.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Speaking & Listening (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.2 Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.3 Identify the reasons and evidence a speaker provides to support particular points.
