Science 10 – Climate Change

Science 10: Climate Change (Lesson 1)

 

Purpose:

Climate change is a global issue. Indigenous peoples in Canada, as well as in other parts of the world, are leaders in the fight against climate impacts. This lesson introduces students to ways young Indigenous peoples are involved in climate activism and allows them to investigate climate impacts in their own community. It also enables students to network their learning with students in other locations across the Mackenzie River Basin using online technology, in order to compare local knowledge of climate impacts across their region.

 

Introduction:

Climate change is a global issue. Indigenous peoples in Canada, as well as in other parts of the world, are leaders in the fight against climate impacts. This lesson introduces students to ways young Indigenous peoples are involved in climate activism and allows them to investigate climate impacts in their own community.

 

Key questions for student inquiry: 

How is climate change impacting your community? How are local people responding to climate threats?

 

Location:

In classroom 

 

Length of activity:

4-5 class periods (1 for case study/introduction; 1 for group research; 1 for interview prep; 1-2 for poster creation; 1 for actual YKF)

Teacher Resources

 

Materials Needed:

Note:  Handouts and worksheets are provided in the downloadable Lesson Plan Package

  • Copies of Youth Knowledge Fair case study handouts
  • Poster paper, markers, and other supplies to make research posters (e.g. computer and printer)
  • Tacks or tape to hang research posters
  • How to Interview handout [optional]
Connections to Curriculum

SCIENCE 10

Unit D: Energy Flow in Global Systems (Social and Environmental Contexts Emphasis)

Focusing Questions: Are there relationships between solar energy, global energy transfer processes, climate and biomes? What evidence suggests our climate may be changing more rapidly than living species can adapt? Is human activity causing climate change? How can we reduce our impact on the biosphere and on global climate, while still meeting human needs?

  • 1 – Describe how the relationships among input solar energy, output terrestrial energy and energy flow within the biosphere affect the lives of humans and other species
    • explain how climate affects the lives of people and other species, and explain the need to investigate climate change (e.g., describe the responses of human and other species to extreme climatic conditions; describe housing designs, animal habitats, clothing and fur in conditions of extreme heat, cold, dryness or humidity, wind)
  •  3 – Relate climate to the characteristics of the world’s major biomes, and compare biomes in different regions of the world
    • identify the potential effects of climate change on environmentally sensitive biomes (e.g., impact of a reduction in the Arctic ice pack on local species and on Aboriginal societies that rely on traditional lifestyles)
  • 4 – Investigate and interpret the role of environmental factors on global energy transfer and climate change
    • assess, from a variety of perspectives, the risks and benefits of human activity, and its impact on the biosphere and the climate (e.g., compare the Gaia hypothesis with traditional Aboriginal perspectives on the natural world; identify and analyze various perspectives on reducing the impact of human activity on the global climate)

Skills: Initiating and Planning

Students will: Ask questions about observed relationships, and plan investigations of questions, ideas, problems and issues

  • identify questions to investigate that arise from practical problems and issues 

Skills: Performing and Recording

Students will: Conduct investigations into relationships between and among observable variables, and use a broad range of tools and techniques to gather and record data and information

  • use library and electronic research tools to collect information on a given topic 
  • select and integrate information from various print and electronic sources or from several parts of the same source

Skills: Analyzing and Interpreting

Students will: Analyze data and apply mathematical and conceptual models to develop and assess possible solutions

  • compile and display, by hand or computer, evidence and information in a variety of formats,

including diagrams, flow charts, tables, graphs and scatterplots (e.g., construct climate graphs to compare any two of the following biomes: grassland, desert, tundra, taiga, deciduous forest, rain forest)

Skills: Communication and Teamwork

  • synthesize information from multiple sources or from complex and lengthy texts, and make inferences based on this information (e.g., use integrated software effectively and efficiently to produce work that incorporates data, graphics and text)
  • identify multiple perspectives that influence a science-related decision or issue (e.g., consult a wide variety of electronic sources that reflect varied viewpoints and economic, social, scientific and other perspectives on global warming and climate change)