Solving Environmental Problems through Engineering

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 20.04.10

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction and Rationale
  2. The History of Climate Change
  3. Climate Change Basics: The science behind rising temperatures.
  4. The Greenhouse Gases: More than just CO2
  5. Climate Change: What happens as global temperatures rise.
  6. Climate Change: What are we going to do?
  7. Philadelphia: One city’s likely scenario in the coming climate crisis.
  8. Unit Planning for Middle School Students Studying Climate Change
  9. Pedagogy and Teaching Strategies for this Unit.
  10. Lesson Activities
  11. Bibliography
  12. Endnotes
  13. Appendix on Implementing District Standards

Engineers Wanted: Climate Change Experience Necessary!

Rachel Odoroff

Published September 2020

Tools for this Unit:

Appendix on Implementing District Standards

Pennsylvania State Standards addressed by this unit

S8.A.3.2.2 Describe how engineers use models to develop new and improved technologies to solve problems.

Students will develop a plan to retrofit their school building to adapt to and mitigate climate change. In order to display their choices, students will create models and justify the choices they made. Students will also conduct scientific investigations to develop understandings that will help them construct models.

S8.B.3.3.1 Explain how human activities may affect local, regional, and global environments.

Students will be exploring climate change and will observe a direct correlation between fossil fuel combustion and consumption, the increase in greenhouse gases. In this unit students will focus on local impacts in Philadelphia, but will ultimately be able to make connections to larger issues with a strengthened set of background knowledge.

S8.C.2.2.3 Describe the waste (i.e., kind and quantity) derived from the use of renewable and nonrenewable resources and their potential impact on the environment.

While hard to see, greenhouse gases emitted during fossil fuel combustion are a waste product of a non-renewable source. Students will be exploring climate change current and potential impact on the environment of Philadelphia.

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