Related: OLP#6: The ocean and humans are inextricably interconnected.
LESSON PLANS AND ACTIVITIES
Click on a lesson plan or activity name to learn more about it
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In this activity, students will be able to identify and explain at least three lines of evidence that suggest the Arctic climate is changing, identify and discuss at least three social, three economic and three environmental consequences expected as a result of Arctic climate change, identify at least three climate-related issues of concern to Arctic indigenous peoples, and identify at least three ways in which Arctic climate change is likely to affect the rest of the Earth’s ecosystems.
For more information:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov -
In this activity, students will be able to identify the natural processes that produce methane, describe where methane deposits are located in the Arctic region, explain how warmer climates may affect Arctic methane deposits, explain how the release of large volumes of methane might affect Earth’s climate, and describe how methane releases may have contributed to mass extinction events in Earth’s geologic history.
For more information:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov -
Students will describe how climate change is affecting sea ice, vegetation, and glaciers in the Arctic region, explain how changes in the Arctic climate can produce global impacts, and will be able to provide three examples of such impacts. Students will also explain how a given impact resulting from climate change may be considered ‘positive’ as well as ‘negative’, and will be able to provide at least one example of each.
Hands-on activity: Make a photocube showing changes in glaciers.For more information:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov -
Environmental Issues in the Polar Regions
/ National Geographic XpeditionsThe Polar Regions are frequently neglected in discussions of the environment, but they shouldn't be. The environment of the Polar Regions is particularly susceptible to human impacts such as pollution and the depletion of the ozone layer. Moreover, the effects of global warming on the Polar Regions are likely to have major repercussions in the rest of the world.
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Prince William's Oily Mess - A Tale of Recovery
/ NOAA Ocean Service EducationHow does an ecosystem recover from a major one-time insult such as an oil spill?
As you will learn from this Discovery Story, the answer is not simple. It isn't easy to determine whether a particular area of shoreline has recovered from oiling during a spill, or how to expect it to look when it has.
This lesson includes links to many other oil related lesson plans. For more about NOAA Ocean Service Education, see here: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/welcome.html
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Self Contained Gulf Oil Spill Kit
Cynthia Cudaback / The Ocean and YouA kit you can create to help your students understand the impacts of the Gulf Of Mexico oil spill. Easily contained in a box so clean up is easy...as compared to oil spills in real life! For more information, please see http://OceanAndYou.com
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Global Climate Change and Sea Level Rise
/ California Academy of SciencesStudents will learn via experimentation that ice formations on land will cause a rise in sea level when they melt, whereas ice formations on water will not cause a rise in sea level when they melt. Students will learn that ice is less dense than water and that ice displaces water equal to the mass of the ice. For more information: http://www.calacademy.org/teachers/
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Is Climate Change Good For Us?
/ Wild BCIn this activity students are encouraged to consider how climate change could impact them personally and how changes may affect their regions. Students will analyze the roles of organisms as part of interconnected food webs, populations, communities, and ecosystems, assess survival needs and interactions between organisms and the environment, assess the requirements for sustaining healthy local ecosystems evaluate human impacts on local ecosystems. For more information: http://wildbc.org/index.php/programs/climate-change-education/
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Climate Change Metaphors
/ Wild BCStudents will use and describe how a variety of objects provide metaphors for why climate change is occurring and the impacts resulting from it. Students will demonstrate the ability to interpret metaphors, describe the factors contributing to climate change and make connections between human behavior and environmental changes. For more information: http://wildbc.org/index.php/programs/climate-change-education/
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This group game is designed to help students explore the various aspects of global climate and to learn how human activity may affect climate. Student groups will be responsible for making decisions about activities that may impact global climate. Students will be able to identify the various human impacts on the environment. Students will be able to explain how lifestyles may be altered to become more favorable to the environment. Students will examine the role of individual decisions and their impact on the natural environment.
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This activity explores the potential for climate variability and change to trigger more frequent occurrences of El Nino, and the impacts that could result. Students will access information at remote sites using telecommunications. Students will identify impacts by reviewing past El Nino events. Students will analyze the data collected and predict what the consequences could be if, as some scientists predict, climate variability and change could create a permanent El Nino.
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Global Warming Wheel Card Activity
EPA / Environmental Protection AgencyStudents will be introduced to the concept of climate change and the greenhouse effect. Students will learn the common sources of greenhouse gas emissions that humans generate. Students will create a Global Warming Wheel Card which will enable them to see how their own actions generate greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to global warming. Students will learn ways that they might reduce their individual, family, school and community’s production of these gases. For more information:
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This lesson uses the habitat of the Beaufort Sea and other Arctic communities as examples of Ocean Literacy Principles #5 and #6. Students will learn about the adaptive capabilities of animals and people living in these environments. Students will look at recent climate changes, study the effects of global warming on polar regions such as the Beaufort Sea area, and ultimately understand the interconnectedness of life in these regions with life around the world.
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Where Does it Live, and What Does it Eat?
Susan Leach-Snyder / Currents, National Marine Educators AssociationStudents research the habitat and food of organisms living in a mangrove estuary, illustrate where mangrove organisms live and diagram a mangrove estuary food web.
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The Good the Bad and the Arctic
/ NOAA Ocean ExplorerStudents identify and explain three lines of evidence that suggest arctic climate is changing. Students identify and discuss three social, economic, environmental consequences expected due to climate change in Arctic. Students identify three climate-related issues of concern to Arctic indigenous peoples. Students identify three ways in which Arctic climate change is likely to affect the rest of the Earth’s ecosystems.
For more information:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov.
