Overview
This curriculum unit is being designed to provide a bridge between two very different content units taught as part of the North Carolina 7 th grade curriculum. North Carolina is one of the few states left that has an integrated science content curriculum in middle school. Students have a mix of physical, life, and earth science throughout 6 th, 7 th, and 8 th grade. 7 th grade students begin the year with a unit on atmosphere and weather and then move into a unit on human biology. This unit will help to make a meaningful connection between those two very different topics and to help students see the connections that exist between the various fields of science. I will make a connection between the Earth's climate and how certain diseases may be allowed to flourish and spread in an altered climate. Diseases are studied as a part of the study of human biology and I hope to show how a changing climate may have a direct impact on the health of humans.
The ultimate goal of this unit is to improve the scientific literacy of my students and make them better citizens who are able to make responsible choices about their environment. I also want them to be able to make informed decisions when voting on issues and for people who will determine the course our country takes on environmental issues. I want them to understand the impact all individuals have on the amount of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere and that continuing to produce as many as we do may have devastating implications for their futures. It's difficult to make middle schoolers see beyond their own little worlds, but I hope to move them towards making changes in their homes by encouraging family members to consider changes in the way they use energy. Students will learn about their personal impact on the environment, particularly in the amount of carbon dioxide produced by themselves and their families. I hope to motivate them enough to begin making immediate changes in their homes and communities and to help them see every little change individual citizens make goes toward the common good of their city, their country, and eventually, the world. This unit will try to differentiate between the facts and the fallacies about global warming while making students aware that climate change has uncertainties that are inherent to the system, but there are issues that are no longer uncertain and students need to be able to see the difference between what already is and what may be.
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