Dan Gross: Valleyview Middle School, Denville

Centenary College

Educator, Trainer, Program Manager, Sustainable

Consultant

dgross242@live.com

how to teach your students about climate change

help students discover how climate change will affect us

Introductions

How to introduce Climate Change?

Getting Students to Care:

Hands on Demonstrations

Town Debate/Role Play

PBLs: Putting the Puzzle Together

Multimedia applications

Telling the Story: Cause, Effects, Action

Infusing Climate Change throughout the curriculum

Photoshop- 20% from deforestation

Introductions:

Networking: Making connections now

and after the presentation

Please share with us your:

1. Name

2. Current Job

3. Best idea for incorporating

climate change education

4. Need you have that you want

fulfilled by this presentation

How to Introduce Climate

Change?

Most important:

It is not controversial in

the scientific

community, so don’t

make it debatable in

class. Ex. Evolution, Electoral College, Civil Rights in the 60’s

John Stewart

"A

lie can

travel h

alfw

ay a

rou

nd

the w

orld

wh

ile the tru

th is p

uttin

g o

n its sh

oes."

Mark

Tw

ain

What are the chances? 1. Odds of bowling a 300 game

2. Odds of being an astronaut

3. Odds that a person between the age of 18 and 29 does NOT read a newspaper regularly

4. Odds of injury from mowing the lawn

5. Odds of being struck by lightning

6. Odds of being born a twin in North America

7. Odds of a meteor landing on your house

8. Chance of dying from a shark attack

9. Chance of suffering from asthma or allergy diseases

10. What are the odds that climate change is real?

1. 11,500 to 1

2. 13,200,000 to 1

3. 3 to 1

4. 3,623 to 1

5. 576,000 to 1

6. 90 to 1

7. 182,138,880,000,000 to 1

8. 1 in 300,000,000

9. 1 in 6

10. 1 in 1

Proof Order1. Share proof: explain cards

a. Who cares? Statistic

b. What does the graph mean?

c. How does the picture connect?

2. Comparisons: sea, land, air

3. Find one other person you are connected to

Find someone else you are connected to

4. Most convincing proof to least convincing

5. Introduction to project: Why I Care About Climate Change?

6. Other ideas for categories

Proof of Climate Change:

Categories

1. Atmosphere

2. Water

3. Biotic: effect on living species

4. Abiotic: effect on non-living parts of land

1. Temperature, CO2

2. glaciers, drought

3. Increased endangered species,

migration

Could do all sheets as graphs and move into

graph activity.

Could do all activities as maps. Prezi the maps.

Resources for Proof

NASA- Vital Signs= Amazing

NASA connecting graphs to maps

Extreme Ice Survey- full video 50 minutes

Let students experience …. Then try to determine

key definitions and cause/effect

H-R Diagram

Human Graph1. Think of an H-R Diagram in Astronomy

a. Tells where the star is in its lifecycle

b. Tells Stars Temperature

c. Tells the stars classification

2. We need to tell the same story by putting together graphs

a. Use string to put together graphs

b. put a human face on each part of the graph with cards

c. Have students try to compare graphs on top of

each other with transparencies and draw

conclusions

Group graphsHelpful for explaining an increase in extreme

weather events.

- hottest years on record

- $ paid by insurance in US

- number of 100 year floods

- number of hurricanes

- number of cyclones

All you need:

notecards

post-its

pins

Layers Graphs

GIS- Geographic Information System

CO2 and Temperature graphs

Permafrost melt and methane release

Ocean Rising and Melting Glaciers

Power Point on HS or college GIS and climate

change

Role Play

Town Debate: Intro video- columbia river

basin Environmentalist/

Lorax Small Business Large Business Local Gov’t Large Gov’t DEP Scientist

Eco-Drama/Skits Great lesson

Situations for role play

- Climate change isn’t real

- We can wait on acting to halt climate change

- Why should I sacrifice for climate change when others are contributing more to the problem

need to write:

- play

- psa

- viral video script

- smart phone app/game

PBL’s- Problem

Based Learning

Background- Medical

Schools

Many ideas and options

in this Global Warming

PBL

Rubric and project packet

Example of a Survey

Excel Spreadsheet

Making a Graph

Final Reflection

Sharing- Go over Ratings!!!

Web References for Project

Sustainable Solutions Survey

Include Climate Change in Traditional

Science Projects

• Biome Project

•Endangered Species

Multimedia Applications

Simulations of effects of

climate change in the

future

Reality of effects of

climate change today

High School level game

on effects of climate

change crossing

boarders

Climate Change Web

Quest

Glencoe- textbook co.

Web quest includes

math

There are so many of

these… just search

“climate change

webquest”

Web 2.0

www.Tagxedo.com http://prezi.com/

Search existing presentations:

What a young person can do?

Make an interactive prezi for the whole

class:

Add an idea

My 20 minute climate change teaching

strategy for my college class.

These Slides have the

word college in the

bottom corner.

College

Key Understanding:

Climate Change…not…Weather

Change

Simpsons introduction:

Weather: Daily fluctuations

Climate: Long-Term Patterns

Climate Change – What is it?

Climate: long-term

Weather: short term

Blue and green= lots of ozone

Ozone hole is different than

Climate change

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What influences climate: Ocean

circulation

Ocean circulation: ocean water exchanges

tremendous amounts of heat with the atmosphere

Thermohaline circulation: a worldwide current

system

Warmer, fresher water moves along the surface and

carries heat to Europe

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What happens if ocean current change? rapid climate change… Why?

If Greenland’s ice melts,

freshwater runoff would dilute surface waters=

making them less dense = stop flow of current

Extreme Ice (click on video, takeaway and shrinking)

Data suggest thermohaline circulation is slowing.

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What happens when ocean circulation slows too much?

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Human impact causing shorter-

term, more pronounced climate change More GHG/Greenhouse gases= more absorbtion of infrared radiation

What absorbs radiation in the atmosphere: Water vapor, ozone, carbon

dioxide, nitrous

oxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

CO2

Methane 4x more powerful that CO2

CFCs → HCFC (12,000 more potent than CO2)

Largest source of:

CO2:

Methane:

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Evidence: Step 1 …. Carbon increasing

Carbon dioxide=primary concern

The atmosphere’s concentrations of CO2 are now at their

highest level in over 800,000 years.

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Evidence: Step 2… Temperature increase average surface temperatures rising since 1906, mostly in

the last few decades.

At the end of the 21st century, temperatures will be 3.2-7.2

F higher than today.

11 of last 12 years were the warmest on record

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Evidence: Step 3…Precipitation is

changing

Biomes are based on water and temperature and

water is changing

Droughts and floods = more frequent and severe

Future precipitation

•High latitudes = increased precipitation

•Low and middle latitudes = decreased

precipitation = water shortages in developing

countries

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Evidence: Step 3… migration and feeding disturbed

Timing of migration and feeding

Spatial shifts in the range of organisms (towards poles and

up)

20-30% of all species will be threatened with extinction

Random Crazy bird mating dance

Winter grounds stay the same but summer grounds are on

average 250 miles further

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Evidence: Step 4

Melting snow and ice

Mountaintop glaciers are

disappearing

In Glacier National Park, only

27 of 150 glaciers remain but

will be gone by 2030.

Reducing summertime water

supplies

The Arctic and Greenland ice

sheets are rapidly melting.

In Antarctica, ice shelves the

size of Rhode Island have

disintegrated.

As ice melts, darker, less-

reflective surfaces are exposed

and absorb more

sunlight, causing more melting.Ice loss 1996-2006College

Evidence: Step 5… Oceans rising

•IPCC predicts mean sea level to be 7-23 in higher

• today’s at the end of the 21st century.College

Not only is there Climate Change, but it

continues to increase faster… Why?

Using fossil fuels in homes, factories, and automobiles

We are losing carbon sinks:

Deforestation

Ocean absorption: the ocean holds 50 times more carbon than the

atmosphere and absorbs it from the atmosphere

Warmer oceans absorb less CO2

What’s missing?

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Wri

te d

ow

n t

he

2 i

mp

acts

th

at w

ill

be

mo

st d

evas

tati

ng

to

hu

man

s

College

U.S. Global Change Research Program

(2008)

Which 2 do you

think will have

the greatest

effect on non-

human parts of

the biotic

community?

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Externalities: from Climate change affects

economics and health

Economics: the costs will outweigh benefits

Widen the gap between rich and poor

Could cost 5-20% of GDP by 2200

Poor nations will lose more than rich ones.

Investing 1% of GDP now could help us avoid these

costs.

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Externalities/Costs:

from Climate change

Forestry:

Increased insect and disease outbreaks

Invasive species

Forest fires (especially in rainforests)

Agriculture:

Droughts, floods,

Decreased yields, worsened hunger

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Climate Change will lead to loss of species… Why should

we care?

North East possible Effects

http://www.climatechoices.org/ne/impacts_regional/regio

nal-impacts.html

Graphic of how hot it could get with two different emissions

scenarios

don't skip this one

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Solutions: 2 types Mitigation: reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Renewable energy, efficiency, farm practices to protect

soil integrity, preventing deforestation

Adaptation: accept climate change is happening and

pursue strategies to minimize its impacts

Uses technology and engineering, adjusting farming to

cope with droughts, etc.

Criticized as sidestepping

Both are necessary

Similar to toxics: innocent until proven guilty or precautionary principle

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Solutions: 1st attempt… international

treaty

The Kyoto Protocol mandates that, between 2008-2012, signatory nations must reduce emissions of six greenhouse gases to levels below those of 1990.

This treaty took effect in 2005, after Russia became the 127th nation to ratify it.

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Who will lead by example?

The United States will not ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

Does not require developing countries to decrease

emissions (China and India).

State Governments 850 Mayors agreed to pursue policies to “meet or beat”

Kyoto Protocol guidelines California wants to cut GHG 25% by the year 2020. 10 northeastern states set up a cap-and-trade program

for carbon emissions from power plants (including NJ)

Copenhagen- keeping temperature rises to no more than 2C

- does not contain commitments to emissions reductions College

Declarations

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Solutions: so what should we do? Most reductions can be achieved using current technology.

To eliminate 15 billion tons of carbon/year by 2050:

Double fuel economy and halve miles driven

Maximize building efficiency

Double efficiency of coal power plants, but switch to natural

gas

Capture and store carbon from coal, hydrogen, and synfuel

plants

Increase wind, solar, geothermal other renewables

Stop deforestation, reforest, and conserve croplands

Achieving these would stabilize our emissions.

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Solutions: How do we reduce

emissions

Permit trading programs

Polluters choose how to best reduce their emissions

Carbon offsets

Not well regulated ex. continental

Carbon tax

A cap and trade emissions trading program

Each emissions source gets one permit.

The source can buy or sell permits.

Penalties

Market with a middle man

Which do you like the most?

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Climate change quiz

Skeptics climate change quiz

Global warming game- groups of

3 (nation game… challenging and 10 minutes)

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Infusing Climate Change throughout

the curriculum

Social Studies

Jared Diamond

Collapse

Connecting

poverty, access to fresh

drinking water and

sanitation, and climate

change

Language Arts

Faction stories

Letter to grandkids

Positive and Negative

Math

Migration of birds vs.

prey coming out from

winter graphs

Footprints and other

calculators Art

Further resources

Amazing graphs and maps that are great for comparison:

Action: 350.org

Webquest: CLEAN

Free Curriculum: Facing the Future Cool California National Wildlife Federation

Free presenter ACE- They are great!!!

• Likely Scenerios reference map- National Geographic

• NASA Quiz

• 1 week Climate Change lesson

• Climate Change 101- 1 day lesson

Climate Change basics-reading and directed questions

TED presenter: high schooler Averting Climate Crisis- Al

Gore

Albert Einstein

“The significant problems we face

cannot be solved at the same level of

thinking we used when we created

them.”