Understanding Climate Change
Teacher Resources
Lesson 1.1 Teaching Guide
Infographics Guide
Data Literacy Guide
Driving Question: What is climate change and how do we know it's real?
Talking about climate change can feel overwhelming. There are lots of statistics and data points, not to mention lots of different opinions. In this lesson, you’ll investigate the basics of climate change so you can develop your own evidence-based definition of what climate change is and be able to describe it to others.
- Define the concept of climate change and explain the mechanisms that cause climate change, including natural factors and human activities.
- Analyze historical data and trends that demonstrate climate change over time.
- Using skills such as claim testing, argumentation, and reasoning, evaluate evidence and scientific consensus regarding the reality and causes of climate change.
Opener
What do you know about climate change? The quick opener activity asks you to brainstorm to answer this question and prepare you for what you’ll learn about in this course.
Infographic
Why should we worry about an increase in less than 200ppm CO2 in our atmosphere? Well, it turns out that while that number might seem small, it actually has a significant effect on our planet. This infographic delves into the big impacts that even small changes can have on our planet.
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Observe
Skim the full infographic, paying attention to things like prominent colors, numbers, charts, and types of text. How do you know where to start and which direction to read? How do you know what numbers are most important? What concept is the focus of the graphic? What big questions do you have?
Understand
- What does the acronym “PPM” mean and how does it relate to climate change?
- Why does this infographic mention caffeine? How does it relate to climate change?
- According to this infographic, how have carbon dioxide concentrations in Earth’s atmosphere changed over the last 800,000 years?
- What is the greenhouse effect? How has it changed since 1750?
Connect
- How could you use the concepts in this infographic to help convince someone that climate change is real and presents a danger to humanity?
What is Climate Change? Crash Course Climate & Energy #1
This video introduces some core concepts that will help guide us throughout the course, like the difference between climate and weather. We’ll also take a look back through the Earth’s history at other periods of significant climate change.
Key Ideas
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Before you watch
Before you watch the video, it’s a good idea to open and skim the video transcript. And always read the questions below so you know what to look and listen for as you watch!
While you watch
- What contribution did Eunice Foote make to understanding climate change?
- What is the greenhouse effect?
- What has changed about Earth’s average temperature in the last 200 years? Why has this changed?
- What’s the difference between weather and climate?
- What are some impacts of climate change mentioned in this video?
After you watch
- This video mentions that, while climate change will affect us all, we will experience its impacts unequally. What types of communities or people do you think are most vulnerable to the types of climate change impacts listed in this video?
Article
The global scientific community agrees that climate change is happening, and it’s caused by human activity. In this article, you’ll dig into four charts about global temperature anomaly, CO2 emissions, and the correlations between them.
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Note: For more detailed directions on reading charts, refer to A Guide to Reading Charts.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- According to Chart 1, how have global temperatures changed over the last 150 years?
- What is the most common greenhouse gas released by humans, and why is it a problem for climate change?
- When and why did human emissions of carbon dioxide begin increasing?
- What evidence does Chart 3 provide to show that human emissions of carbon dioxide are significant?
- According to Chart 4, what do we learn when we compare the two types of data in this article (global temperature anomaly and CO2 concentrations in Earth’s atmosphere)?
Evaluate
- CO2 levels and global temperatures are only two types of evidence that can help us see the reality of climate change. What are some other types of evidence you can think of? How would you combine that evidence with the evidence in this article to build an even stronger case for the reality of human-caused climate change?
Use the activity below and the claim cards to practice testing claims.
Activity
Developing claim-making skills will help you assess the claims you encounter and make stronger evidence-backed arguments of your own, which is something you’ll do throughout this course and in many areas of your life.
Activity
These claim cards accompany the activity above and will help you practice your claim testing skills.
Activity
Intuition. Authority. Logic. Evidence. These are valuable tools to help evaluate the statements that people make about climate change and the evidence they use to support them.
Closer
An elevator pitch is a brief description of an idea which can be shared quickly—and which convinces the listener. So, imagine you’re in an elevator and have only a minute to give your answer to the question: What is climate change?
Article
Eunice Newton Foote discovered that carbon dioxide traps and holds heat much more than other gases, proving what would become known as the greenhouse effect. However, during her lifetime, Eunice never received credit for her achievement.
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Observe
Skim the full comic, paying attention to things like prominent colors, shapes, and types of text and fonts. How do you know where to start and which direction to read? What’s in the gutters (the space between panels)? Who is the focus of the comic? What big questions do you have?
Understand
- What was remarkable about Eunice’s early life?
- What contributions did Eunice make beyond science?
- What was Eunice’s big discovery and how did she conduct her experiment?
- What happened to Eunice’s work after she conducted the experiment?
- How does the page's design, text, and illustrations contribute to your understanding of Eunice’s story?
Connect
- Did Eunice’s experiment contribute to our understanding of climate science? Provide one piece of evidence in favor and one piece of evidence against.