Day After Tomorrow

In this assignment you will see some possible future and some actual current effects of climate change.

Watch "The Day After Tomorrow" (2004).

Each group will be assigned one question each day from the following list. During the movie, all students take notes in their journal and underline the notes that have to do with their group's topic. At the end of each day, groups prepare and present a 2 minute skit (dialogue, play, re-enactment, or other creative presentation) communicating their question(s) and answers.

View student sample skits before beginning.

• Sample 1

• Sample 2

• Sample 3

Part 1:

• 1. Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) is a climatologist studying the effects of global warming. Why is he taking ice core samples from Antarctica? What does this have to do with global warming?

  2. The opening scene shows the collapse of a massive ice shelf (a floating glacier) in Antarctica. Has this really happened (research to find out)? How might it affect global sea levels?

  3. What does it mean for our climate to be in a fragile state? Is it realistic to think our climate is in a fragile state?

  4. What does burning fossil fuels have to do with global warming melting ice caps?

  5. At the meeting in India, Jack mentions how the climate is fragile but the vice-president states the economy is even more fragile. What is the difference between a fragile economy and a fragile climate?

  6. Should the vice-president have dismissed Jack’s claims because of the costs to fix the problems with global warming? What are some of the costs of global warming?

1. Jack talks a bit about what has led to climate change. What are some of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century?

2. Jack tries to get people to reduce the level of climate change. This requires an understanding of climate science, engineering, and human behavior. What do you think Jack should do to actually get people to change their decisions and activities?

Part 2:

• 1. What is happening in New York with the animals in the city? Why are all the birds in the city leaving? Why are the animals in the zoo going crazy?

  2. What are some signs of impending natural disasters? Do animals have a sixth sense which can predict natural disasters?

  3. In the movie, tornadoes whip through Los Angeles and flatten the city. New York City is engulfed by an enormous tidal wave and freezes, burying the city in ice. Could this really happen so quickly with these effects? Explain.

  4. Jack predicts the cause of this drastic climate shift is due to the disruption of the North Atlantic Current. What is the cause of this change in the current? Can this really happen so fast? Can one storm really create an ice age? Explain.

  5. The movie depicts a massive freeze sweeping across Europe and the northern United States, resulting in a mass migration to Mexico for survival. Is this how global warming is likely to develop? Why or why not? Why were people fleeing to Mexico in the first place? Did the president make the right decision to evacuate ONLY the southern states and leave the people behind in the northern states?

  6. Explain what happens in the “eye of the storm.” Why can you survive the eye of the storm if you are inside and have shelter but instantaneously freeze if you are outside? Is it realistic that the fire stayed lit in the library where Sam was and in the shelter where Jack was? (Think about what happened to the fuel in the helicopters in Scotland).

  7. Explain the following comment from the astronaut after the storm cleared: “Have you ever seen the air so clear?” What is the significance of this statement?

  8. Human activities have significantly altered Earth, sometimes damaging or destroying natural habitats and causing the extinction of species. What changes to Earth’s environments have had positive impacts? What changes to Earth's environments have had negative impacts?