Lesson Plans
The following lessons may not necessarily be taught consecutively. In order to generally follow the district pacing guide, other lessons may be taught in between the unit lesson plans. My student tables are arranged in groups of four, so most activities are designed for groups of four, but some activities will include five to six students. When I group the students, there will always be a combination of all levels of students.
Lesson 1
Objective: Students will identify and describe the layers of the Earth's atmosphere and the properties of the gases that make up those layers.
Warm-up
Students will look at temperature graphs of the different layers of the Earth's atmosphere in their science textbooks and on an overhead transparency. Students will first be asked to individually write down their thoughts on why the different layers of the atmosphere may have different temperatures. After a few minutes of writing down their own thoughts, they will then share with the other students at their table and try to come up with a group idea that will be shared with the class. After each group has shared their ideas about why the layers have different temperatures, I will build on their ideas or correct misconceptions to lead them to understand that different gases absorb heat differently and that the layers of the atmosphere are divided according to the different temperatures.
Activity
Students will be put into groups of approximately six and given materials to build their own model of the atmosphere.
Materials: 6 pages of laminated sheets with 10 each of 10 km markings on each page, for a total of 600 km; various space vehicles, such as rockets, satellites, space station, telescopes, shuttles, etc., with a chart showing orbiting altitudes of each, science textbooks
Students will be given vis-à -vis markers to draw in each layer of the atmosphere and must draw the various properties of each layer showing things such as the various clouds, (students will have prior knowledge of the types of clouds and their average height in the atmosphere from previous lessons), the ozone layer, the ionosphere, the percentage of gases etc. and will also tape on the various space vehicles in the altitudes they typically travel.
Once all groups have finished with their atmosphere models, they will be hung up in the room for students to see each other's models and make comparisons and make corrections on their own models if needed.
Questions
What layer of the atmosphere do we live in?
Where does all weather occur?
Are gases the same in all layers?
Are all layers the same depth?
What makes each layer unique?
Lesson 2
Objective: Students will be able to differentiate between the greenhouse effect and global warming.
Warm-up: Students will review list of gases discussed in previous class and how some gases absorb heat differently than other gases.
After reviewing list of gases, we will discuss what a greenhouse is.
Questions
What is the purpose of a greenhouse?
How does it work?
Where else might you find the same conditions as a greenhouse?
Using overhead transparencies and the science textbook, students will begin to look at how the Earth receives energy from the Sun. We will review the electromagnetic spectrum and how light energy from the Sun comes to the Earth. After the light energy is absorbed, it is reemitted as infrared energy to heat the lower atmosphere. Discuss that infrared energy is absorbed by gases in the troposphere to keep the Earth warm just as a greenhouse holds heat in to keep plants inside the greenhouse warm. The glass allows light to pass through, but not heat. This warming of the Earth by greenhouse gases is called the greenhouse effect and is necessary to keep Earth habitable. Without the greenhouse effect, the Earth would be frozen over instead of the average 59?F that we now enjoy.
Begin discussion of global warming by asking what might happen to Earth's temperature if there were more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Give students copies of a graph (See Figures 1 and 2) showing the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in the past 100 years and a graph showing the average temperature over the past 100 years. Ask students in groups of four to compare and analyze the data in the graphs and make a hypothesis about a connection between the two sets of data. What do rising levels of CO 2 mean for the temperature? Where is all the CO 2 coming from? Should we worry about it? Can we do anything about it? How is global warming different from the greenhouse effect? What difference will a couple of degrees in average temperature make?
Lesson 3
Objective: Students will make observations about a series of demonstrations concerning the Sun's energy.
Demonstrations
1. Using a water thermometer, students will observe that water expands as it warms and will infer what can happen as the oceans continue to warm.
2. Using a variety of mediums, including water, sand, soil, and grass, students will observe the heating rate of each of the items under a light. They will then infer how this relates to the albedo of the Earth.
3. Students will observe the heating rates of 2 jars, one with a white bottom and one with a black bottom and infer how the different heating rates relate to the albedo of the Earth.
Lesson 4 (2 days)
Objective: Students will research possible problems associated with global warming.
Warm-up: Students will first brainstorm possible problems that might result from a changing climate. List students' ideas on overhead and begin brief discussion of what the problems might be.
Lists of problems should include: melting ice caps and glaciers, rising sea levels, drought and fires, increased precipitation and floods, stronger storms, human health concerns, animal migrations and extinction, crop failures, increased ground level ozone
After discussing the possible problems, students will be grouped into groups of 5 to 6 and assigned one topic that may be a possible problem due to global warming. Each group will then have the rest of the block to research their assigned problem on the computer.
During the next class period, groups will present their information on whiteboards.
Whiteboards are 2 ½ x 4 foot boards that students can write on with dry erase markers to present information. Each group will give a brief 10-15 presentation on the problem that they researched.
Lesson 5
Objective: Students will research and discuss ways to slow down greenhouse gas emissions.
Warm-up: Students will brainstorm ideas for slowing down greenhouse gas emissions as individuals and then ways our country can slow down greenhouse gas emissions.
Activity: Students will make the global warming wheel card provided by the Environmental Protection Agency. (instructions for completing wheel card provided on website in teacher resources) The wheel card provides a way for students to calculate their own greenhouse gas emissions and also provides suggestions for what they can do to slow down greenhouse gas emissions. After completing construction of wheel card, students will calculate their own greenhouse emissions. For homework, students will take the cards home and calculate the greenhouse emissions as a family and will discuss with their families ways to reduce emissions in their own homes. Students will be asked to come back with the score from their family's current emissions and ways their family agreed to cut down emissions.
I plan to hold onto each student's scores and come back to this in a couple of months to see if students and their families have made changes and then recalculate the scores. We will create bar graphs to show how changes in individual families combine to make big changes within our community.
The next 2 lessons will be done as interdisciplinary plans with other teachers at some point during this curriculum unit.
Art Lesson
Students will create posters showing the possible consequences of global warming as well as a way to help mitigate that consequence. Posters will be displayed in school hallways. I may create a judging team and award prizes.
Language arts lesson
Objective: Students will write persuasive letters to convince the mayor of our city to sign onto the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.
In March 2005, Mayor Greg Nickels of Seattle sent letters to mayors of over 1100 cities to urge them to sign the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. This agreement is an attempt to have cities begin to reduce greenhouse emissions in their own cities as a nationwide effort to meet the Kyoto Protocol standards. The United States is one of only two industrialized nations that has not signed onto the Kyoto Protocol. Mayor Nickels has launched an effort to meet the greenhouse emission reductions in our country at the local level since the federal government will not make a commitment to do so. As of July 2006, 272 mayors have signed onto the agreement and have pledged to make reductions in their own cities. Charlotte, NC is not one of those cities that has signed onto the agreement. After learning about ways communities can reduce greenhouse emissions, my students will write letters to our mayor urging him to sign onto the Mayors Agreement and suggesting ways that the whole community can reduce emissions in an effort to reduce global warming. Hopefully, we will get a response from the mayor and my students can lead the way in getting our city to do its part in reducing greenhouse emissions.
Lesson 6
Objective: Students will determine categories for human diseases.
Warm-up: Students will be given 4 to 5 minutes to make a list of all diseases they can think of.
Activity: After each student has compiled his or her own list, we will create a master list on chart paper. After compiling a list of 30 to 40 different diseases, students will get in groups of 4 to create categories of disease using the diseases listed. Students will have approximately 20 minutes to complete this portion of the activity. After completing the category list, I will then ask students (within their groups) to identify categories or individual diseases that they think may be affected by global warming. Student groups will then share the categories they created and give a brief explanation of why they put diseases in the categories they did.
As student groups share the categories they created, I will begin introducing disease and immune system related vocabulary, such as bacteria, viruses, contagious, vector-borne, parasite, etc. As this vocabulary is introduced and discussed, I will have students begin revising the categories, combining or eliminating, as we go.
This will be the students' introduction to the disease research report we will begin.
Disease Research Report
The disease research report will be done in conjunction with the language arts department. Science teachers will focus on research skills and content while the language arts teachers will focus on writing, citing sources, writing a bibliography, and good paragraphing. Students will have 2 different rubrics to follow, one focused on content and the other focused on the writing, and students will receive 2 different grades for the same paper. (Most students find this to be a great incentive!)
Students will have a list of diseases from which to choose for the research report. Each student in a class must choose a different disease, so there will be at least 40 to choose from. All diseases on the list will be ones that scientists have identified as possibly being affected by global warming.
The research report will include the following information:
- The cause of the disease and how it is spread to humans
- Prevention, treatment, or cure for the disease
- Locations in the world the disease occurs
- How global warming is already affecting or may affect the disease
- The body system or systems affected by the disease
Students will have 3 to 4 weeks to work on this project and will have at least 2 days of class time to conduct research.
Students will present reports on the due date and students will compile information about each other's diseases. When all students have presented their reports, we will once again look at categories the diseases may fall into and will have a whole class discussion once again about how we might mitigate the effects of global warming, particularly its effects on human health.
Figure 1
Figure 2
The Keeling Curve
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