Climate Change

Introduction

All students at every grade level should learn about climate change throughout their curriculum. Students should be involved and engaged when learning about what affects their world and how they can help save our planet. While climate change is a heavy topic, students should be aware of the challenges we face because of it.

Objective: Students will analyze the 5 evidences in the book that prove climate change is happening right now.

• Students can compare and contrast their reasons
• Students will understand that climate change is rapidly occurring.
• Students will understand that climate change will affect their lives.

Grade level: 4 or 5

Climate Change

How do we know?

Earths climate has changed constantly throughout history. Within the last 650,000 years there has been seven cycles of change!

Why does this happen?

Climate change is mostly the result of human activity. Human activity has warmed the earth, the land, the ocean and the air.

Climate Change Video

Evidence

Global Temperature Rise

The planets average surface temperature has risen about 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the 1900’s. It is mostly due to green house gases like carbon dioxide and methane.

Most of this happened within the last 40 years, which isn’t long ago!

2016 and 2020 were the warmest years on record.

Greenhouse Gases

Evidence

Warming Ocean

The ocean absorbs much of the heat. Heat is energy and the earth stores 90% of the extra energy in our oceans.

Evidence

Shrinking Ice Sheets

Places like Greenland, that have a lot of ice are experiencing melting ice! Because the oceans are warming, the ice melts making the sea levels rise.

Satellite Data

Evidence

Extreme Events

Climate change causes extreme events like tornados, floods, hurricanes, extreme wind and temperatures. Maybe you have even experienced some of these things in your lifetime.

Evidence

Ocean Acidification

Discussion:

Do you think there are more than just these five evidences?

What do you think will happen to the world if we don’t try to stop climate change?

Which of these evidences do you think would cause the most damage?

Interactive Climate Time Machine

Students can pick one of the topics (evidences) to analyze deeply, and make some sort of presentation on it whether that is a poster, a powerpoint, a drawing, acting something out, a song…etc.

Venn diagram:

Students can pick two of the topics (evidences) and compare and contrast causes and effects of the topic.