Climate, an Ever-Changing Environment

Grade Level: 9-12 Subject: Science (for English Language Development Students) Prepared by: Tina Ornduff Overview and Purpose Identify relevant data for studying climate change and its effects. Understand difference between climate and weather. Provide examples of the influences of the greenhouse effect and possible global climate change on natural systems and recognize that the effects depend on the characteristics of the particular natural system and the scope, scale, and duration of the changes. Create visual examples of climate, weather

California Educational Standards Earth Science Standard: Earth Sciences E.4.c: Students know the different atmospheric gases that absorb the Earth's thermal radiation and the mechanism and significance of the greenhouse effect. ELD Standards Reading Comprehension (Early Advanced 9-12) Read and orally respond to familiar stories and other texts by answering factual comprehension questions about cause-and-effect relationships and by restating facts and details to clarify ideas. Explain how understanding of text is affected by patterns of organization, repetition of main ideas, syntax, and word choice. Writing (Early Advanced 9-12) Develop a clear thesis and support it by using analogies, quotations and facts appropriately. Listening and Speaking (Early Advanced 9-12) Demonstrate understanding of most idiomatic expressions by responding to such expressions and using them appropriately. Negotiate and initiate social conversations by questioning, restating, soliciting information, and paraphrasing communication of others.

Objectives Identify relevant data for studying climate change and its effects. Understand difference between climate and weather. Provide examples of the influences of the greenhouse effect and possible global climate change on natural systems and recognize that the effects depend on the characteristics of the particular natural system and the scope, scale, and duration of the changes. Create visual examples of climate, weather

Materials Needed projector

computers with Google Earth 6.0 or later installed key vocabulary map

Other Resources Watch YouTube video, Coping with Climate Change, narrated by Kofi Annan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIzUTAQbXgc

Turn on captioning and translate video into appropriate first language (L1) to support students learning. Read Google Earth Tutorials: http://www.google.com/earth/learn/

Activity and lesson information (PREPARATION) Before class, list all of the new vocabulary words on the board or on poster paper that will remain up until students have finished lesson. Review the vocabulary and the lesson together as a class. Ask for volunteers to read aloud. (do this for each day of the lesson). Make sure Google Earth is installed on all computers http://earth.google.com. Day before this lesson, have student explore Google Earth and become familiar with navigation, layers, and how to create a simple placemark. See http://www.google.com/earth/learn/ for more information and tutorials. Students can translate these pages into the L1 language by selecting preferred language from drop-down

menu in upper right-hand corner. Also, students can change language of Google Earth interface by selecting language in Google Earth preferences. (BUILDING BACKGROUND) Students will be put into pairs and will work on the same computer. English language learners with stronger skills will be paired with those students with weaker skills in reading and writing. Ask each group to share what they know about climate and weather and ask them to share something they know about weather and climate, until of the cluster diagram is filled out. Do this multiple times. Show examples of weather and climate in Google Earth and discuss the differences between the two. (COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT) Students will then be introduced to the lesson and assessment. Teacher will go over all concepts they will be receiving, and the steps in the assessment process (content created in Google Earth placemarks). Students can ask questions and clarify definitions. Lesson Procedure Distribute Key Unit Vocabulary and introduce new words to students as appropriate. Ask students: What do you know about climate? As students share their ideas, record their responses in Cluster Diagram or anticipatory chart. If students do not share the same terms weather and climate change, add these to the cluster diagram and ask students the connection between climate and weather? Weather is what is happening outside right now: snow, rain, sunshine, clouds. Climate represents meteorological factors (temperature, precipitation, humidity, atmospheric composition, and others) in a given region over a long period of time. A place that does not get much rain over many years has a dry climate; a place where it stays cold for most of the year has a cold climate. Ask students: What does climate change mean? Is it related to weather? (Climate change is a long-term, significant change in weather patterns. Changes in climate can bring about extreme changes in weather, such as heavy rainfall and flooding, heat waves, and other type of recordbreaking weather events.) Start Google Earth and project California. Ask students to identify key landforms and vegetated areas. Then, overlay the map of California from 18,000 Years ago and ask students, What differences do you see between the two maps? On the old map, snow covers the entire Sierra Nevada all the way to the valley floors; sea level is 394 feet lower; there are many large inland bodies of water; the region east of San Diego is lush with vegetation; and Bakersfield and the land east of Los Angeles appear to have some vegetation. Remove the old map overlay and notice no snow covers the mountains; sea levels are higher (SF Bay is filled with water, and the Channel Islands are smaller; and there is a high desert northeast of Los Angeles towards Las Vegas. Ask students:

What could have caused the changes in California that we can see on these maps? (Population, industrialization, and the climate changed.) If we traveled 18,000 years into the future and looked at a map of California and compared it to these maps, what do you think we would see? (more changes to population, new forms of industry, more indication that the climate has changed. Have students turn on the weather layer in Google Earth and zoom in to various location around the world. Have students record the weather details of various areas. Project Google Earth and review the parts of the natural system that work together to create climate. Point out and explain the following: Geosphere comprises all landmasses Hydrosphere comprises all waters Biosphere comprises all living organisms Atmosphere comprises all gases and particles suspended above Earths surface Geosphere and hydrosphere work together. Both the location of landmasses and the kinds of ocean currents that pass by them influence climate. The biosphere affects climate regions with more vegetation, such as forested areas, have more moderate average temperatures over time compared to areas with less vegetation. This uneven heating of Earths surfaces changes wind pattern, which influence climate.

Have students identify other examples of these areas using Google Earth themselves and create placemarks identifying each. Have students focus on the country where their family was from originally and compare to where they live now to make it culturally relevant. Lesson Closure After creating the first version of their placemarks, each team will present the examples they found about their country/region and compare it to California. Students will be expected to use the vocabulary learned for this lesson. Teams will also share ideas about climate, weather, climate changes and talk about how these ideas have been changed, reinforced, or altered as a result of their research. Team will have an opportunity to share content that is relevant to their culture and to their interests. RATIONALE FOR ADAPTED INSTRUCTIONAL strategies: By working in groups, students can build on each others strengths in reading and reading comprehension, and discuss as they read. Writing small amount of text used in the placemarks is not as overwhelming as writing a longer essay on the topic. Also, the teacher can monitor the teams writing process to where help is needed and if complex topics need to be explained further. She can then help them accordingly. Teamwork reduces anxiety that students often experiences when asked to write a long essay alone. Group presentations and discussions allow students to utilize verbal skills. By using Google Earth, the teacher can show visual examples of new terms and concepts and not just tell students about what they mean. They are real examples from California and from around the world. That makes the lesson culturally relevant. Students can utilize L1 language support in Google Earth and on Google Earth tutorial site, as well as use subtitles when watching video.

Verification: 1 2 3 4 Students will create short descriptions for the examples they create in Google Earth. Each placemark will have about one paragraph worth of content. Students will write journal entry reflecting their thoughts on video shown. They may share these thoughts with class. Teacher will review all journal entries. The teacher will review the content created by the teams, and comment on the strengths and areas for improvement. Teams will meet with the teacher to discuss their content, and have an opportunity to revise it. Students will be graded on content created, but also on the content and the grasp that the student has on the climate and weather concepts and how they apply to various areas on the planet. Proper vocabulary use in the paper will be also be a major consideration.

Key Vocabulary Absorption: The process of taking in and not reflecting something, such as a light ray or radiation. California Air Resources Board (ARB): The state agency that works with the public, the business sector, and local governments to protect the publics health, the economy, and the states ecological resources through the most cost-effective reduction of air pollution. Carbon footprint: The total amount of carbon gases produced directly and indirectly through human activities that use carbon-based fuels. Climate: The prevailing, average weather conditions influenced by temperature, precipitation, humidity, and other meteorological factors in a given region over a long period of time. GHG sink: Any process, activity, or reservoir that absorbs a greenhouse gas (GHG) from the atmosphere and stores it. GHG source: Any process, activity, or reservoir that releases a greenhouse gas (GHG) into the atmosphere. Global climate change: A long-term significant change in the Earths climatic patterns. Global warming: The gradual increase of average surface temperatures of Earth caused in

part by high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Greenhouse effect: The combined effect of certain gases in the atmosphere absorbing infrared and thermal radiation, affecting the overall temperature of Earth. Greenhouse gas (GHG): Any gas, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, chlorine, or methane, that absorbs infrared radiation in the atmosphere and contributes to the greenhouse effect. Infrared radiation: Electromagnetic radiation not visible to the eye (below red in the visible portion of the spectrum), measured as heat or thermal energy. Paleoclimatology: The study of past climate and its causes and effects. Proxy data: Information used in place of direct evidence to draw conclusions. Proxy data can include data from fossils, sediments, ice sheets, and tree rings. Reflection: The process of scattering or bouncing back something, such as a light ray or radiation. Thermal radiation: Electromagnetic radiation emitted as heat. Weather: The conditions in the atmosphere (temperature, moisture, wind, and other atmospheric conditions) at a given time and location. Map of California

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