|
Framework
|
Topic outline
Click the linked topics below for additional
resources
|
Air Resources |
| 1. Atmospheric science |
a. Atmospheric composition and
structure
b. Weather and climate - relationship between
sun, wind, and ocean currents; difference
between weather and climate; historical
patterns |
| 2. Human use |
a. Biological
b. Combustion
c. Work - transportation, wind energy
generation
d. Waste disposal |
| 3. Pollution |
a. Types of pollutants - primary,
secondary,
synergistic
b. Source of pollutants - natural and
anthropogenic
c. Impacts of pollutants -
ozone depletion,
smog, acid precipitation, heat islands,
inversions, health issues
d. Solutions or reductions |
| 4. Climate change |
a. Natural greenhouse effect
b. Greenhouse gas
c. Keeling Curve
d. Impacts/consequences
e. Data interpretation and computer modeling
f. Solutions |
|
RESOURCES
| Climate change - Impacts/consequences |
| |
Climate Change Projection, A Look at the Water
Budget (activity)
Source: Center for Remote
Sensing of Ice Sheets
Web site to download lesson
Web site to access Water-Budget, Interactive, Modeling Program
Students use an online water budget modeling program to create
water budget diagrams. By comparing water balance diagrams of
present-day and IPCC based future climate scenarios students can
evaluate the type of changes Kansas (and other cities) could
experience due to temperature related precipitation changes. |
| |
Ecological Impacts of Climate Change
(booklet and PowerPoints)
Source: National Academy of
Sciences
Web site
This 28-page booklet is based on Ecological
Impacts of Climate Change (2009), a report by an
independent panel of experts convened by the National Research
Council. It explains general themes about the ecological
consequences of climate change and identifies examples of
ecological changes across the United States. Climate change is
affecting ecosystems right in your own backyard. In addition,
Powerpoint presentation modules are available to assist
educators in sharing this information. |
| |
The Day After Tomorrow (movie)
Source:
20th Century Fox
DVD: Approx: $8
from
Amazon.com or rent it from a local video store
This
Dennis Quaid movie is a great way to culminate a climate change
unit. A climatologist tries to figure out a way to save the
world from abrupt global warming. He must get to his young son
in New York, which is being taken over by a new ice age. |
| |
Global Climate Change: Earth's Atmosphere Heats Up
(DVD)
Source: Bill Nye, Disney Educational Productions
DVD: Approx: $50 at
Disney
Borrow from
WCEE EE Resources Library
This Bill Nye video investigates the effects of fossil fuels,
how carbon dioxide impacts the atmosphere, and the process
measuring climate change. |
| |
The Human Toll of Climate Change
(Interactive map)
Source: Center for American Progress
Web site
This map provides scientific information on
climate change threats such as natural disasters, including
hurricanes, floods, droughts, and wildfires; the spread of
infectious disease such as the West Nile virus; rising sea
levels that could wipe out coastal cities and towns; and
declines in crop production and fish catches. Clicking a
category will display icons on the map in locations where
scientific research indicates there may be problems along with
the corresponding data. |
| |
Ice Research (video)
Source: In
Wisconsin, Wisconsin Public Television
Web site
UW Limnology researchers give us a snapshot of
Wisconsin's environmental future, frozen in time. What can the
ice covered lakes of the frozen tundra reveal? Data on seven
lakes in Vilas County reach back to the early 1980s. Information
for Lake Mendota in Madison has been kept for more than 150
years. Art Hackett reports on drastic shifts in the length of
time ice covers Wisconsin lakes. A good connection to local
climate change issues. 7 minutes |
| |
Mother Nature's Tea Party - Talking about Climate
Change (activity)
Source:
Dana Lex,
West De Pere High School
Activity
(MS Word)
Each student plays the role of a real person that
has been affected by climate change. As they chat with the other
people in the room, students discover that climate change has a
very human face and that it affects people (and the earth) in a
great variety of ways. They also learn a little geography, too. |
| |
Polar Visions (video)
Source:
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science
View online
This film by Dr. Ryan Vachon is about the
causes and effects of climate change in the polar regions. The
movie is divided into seven segments for ease of integration
with classroom instruction. Polar Visions is aligned with the
National Science Education Standards and is suitable for middle
level to undergraduate students. |
| |
Waterworld (movie)
Source: Universal
Studios
DVD: $14.99 from
Amazon.com or rent it from a local video store
This Kevin
Costner movie is great for culminating a climate change unit. In
a future where the polar ice caps have melted and most of Earth
is underwater, a mutated mariner fights starvation and outlaw
"smokers," and reluctantly helps a woman and a young girl find
dry land. |
|
