Lesson Plans
This coming year I will be teaching science and social studies to fifth graders and my intentions are to awaken in them the realization that everything on this planet is connected to something else and that what affects one factor will undoubtedly have an effect of equal magnitude elsewhere. With this in mind and after the standardized testing period is over in late April I will be able to implement all of the lessons derived from this curriculum unit. It will be a good time to review many scientific concepts and truly integrate them into an interrelated whole.
Lesson I
I will remind the students that the Earth spins at a tilt of 23.5 degrees perpendicular to the ecliptic. As I remind them I will be spinning a world globe a foot away from a light source. Then, while still spinning I will ask the group to tell me what they can deduce from this fact.
I am certain that after a short while someone will venture to suggest that the sun is shining most directly upon the equatorial latitudes and that there is probably a greater quantity of evaporation taking place there. After agreeing with the student I will ask how that would affect the islands in the tropical zones. They of course will suggest greater amounts of humidity and perhaps rainfall.
At this point I need to have them focus again on the movement of the globe and show them how its movement disturbs the air in the troposphere. In addition we will discuss how warm air rises and cool air undercuts it. This will serve to introduce to the students the idea of how the winds will then be dispersed.
Their text book has a very good chapter on coriolis effects on wind currents and therefore, rainfall and wind patterns. I will have the students draw arrows on their individual world maps indicating the prevailing wind directions in different latitudes. Once they have grasped the idea I will ask them to make a relationship between wind coming in from large bodies of water over land and that which comes from land over more land. I expect them to realize that the wind will be moving along air heavy with moisture from the oceans and dropping it over land. The further it travels over land the air will have less moisture to move along so the rainfall will be less frequent or intense farther inland.
Since the purpose of this lesson is to connect the Earth's tilt, solar radiation and climate change, I will have to posit to them the question about what would happen if the Earth tilted just one degree: to... say 24.5. After a brief discussion I would ask them to spin the globe at just a bit more tilted an angle in front of the light source. I am hoping that they will be able to perceive the difference in location receiving the direct light rays. That of course, will be the new equator.
Then I will hand them another set of individual world maps and have them draw the new equator and redraw the wind patterns of the previous lesson. They will undoubtedly see that the rain and wind patterns will have shifted slightly to the south and hopefully realize the probable effects to the biosphere.
After a while of discussion I will assign to the students a short essay in which they will write about the effects that the tilt of the Earth has upon the climates around the planet. They will be expected to complement their work with convincing illustrations of specific biomes and their place on the Earth.
Lesson II
In the first lesson the fifth graders learned about the effects that a shift in the tilt of the Earth can have upon its global climates. In this one I intend for them to learn that other factors can also affect the stability of climates around the planet, so I will introduce them to the effects that a major volcanic eruption can have.
I will begin this lesson by telling the students the story about Xitle's eruption and subsequent destruction of Cuicuilco in the highlands of Mexico millennia ago, the migration of its survivors and the aggregation to Teotihuacan. Availing myself of slides of maps and pictures of Teotihuacan I will show the students some of the murals within the palaces, Teotihuacan pottery and the geographic extension of its people's influence. As I show the power point I will explain to them the diverse ways in which the Teotihuacanos went modifying the landscape and the resources that they used: the diversion of the water, the raised soils, the production of lime and the deforestation that all of this required.
Then I will tell them about how a major volcanic eruption half way around the world about the year 500 AD caused a three hundred year cooling period around the world. The students will be asked to consider how the world wide cooling period will have affected the lives of the Teotihuacanos.
After this, the students will be directed to consider the changes that the cooling period would have on the local vegetation, the fauna, the rainfall, and the water ways; and, finally to consider the impact of the changes upon the lives of the cultural group.
To finalize this unit I will tell them another story: one that speaks of the southbound migrations that great numbers of Teotihuacans had to make; and of their efforts to merge with the hosting groups; of the barely habitable lands left behind and of what became of their great civilization.
Lesson III
This is probably an excellent time to discuss how after the cooling period came a warm trend sometime during the 9th century and the positive effects that this had upon the development of various civilizations, but I will focus on conditions that led to the development of Europe's Medieval period.
Before the students begin this unit we will discuss how the same cold period that forced the Teotihuacans southward also affected the Nordic peoples and their desire to find food and sustenance. We call these people Vikings.
The students will consider how latitude can affect the way in which people react to the prevailing climatic conditions. They will compare the strategies that the Vikings used to cope with the frigid climate and the ones to which the Teotihuacans resorted.
But before we can proceed it will be necessary for students to learn about the Vikings; who they were; and what the ecosystem in which they lived was like. They will learn about the natural resources available to them and the population's strategies to procure their food, shelter, and safety.
Lesson IV
Since the purpose of these lessons has been to teach about the shifts that social and cultural groups have to make in response to climate changes the students will begin to learn about the warming trend that began during the 9th century. They will become aware of how the longer and warmer periods permitted greater opportunities to plant and harvest different foods, to put aside sufficient grain for the next planting season and to practice the animal husbandry that would provide the necessary meat and milk products.
These improved conditions allowed the population in general to enjoy better health and to dedicate their free time to interests beyond survival: industry, commerce, construction, contemplation, and study. In order to better explain these changes I will show the students pictures of villages, convents, churches, cathedrals, universities, and even hospitals built during the height of the Medieval Period.
Inclusive in this lesson will be a stress on the modifications to the landscape that these people made. The students will realize that all of the improvements were made to enhance their lifestyles as well as the general economy. They did not realize that they were sowing the seeds of their own destruction when the climate would change again in the late 13th century.
Activities for this lesson will include research into: rock quarrying, iron smelting, construction of buildings, forest management, sheep herding, weaving of wool, boat and land transportation; all of them activities of the high medieval period. The research papers will be expected to reflect sound investigation into the subject and a clear understanding of how careless pursuit of progress can affect a civilization. The research papers will be shared with the other students with the intention of bringing about thoughtful discussions with their peers.
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