Climate and Human History Lesson Plan
1CLIMATE AND HUMAN HISTORY LESSON PLANFor millennia, Earth’s climate controlled humanity’s existence. Eventually the human ability to innovate switched the dynamic and caused significant changes to our planet. Explore the complex and interconnected history of our species and our environment in these resources. OverviewLength: Three lessons. Each lesson should take two or three days. Learning Objectives• Learn about the characteristics of foraging communities and early cities and states and how the environment played a role in this way of life.• Understand and evaluate human migration patterns.• Assess the origins of industrialization including the use of fossil fuels to power innovation.• Investigate the causes and impacts of climate change.• Use close-reading skills to learn about the connections between climate and human history.• Analyze historical data and trends that demonstrate climate change over time.• Investigate the future impact of climate change on health, jobs, and human systems.
2Lesson 1: Human Adaptation and Impacts Lesson objective:• Learn about the characteristics of foraging communities and early cities and states and how the environment played a role in this way of life.• Understand and evaluate human migration patterns.• Use close-reading skills to learn about the connections between climate and human history.Description:Learn about the climate’s influence on how early humans adapted to challenging environments, leading to migration, cities, and agriculture. Opener: Foraging SimulationThis simulation is meant to show students that foraging for food sometimes became more difficult over time as naturally occurring resources were used up faster than they were replenished.Article: “Human Communities Populate the Earth”Homo sapiens spent many years as foraging nomads in Africa but eventually—possibly due to such factors as climate changes, curiosity, and conflict between communities— our ancestors began to migrate out of the continent. This movement impacted both communities themselves as well as the new environments these early humans encountered. For additional teaching support, including key idea questions, click here (log-in required).Activity: When Did Humans Get to the Americas?Evaluate a number of theories about when humans first migrated to the Americas to understand that climate played a role in these early migrations and learn that even with research from multiple disciplines, much of history remains a mystery.Video: Where and Why Did the First Cities and States Appear?Complex agrarian societies stimulated humans to develop a whole new array of solutions to the challenges posed by living in larger and denser human communities and all of these adaptations have contributed to the acceleration of collective learning. For additional teaching support, including key idea questions, click here(log-in required).Prehistoric rock paintings © Getty
3Closer: Making Claims—Foraging vs. FarmingThis closing activity asks students to make two claims about foraging vs. farming. These will likely be claims that compare different aspects of foraging and farming. For each claim they must find two pieces of evidence that support it.Additional Materials: • Video: Written in Stone: Petroglyphs • Article: “Foraging Communities and Networks” • Video: Why Was Agriculture So Important?• Article: “The First Farmers in Africa, the Cradle of Humanity”• Activity: Marketing 101—Forage or Farm?A selection of Human Adaptation and Impacts lesson plan materials
4Lesson 2: Human Innovation and a Changing ClimateLesson objective:• Assess the origins of industrialization including the use of fossil fuels to power innovation.• Investigate the causes and impacts of climate change.• Analyze historical data and trends that demonstrate climate change over time.Description:Explore how the discovery and adoption of new technologies impacted the human-climate relationship and caused the climate to change. Opener: Our Interconnected WorldWitness the global interconnectedness that exists in the world today, with a specific focus on networks of exchange and production and distribution. Video: Origins of the Industrial RevolutionThe Industrial Revolution transformed life on Earth more than any event since the Agricultural Revolution. In this video, Nick Dennis explores how industrialization changed our lives and why it started in Britain. For additional teaching support, including key idea questions, click here (log-in required).Data Exploration: How Do We Know Climate Change Is Real? In this article, students will dig into four charts about global temperature anomaly, CO2 emissions, and the correlations between them. For additional teaching support, including key idea questions, click here(log-in required).Activity: Climate Change Impacts ProfilesIn this activity, students will explore the impacts of climate change through the profiles of four individuals in different regions of the world. For additional teaching support, including sample answers, click here(log-in required).Closer: Climate Impact Journal EntryThis brief writing activity will help students reflect on what they’ve learned and how the impacts of climate change affect them and their community.California Western Railroad #45steam locomotive. By R.A. Sallinen III, CC BY-SA 3.0.
5Additional Materials: • Activity: Images of the Industrial Revolution• Article: “The Global Transformations of the Industrial Revolution”• Graphic Biography: Iwasaki Yatarō• Activity: Contextualization—How Was Industrialization Possible?• Infographic: Small Parts, Big Impacts• Video: Understanding the Impacts of Climate ChangeA selection of Human Innovation and a Changing Climate lesson plan materials
6Lesson 3: Envisioning a Climate Future Lesson objective:• Analyze historical data and trends that demonstrate climate change over time.• Investigate the impact of climate change on health, jobs, and human systems in the future.Description:Discover the choices that will determine the future of our relationship to the climate, and learn how to remain optimistic in the face of challenges.For additional teaching support, including key idea questions and sample answers, click here (log-in required). Opener: Climate Careers ExplorationIn this activity, students will explore different careers and choose one they might pursue to help us achieve our climate goals.Article: “Envisioning a Climate Future”Students explore the ways our health, our jobs, and the systems we use to manage a complex world will shift in a future with climate change, and learn about what we can do to create the future we want to inhabit.Activity: Climate Expert ExplorationThis activity will help students consider their own interests and skills as they explore the work of different climate experts. Click here to access the accompanying graphic biographies and career chart for this activity. Closer: Making PredictionsIn this quick closer activity, students will use the information they’ve gathered to make informed predictions for what a future with climate change might hold.Solar thermal power station, Dunhuang, Gansu Province, China. © Getty
7Additional Materials: • Article:“How Can We Take On Climate Change?”• Activity: Exploring Climate Solutions• Infographic:Resilient Cities• Article: “The Solutions We Have and the Innovations We Need”• Video: The Need for Climate Innovators• Video: How Can We Respond to Climate Change?A selection of Envisioning a Climate Future lesson plan materials