ONE WEEK:
- Opening → What is weather vs. what is climate?
- 3/21 Activity #1: Glaciers Now and Then
- In groups of 3-4, students get 26 images of glaciers.
- They try to pair up the before and after photos.
- Students summarize what they observed
- How many glaciers grew? Retreated?
- What do you think has caused this?
- What is your prediction for the future?
- 3/21-3/23 Activity #2: Looking at Real Data
- GET DOCUMENT
- Students will open the temperature data set for their class.
- What does this data say? Is it easy to read?
- What questions might we want to ask?
- How can we organize the data?
- Students choose one area at which to compare
- Location to location over time
- Period to period over time
- Predict what your results might show.
- Graph the data on the computer.
- Correct titles, labels, etc...
- Analyze the graph
- What does your graph show you?
- Do you see any trends?
- How might this data set continue?
- Is there a relationship between time of the year and temperature?
- What is this relationship? (Increasing, decreasing, a combination of both? --- be specific)
- Is there a relationship from day to day?
- 3/23- 3/28 Assessment: Is Climate Change Happening? How Do We Know?
- Students brainstorm a list of information that could be collected to help us learn whether the climate is changing or not.
- In small groups students will investigate one of six data sets to learn if changes have occurred. Data sets can be found here...
- Each group will:
- Graph data over time and add trendlines.
- Interpret and compare the data among two to five locations (based on group size).
- As a group, write a sentence describing the pattern over time for each location.
- Each individual will:
- GRAPHIC ORGANIZER
- Write an analysis of the data investigated.
- Factor → What factor did you investigate?
- Prediction → What did you predict you would find?
- Results → Include the graph and analysis from the group work.
- Conclusion explaining how our climate is changing. Include specific data to support your claim as well as a brief discussion about how scientists (and you) came to your conclusions.
- Prediction → Include an explanation of how the future might look if the pattern you found continues. What might change? How long will it take? What are the implications for this change (in other words why is this good or bad?)
- Extra → Include an explanation of how the data you have can be interpreted in different ways. Can it be used to support the argument that climate is happening? Can it be used to support the argument the climate change is not happening?