Climate Change Entry Event
Students will be introduced to climate change through a series of video clips and a classroom discussion to reveal initial knowledge and attitudes about climate change. The first videos introduce the topic for discussions and the last video provides an engaging impetus for creative solutions. Students will also take a knowledge and interest survey to inform student grouping and instructional supports.
Either of these first videos gives a quick, clear synopsis of climate change. Potential discussion questions include
Allow students time to talk about their own views around climate change. Accept all opinions but ask students to be open to changing their views as they learn more about the scientific evidence related to climate change. Help students develop a working definition of climate change. The early correlation between rising atmospheric CO2 and rising temperatures led to the term “global warming”. However, we now know that multiple aspects of the earth's systems were changing so today scientists use the term “climate change” to describe human-caused changes to our climate. |
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This second video for International Panel on Climate Change presents the State of the Science with a sliding scale of probability. Potential discussion questions include:
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After the prior discussions, students should be introduced to the driving question and start brainstorming ways and resources to address their task.
This final video is the opening clip from the 2014 IPCC International Summit. It should inspire and engage students to envision a future with global solutions. |
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