Task 1, Lesson 1: Introduction to Cycle and Climate Summits

AP TopicsThe Atmosphere(Composition; structure; weather and climate; atmospheric circulation and the Coriolis Effect; atmosphere-ocean interactions)Global Warming(Greenhouse gases and the greenhouse effect; impacts and consequences of global warming; reducing climate change; relevant laws and treaties)Stratospheric Ozone(Formation of stratospheric ozone; ultraviolet radiation; causes of ozone depletion; effects of ozone depletion; strategies for reducing ozone depletion; relevant laws and treaties)

Learning ObjectivesStudents will understand various international treaties and policies/protocols (from previous conferences and agreements) and evaluate their successes and failures.Students will understand the structure and function of Earth’s atmosphere and how human activities impact the Earth’s atmosphere.Students will understand the process of finding and fixing global atmospheric issues.Students will understand what caused a hole in the ozone layer and the consequences and its relationship to climate change.

Lesson Steps in Brief Pacing

1: Framing In5

2: Introduction to Cycle15

3: Lecture and Discussion: What Is a Climate Summit?

30-40

4: Lecture and Discussion: Montreal Protocol and the Ozone hole

30-40

Total time: 80-100

Materials: GCS_T1_L1_Project Outline.docx GCS_T1_L1_Introducton to GCS.pptx GCS_T1_L1_Fact Sheet_Climate Summit_What?.pdf GCS_T1_L1_Fact Sheet_Climate Summit_Why?.pdf GCS_T1_L1_Ozone.pptx

In Teacher’s Resource Folder

GCS, Task 1, Lesson 1: Introduction to Cycle and Climate Summits 1

GCS_Concept Map.pdf GCS_Student Syllabus.docx

Additional Information GCS_T1_L1_UN Convention on Climate Change.pdf GCS_T1_L1_Ozone & Climate Change-report2010-FAQ.pdf

Associated FRQs 2007, Q3: Ozone Thinning

Teacher Background and Planning Notes: The overall goal of this first task is to provide motivation and a rationale for having a global climate summit at the end of this cycle. First students will get oriented to what a global climate summit is and how international summits have tackled other global environmental problems (i.e Montreal and Kyoto Protocols).

In the next lesson, they will learn the basics of climate change and the cause. Finally they engage in a short activity to help them choose a country to represent for the remainder of the project. The will then learn about some potential consequences of climate change and how it may impact their country. This is a task that needs to be completed prior to the AP exam.

Your class size will determine if students are representing their own country or if a group will represent a country with three major roles: Efficiency & Conservation Specialist; Fossil-Fuel & Nuclear Energy Specialist; Renewable Energy Specialist. Determine which you will do and adjust slide #9 to reflect your classroom.

Lesson Steps in Detail

Step 1: Framing In

Remind your students how our focus on sustainability has been gradually moving out from our homes and community to larger regional issues (food systems and oceans). As our field of view has expanded we have seen that environmental issues do not stop at political borders. This final cycle takes a global perspective on a global environmental issue -climate change.

Step 2: Introduction Cycle

For your introduction to the cycle, you could pass out a copy of the GCS_Project Outline.docx or go over the concept map and student syllabus GCS_Concept Map and GCS_Student Syllabus.docx

.

Like Oceans in Action students will be playing a role, not as a community member

GCS, Task 1, Lesson 1: Introduction to Cycle and Climate Summits 2

but a country representative at a Climate Summit. Thus in this task they will be learning Climate Summits (structure/function), climate change, and figuring out which country you will represent.

Lead a discussion of the questions below to transition to the next topic.

Why would there need to be global discussions around climate change? Would you consider the earth’s atmosphere a “commons”? Why or why

not? What do you imagine global climate discussions would look like?

From the discussion students should understand that greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere is a global problem with global consequences and will require global action. They will learn more about climate change in the next lesson.

Step 3: What Is a Climate Summit?

Use the PowerPoint presentation GCS_T1_L1_Introducton to GCS.pptx and fact sheets (GCS_T1_L1_Fact Sheet_Climate Summit_Why?.pdf and GCS_T1_L1_Fact Sheet_Climate Summit_What?.pdf)

The lecture explains what summits or conference of parties (COP} are and what they have accomplished. It also gives insight on what their final summit will be like. Look in the notes section of the PowerPoint to guide you to stopping places where you can use the fact sheets.

After the power point have your student’s answer these questions in a Think-Pair-Share:

Do you think it’s important or necessary to hold international negotiations to come to a global agreement on how to deal with climate change? Why or why not?

How do your actions and choices impact global systems, like the climate system?

What is our responsibility (as individuals, as a city, as a state, or as a nation) for sustaining global systems, like the climate system?

Step 4: Montreal Protocol and Ozone

Climate Change and the Ozone hole are often conflated by students. Use the powerpoint slides to go into more depth about what caused the hole in the ozone, both to clarify how it came about and to distinguish it from climate change (although they do influence each other). To give students insight on timeline, complexity and process of fixing global issues we will discuss how, when and why the Montreal protocol happened and what are the results GCS_T1_L1_Ozone.pptx

While you are lecturing have the students record answers to the following questions. After the lecture lead a discussion around these questions, tying what

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they learned to what they will be doing (and what people around the world are doing) dealing with climate change.

• What caused the hole in the ozone?• What are some of the consequences?• Why was an international environmental treaty necessary?• Why do you think it took until 1987 to create a global agreement?• The amount of CFCs in the atmosphere have been decreasing, but how

long did it take for before the hole stopped getting thinner?• How long will it take to ‘fix’ the hole?• How does this information affect how you think about climate change

summit?• What are some similarities to climate change? How is it different?• Why do you think all members of the UN signed the Montreal Protocol but

not Kyoto (dealing with climate change)?

You can use the FRQ as homework or formative assessment.

Teacher Notes on this lesson:

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