Humans have been subject to the impact of natural disasters for as long as they have been on Earth. Disasters, unfortunately, are happening all the time. They are typically the result of a variety of factors, which begs the question, are these natural disasters really “natural,” or are they a result of something man made? This activity is designed to get you to think about the variety of factors that contribute to natural disasters.

Take 30 seconds to make a list of all the types of natural disasters you can think of. Your teacher will list your ideas on the board, and then ask some of you to come up to the board and circle any of the disasters that could happen in the area where your school or home is. As a class, you’ll discuss which types of disasters might occur in your area.

Then, look at the Natural Disaster Chart, which lists some major, recent disasters around the world. Choose one disaster from the chart and brainstorm a list of all the factors that made this particular disaster so devastating. In addition, respond to the following questions about the disaster:

1. Did your natural disaster have more of an impact today than it would have 50 or 100 years ago? Why?
2. Would the disaster have been as intense or as big 50 or 100 years ago? Why or why not?
3. Whom do these disasters impact the most? Why?
4. Are disasters today less “natural” than they use to be? Why or why not?

Most natural disasters do have a bigger impact today than they did 50 or 100 years ago. The severity of the disasters is usually larger, likely due to changing weather patterns, changes in population density and housing. These are some of the things that you should consider when answering these questions.

Now, think about the question about how “natural” natural disasters are today. Are human impacts making these disasters worse? Discuss this with your class, and do your best to see both sides of the issue.

This repeated activity should help you become familiar with a process for understanding unfamiliar words anytime you encounter them in the course.

Take out your vocab tracker and be sure to record new and unfamiliar words on it according to your teacher’s instructions.

Globalization is a process whose impact continues to accelerate. Keeping pace with the changes brought about by globalization will require humans to use their ability for collective learning to innovate and address biospheric changes in the future.

This video is meant to get you thinking about globalization and whether or not this process has benefited society in general. Since you’re living in the middle of the globalization process, it can be difficult to determine how everything will end up in the future, but the ideas and evidence provided here will help you think more carefully about the positive and negative effects of globalization.

Preview

Overall, is globalization positive for humanity? In this video, John Green explores this question. He discusses that while the global economy has increased wealth and decreased poverty, it has also caused large income gaps, harsh environmental impacts, and has increased the spread of diseases.

Key Ideas—Factual

Think about the following questions as you watch the video:

1. What are some of the benefits of global economic interdependence?
2. What does Green mean when he says that globalization has led to a celebration of individualism?
3. What are some of the negative impacts of globalization?
4. What else is negatively impacting the Earth as a result of globalization?
5. Why is Green surprised by the lack of pandemics in recent history?
6. Has globalization rid the world of violence?
7. What is the ideological shift in the age of globalization that seems new?
8. Has democracy been accompanied by economic success?
9. Does Green think globalization is good or bad?
10. What does Green say about the specific criticism that globalization is increasing inequality across the world?

Thinking Conceptually

Currently, our global economy is dependent upon industries that are not sustainable due to our constantly increasing energy needs. Given what you’ve now learned about energy, the impacts on the planet, and on humans in general, what are some solutions for lessening the negative—and potentially catastrophic—impacts of globalization around the world?

The impact of the Industrial Revolution on accelerating the growth of population and innovation in commerce and trade is hard to argue against. The impact of the Industrial Revolution on climate is real and many populations across the world are already experiencing the negative effects of climate change.

In this video, you’re asked to think about the changing impact of humans on the Earth’s climate and how this impact has accelerated in the modern era.

Preview

The importance of the Industrial Revolution in helping to create the modern world is hard to deny. Tremendous population growth, economic growth, and growth of the use of fossil fuels have characterized the past 250 years. There have been many benefits derived from this revolution but also a number of costs. Scientists argue that in the modern world, human impact on the biosphere has accelerated dramatically. Human activity has always had an impact on the biosphere, but never as much as in the last 250 years. What impact did the Industrial Revolution have on climate?

Key Ideas—Factual

Think about the following questions as you watch the video:

1. How did farming and the appearance of human civilizations impact climate?
2. How does the impact of the Industrial Revolution on climate compare with the impact of farming?
3. Why do scientists argue that Earth is undergoing a period of global warming?

Thinking Conceptually

Do you think that technological innovations, like the ones you’ve witnessed in your lifetime, allow humans to have less of an impact on the environment, about the same impact, or a greater impact?

Eunice Newton Foote grew up around science and attended a school where she was encouraged to experiment rather than memorize facts. She was both a scientist and an advocate for women’s rights. However, during her lifetime, Eunice never received credit for her greatest achievement. She discovered that carbon dioxide traps and holds heat much more than other gases, and concluded that an atmosphere with more carbon dioxide would lead to higher temperatures. With this experiment, Eunice was the first person to document what would become known as the greenhouse effect. Her work was published but soon forgotten. Instead, a man got credit for a similar experiment just three years later.

As you look to our future as a planet and a species, climate change brings up many questions. You might be surprised to learn that we’ve had some understanding of the processes driving these planetary changes for over 150 years. This biography also offers you an opportunity to reflect on the nature of collective learning and scientific progress. Eunice’s work was groundbreaking, and she published and had her work presented publicly. Despite all this, for a long time, it was a male scientist who got the credit for making this discovery, even though his experiment was conducted over three years after Eunice’s.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming section of the Three Close Reads – Graphic Histories worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. You should also spend some time looking at the images and the way in which the page is designed. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What was remarkable about Eunice’s early life?
2. What contributions did Eunice make beyond science?
3. What was Eunice’s big discovery and how did she conduct her experiment?
4. What happened to Eunice’s work after she conducted the experiment?
5. How does the page's design, text, and illustrations contribute to your understanding of Eunice’s story?

Evaluating and Corroborating

In this read, you should use the graphic biography as evidence to support, extend, or challenge claims made in the course.

1. Did Eunice’s experiment contribute to collective learning? Provide one piece of evidence in favor and one piece of evidence against.

Life on Mars would require quite an adjustment from that on Earth. After a five- to ten-month journey, inhabitants would have to brave harsh conditions created by exposure to ultraviolet radiation, high winds, and low temperatures. These conditions result from a lack of atmospheric protection surrounding the planet. Communication back to Earth would be difficult due to the vast distances between the two planets. All aspects would not be negative, however: less gravity would make you a better leaper, and two moons would fill the sky at night!

This video will help you gain an understanding of what the conditions are like on Mars and what life on the red planet might be like if humans attempt to colonize it in the future.

Preview

Jacqueline Howard discusses the environmental conditions on Mars and what a day on the planet would look like for potential inhabitants. She focuses on travel to the red planet along with the living conditions once on its surface.

Key Ideas—Factual

Think about the following questions as you watch the video:

1. According to organizers of Mars One, by what year will it be possible to establish a human colony on Mars?
2. How does the gravity on Mars compare to that on Earth?
3. Utilizing space technology in its current state, how long does it take to travel to Mars? Why does this concern NASA scientists?
4. Colonists on Mars would most likely have to spend most of their time underground. Why is this?
5. Mars has not one, but two moons, which behave differently than the Earth’s moon. Describe this behavior.

Thinking Conceptually

Mars and Earth orbit at different distances from the Sun. They also travel at different speeds. We all know that one year on the planet Earth is 365 days. On the red planet, one year consists of 687 days. If you were born on Mars, roughly how old would you be?

This activity asks you to think about gaps that exist in today’s world and helps challenge preconceived ideas about what the world is really like today.

Note: This activity is an adaptation of the Gapminder Card Game at www.gapminder.org/downloads/card-game/.

Your teacher will divide you into groups and give you a set of country cards. Once you have the cards, arrange or group the cards according to the development level of each country. Once you’re done sorting the cards, be prepared to explain to the class how your group arranged the cards. Does your arrangement reflect the countries’ income, health, or development more generally?

Next, look at the Gapminder World Map graph. The main features of the graph are:

• Bubbles represent countries
• The size of the bubble is related to the population (the bigger the bubble, the more people)
• Color represents the continent
• Y-axis is life expectancy (health)
• X-axis is income per person

Next, circle the 16 countries from the card sort on the graph. Then, respond to the following questions.

• How did your card arrangements compare to what the graph actually shows?
• Were there any surprising results?
• What do you think the difference is between more and less developed countries?
• How do you think poverty and access to health care (high infant mortality and low life expectancies) might affect women and minorities more than others? Explain your reasoning.

You will identify a problem affecting the world at large, and then predict a vision of the future based on this problem and what you now know about the history of the Universe.

In groups, you’ll identify a problem affecting the world at large, and then you’ll present a vision of the future based on the chosen problem. Use the Visions of the Future Worksheet to document your thinking. You can choose whatever you want, but your presentation must do the following:

• Define and explain the problem and explain why you picked that problem.
• Explain why it qualifies as a problem that affects the entire world rather than a small part of it.
• Explain how this problem affects the world now, and how you think it will impact the world in 25 years and in 100 years.
• Explain the top three changes to the world that result from this problem now, in 25 years, and in 100 years. Use your understanding of the history of the Universe to create an evidence-based vision of the future.
• Share research findings about the current status of the problem (if any exists).
• Research and share predictions that have already been made about what this problem might look like in the future.
• Discuss how your visions of the future have changed since Unit 1.

Presentations can be in a variety of formats including a short video, a podcast, a digital presentation, an infographic, or anything else you or your teacher might think of (and approve). You’ll be graded using the Big History Presentation Rubric, so make sure to look it over when you are preparing your presentation. You will also be accountable for addressing all of the presentation criteria listed above.