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Activity 1: What do you know about climate change? ActivitySummaryThisfirstbrainstormingactivityisdesignedtoencouragestudentstoactivatetheirpriorknowledgeofclimatechangefromanobjectivepointofviewandtogetabetterunderstandingoftheoverallknowledgesharedbythegroup.Itisimportanttorememberthatwhilemorethan97%ofscientistswhopublishworkinacademicjournalsagreethatitishighlylikelythathumanactivityisresponsibleforglobalwarming(andthisnumbercontinuestorise),therewillalwaysbeskepticsandthosewhodenythisreality.Toseealistofscientificgroupsthatagreethathumansarecontributingtoglobalwarming,visittheNASA’sclimatechangewebsiteathttps://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/.Duration:60minutesLearningoutcomes
• Describethevariouswaysthathumanactivityandtechnologyimpactbothbalanceandinteractionsintheenvironment
• Describetheeffectofhumanactivityongreenhousegas(GHG)emissions
• Definethevocabularyassociatedwithclimatechange
Competencyoutcomes
• Criticalthinking• Research• Communication• Collaboration
Material:
q 3packsofstickynotesin3differentcolours(e.g.4green,4yellowand4redperstudent)q Sharpie-stylemarkers(1perstudent)q Climatechangeinfographicq AdaptingtoourChangingClimateinCanadaposter(alsoavailableontheNaturalResources
Canadawebsite>Climatechangepublications,athttp://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/earthsciences/images/assess/2016/adaptation_poster_e.jpg)
q ComputerwithInternetaccessandprojectorq Internetaccessforstudents(optional)q CopiesoftheStudentBLM:WhatareGreenhouseGases(GHG)andwhatdotheydo?
Whattodo:
1. Inordertohelpstudentsthinkobjectively,askthemthefollowingquestion:
Overthelastseveralyears,we’veseenthatwhiletherearemanypeoplewhoareconcernedaboutthealarmingeffectsofclimatechangeanditsimpactonourenvironment,othersstillarguethatclimatechangeisanexaggeratedphenomenonandthatthereisnoreasontopanic.Whatdoyouthinkaboutthis?
2. Inordertoanswerthisquestionindetail,studentsmustfirstanswerthequestion:Whatdoyouknowaboutclimatechange?(Itisimportantthattheygivetheirpersonalinterpretationsregardingwhattheyhaveseenorheardthemselves).
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3. Handout3to4stickynotesineachcolourtothestudentssothattheycannotedowneverythingthattheyhaveseenorheardaboutclimatechange.Theymaynotedownasmanystatementsaboutclimatechangeastheylike,butjustonestatementperstickynote:• Greenstickynotes:“factual”statements(withexplanationsastowhytheyhavenodoubtsabout
theirveracity);• Yellowstickynotes:statementsthattheyarenotsureaboutorwhichareunproven(with
explanations);and• Redstickynotes:statementsaboutthingstheyhaveseenorheardwhichtheybelievetobefalse
(withexplanations).
4. Dividethetableorwallintothreedistinctsections(columns:thegreencolumnshouldcontain"factualstatements",theyellowcolumn"unprovenstatements"andtheredcolumn"falsestatements").ExplaintothestudentsthattheycancomeupandsticktheirStickynotesintheappropriatecolumnoncethey’vefinishedwritingtheirclimatechangestatement.
5. Onceallstudentshavefinishedwritingdowntheirstatementsandhavestuckthestickynotesintheappropriatecolumns,takealookatthedistributionofthecoloursonthetableorwallandaskthestudentswhattheirfirstimpressionsare.• Aretheremoreyellow,greenorrednotes?• Whatdoyounotice?
6. Withthestudents,trytocreatenewcategoriesformorestickynotes(e.g.causes,effects,
consequences,actions).Assignafewstickynotestogroupsoftwostudentsandaskthemtoputthosenotesintodifferentcategories.
7. Askthemtotakeitinturnstoreadsomeoftheexplanationsgivenfortheclimatechangestatementsandinitiateaclassdiscussionregardingthevariousexplanationsthattheclasshascomeupwithforeachcategory(green,red,yellowstatements).
8. Inordertoconnectthestudents’explanationstocurrentinformationonclimatechange,handoutstudentnotebookstoeachstudent.Askthemtoeachnotedown1to2statementsineachcategorythattheywouldliketolearnmoreabout.
9. Tohelpthemwiththeirresearch,showthem:
• Thecollectionofinfographicsincludedinthiskit
• TheAdaptingtoourChangingClimateinCanadaposter(alsoavailableontheNaturalResourcesCanadawebsite>Climatechangepublications,athttp://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/earthsciences/images/assess/2016/adaptation_poster_e.jpg)
• Avideoillustratingwhatclimatechangeis,suchasHowdoesclimatechangeaffectbiodiversity?(CaliforniaAcademyofSciences)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFmovUAWQUQ
• ThewebsiteSkepticalScience(https://skepticalscience.com)whichexplorestheconceptsthatpeopleareskepticalabout.
• CopiesoftheStudentBLM:WhatareGreenhouseGases(GHG)andwhatdotheydo?
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10. Finally,askstudentsthefollowing:Basedonyourobservationsandexplanations,whatconclusionscanwecometo?
Howarefalsehoodsspread?TheSerengetiStrategy
Inthesamewaythatagrouplionswillattempttoisolateazebraontheoutskirtsofitsgroupsothattheycancaptureitmoreeasily,ascientistmaybetargetedbyindividualswhomobilizetheirresourcestoattackandweakenhimorher.Thefighttodefendthemselveswilltakeupalotofthescientist’senergyandresources.Thestrategysucceedsnotonlyinisolatingascientistfromhisorhercolleagues(easiertoattackanindividualthantoattackagroup),butalsoservesasawarningtootherscientistsseekingtomaketheirstudiespublic.ThisstrategyhasbeenusedtodiscreditRachelCarson(effectsofDDTontheenvironment)aswellasthescientistswhorevealedthetruthabouttheharmfuleffectsoftobaccoconsumption.
Mann,M.E.(2015).TheSerengetistrategy:Howspecialintereststrytointimidatescientists,andhowbesttofightback.BulletinoftheAtomicScientists,71(1),33-45.http://www.meteo.psu.edu/holocene/public_html/Mann/articles/articles/MannBullAtomSci15.pdf
ActivitydevelopedwithBeyondtheBlackboardEducationalConsulting©2017
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Activity1–StudentBLM:WhatareGreenhouseGases(GHG)andwhatdotheydo?
a) Lookatthepictureabove.Inyourownwords,describetheroleplayedbygreenhousegasesontheEarth.
b) AreGHGsgoodforlifeonEarthornot?Explain.
c) Researchthefollowinggreenhousegasesandnotewheretheycomefrom.
Naturalsources Man-made/anthropogenicsources(causedbyhumans)
Carbondioxide(CO2)
Methane(CH4)
Watervapour
Nitrousoxide(N20)
Chlorofluorocarbon(CFC)
Name:____________________________________________ Date:_____________________