3 (4 reviews)
1 Used Flash
Reviewed by: Teresa P (Wrightstown, NJ) on 12/7/2022 10:02:21 AM
No longer works, is this going to be updated?
Through a simple interactive online model, students learn about the relationship between carbon dioxide emissions, carbon dioxide buildup in the atmosphere, and average global temperature. The simulation predicts changes throughout the 21st century based on the level of carbon dioxide emissions chosen by the students. They develop and test a scenario using the model and read and interpret the graphs produced by the simulation. The model doesn’t address other factors related to global climate change (hence the very, very simple model).
MS-ESS3-5 Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century. Clarification Statement: Examples of factors include human activities (such as fossil fuel combustion, cement production, and agricultural activity) and natural processes (such as changes in incoming solar radiation or volcanic activity). Examples of evidence can include tables, graphs, and maps of global and regional temperatures, atmospheric levels of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, and the rates of human activities. Emphasis is on the major role that human activities play in causing the rise in global temperatures. Assessment Boundary: none
This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this performance expectation.
Comments about Including the Performance Expectation In Part 1 of this activity, students read an article and examine a graph showing global surface temperature trends over the last century as well as future predictions. They read about climate models as well as levels of accuracy and uncertainty in such models. In Part 2, students learn about the relationship between carbon dioxide emissions, carbon dioxide buildup in the atmosphere, and average global temperature using an interactive simulation. They test different scenarios of climate change by changing the amount of carbon dioxide emissions per year. To more fully address the PE, students should be encouraged to ask questions about the sources of the carbon dioxide and whether other gases in the atmosphere also play a role. Questions should also be asked about decreasing carbon emissions and why CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere continue to rise if the same amount is emitted each year. Sources of greenhouse gases are shown in a pie chart in a link provided in part 2 -(http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/interior/greenhouse_effect.html), but it doesn’t address all the factors. Links to other webpages are available on the Windows 2 Universe website that explore other factors as other greenhouse gases being emitted, the cutting down of rainforests, etc.
This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this science and engineering practice.
Comments about Including the Science and Engineering Practice Students examine the impact of carbon dioxide on Earth’s average temperatures using a simulation. To fully meet the practice, they would need to examine sources of other greenhouse gases and other qualitative factors in climate change such as the impact of oceans on temperature, increasing human population, and so on. The website contains many links to informative pages that address these factors.
This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this disciplinary core idea.
Comments about Including the Disciplinary Core Idea Part 1 of the activity addresses human activities, greenhouse gases and the rise in Earth’s global temperatures. In Part 2, students can manipulate the level of carbon dioxide emissions and see the resulting changes in Earth’s mean surface temperature. Actions that reduce the level of climate change and human vulnerability are addressed in links provided on the Windows2Universe website. Teachers may want to become familiar with the website prior to the lesson so students can be guided to links that focus on this Disciplinary Core Idea. A link to “Energy Choices and Climate Change” addresses the application of knowledge of climate change.
This resource is explicitly designed to build towards this crosscutting concept.
Comments about Including the Crosscutting Concept The cause and effect relationship between the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (a natural system) and the average global temperature is the focus of the interactive simulation and the readings. There are multiple causes of changes in average global temperature; this lesson focuses on carbon dioxide concentrations to simplify the model, but the teacher could lead the students to the exploration of the causes of carbon dioxide emissions, other greenhouse gases, and other possible factors involved in the phenomena of global temperature change. Discussions can also focus on the probability of various scenarios.