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Activity 1: What do you know about climate change? ActivitySummaryThisfirstbrainstormingactivityisdesignedtoencouragestudentstoactivatetheirpriorknowledgeofclimatechangefromanobjectivepointofviewandtogetabetterunderstandingoftheoverallknowledgesharedbythegroup.Itisimportanttorememberthatwhilemorethan97%ofscientistswhopublishworkinacademicjournalsagreethatitishighlylikelythathumanactivityisresponsibleforglobalwarming(andthisnumbercontinuestorise),therewillalwaysbeskepticsandthosewhodenythisreality.Toseealistofscientificgroupsthatagreethathumansarecontributingtoglobalwarming,visittheNASA’sclimatechangewebsiteathttps://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/.Duration:60minutesLearningoutcomes

• Describethevariouswaysthathumanactivityandtechnologyimpactbothbalanceandinteractionsintheenvironment

• Describetheeffectofhumanactivityongreenhousegas(GHG)emissions

• Definethevocabularyassociatedwithclimatechange

Competencyoutcomes

• Criticalthinking• Research• Communication• Collaboration

Material:

q 3packsofstickynotesin3differentcolours(e.g.4green,4yellowand4redperstudent)q Sharpie-stylemarkers(1perstudent)q Climatechangeinfographicq AdaptingtoourChangingClimateinCanadaposter(alsoavailableontheNaturalResources

Canadawebsite>Climatechangepublications,athttp://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/earthsciences/images/assess/2016/adaptation_poster_e.jpg)

q ComputerwithInternetaccessandprojectorq Internetaccessforstudents(optional)q CopiesoftheStudentBLM:WhatareGreenhouseGases(GHG)andwhatdotheydo?

Whattodo:

1. Inordertohelpstudentsthinkobjectively,askthemthefollowingquestion:

Overthelastseveralyears,we’veseenthatwhiletherearemanypeoplewhoareconcernedaboutthealarmingeffectsofclimatechangeanditsimpactonourenvironment,othersstillarguethatclimatechangeisanexaggeratedphenomenonandthatthereisnoreasontopanic.Whatdoyouthinkaboutthis?

2. Inordertoanswerthisquestionindetail,studentsmustfirstanswerthequestion:Whatdoyouknowaboutclimatechange?(Itisimportantthattheygivetheirpersonalinterpretationsregardingwhattheyhaveseenorheardthemselves).

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3. Handout3to4stickynotesineachcolourtothestudentssothattheycannotedowneverythingthattheyhaveseenorheardaboutclimatechange.Theymaynotedownasmanystatementsaboutclimatechangeastheylike,butjustonestatementperstickynote:• Greenstickynotes:“factual”statements(withexplanationsastowhytheyhavenodoubtsabout

theirveracity);• Yellowstickynotes:statementsthattheyarenotsureaboutorwhichareunproven(with

explanations);and• Redstickynotes:statementsaboutthingstheyhaveseenorheardwhichtheybelievetobefalse

(withexplanations).

4. Dividethetableorwallintothreedistinctsections(columns:thegreencolumnshouldcontain"factualstatements",theyellowcolumn"unprovenstatements"andtheredcolumn"falsestatements").ExplaintothestudentsthattheycancomeupandsticktheirStickynotesintheappropriatecolumnoncethey’vefinishedwritingtheirclimatechangestatement.

5. Onceallstudentshavefinishedwritingdowntheirstatementsandhavestuckthestickynotesintheappropriatecolumns,takealookatthedistributionofthecoloursonthetableorwallandaskthestudentswhattheirfirstimpressionsare.• Aretheremoreyellow,greenorrednotes?• Whatdoyounotice?

6. Withthestudents,trytocreatenewcategoriesformorestickynotes(e.g.causes,effects,

consequences,actions).Assignafewstickynotestogroupsoftwostudentsandaskthemtoputthosenotesintodifferentcategories.

7. Askthemtotakeitinturnstoreadsomeoftheexplanationsgivenfortheclimatechangestatementsandinitiateaclassdiscussionregardingthevariousexplanationsthattheclasshascomeupwithforeachcategory(green,red,yellowstatements).

8. Inordertoconnectthestudents’explanationstocurrentinformationonclimatechange,handoutstudentnotebookstoeachstudent.Askthemtoeachnotedown1to2statementsineachcategorythattheywouldliketolearnmoreabout.

9. Tohelpthemwiththeirresearch,showthem:

• Thecollectionofinfographicsincludedinthiskit

• TheAdaptingtoourChangingClimateinCanadaposter(alsoavailableontheNaturalResourcesCanadawebsite>Climatechangepublications,athttp://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/earthsciences/images/assess/2016/adaptation_poster_e.jpg)

• Avideoillustratingwhatclimatechangeis,suchasHowdoesclimatechangeaffectbiodiversity?(CaliforniaAcademyofSciences)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFmovUAWQUQ

• ThewebsiteSkepticalScience(https://skepticalscience.com)whichexplorestheconceptsthatpeopleareskepticalabout.

• CopiesoftheStudentBLM:WhatareGreenhouseGases(GHG)andwhatdotheydo?

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10. Finally,askstudentsthefollowing:Basedonyourobservationsandexplanations,whatconclusionscanwecometo?

Howarefalsehoodsspread?TheSerengetiStrategy

Inthesamewaythatagrouplionswillattempttoisolateazebraontheoutskirtsofitsgroupsothattheycancaptureitmoreeasily,ascientistmaybetargetedbyindividualswhomobilizetheirresourcestoattackandweakenhimorher.Thefighttodefendthemselveswilltakeupalotofthescientist’senergyandresources.Thestrategysucceedsnotonlyinisolatingascientistfromhisorhercolleagues(easiertoattackanindividualthantoattackagroup),butalsoservesasawarningtootherscientistsseekingtomaketheirstudiespublic.ThisstrategyhasbeenusedtodiscreditRachelCarson(effectsofDDTontheenvironment)aswellasthescientistswhorevealedthetruthabouttheharmfuleffectsoftobaccoconsumption.

Mann,M.E.(2015).TheSerengetistrategy:Howspecialintereststrytointimidatescientists,andhowbesttofightback.BulletinoftheAtomicScientists,71(1),33-45.http://www.meteo.psu.edu/holocene/public_html/Mann/articles/articles/MannBullAtomSci15.pdf

ActivitydevelopedwithBeyondtheBlackboardEducationalConsulting©2017

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Activity1–StudentBLM:WhatareGreenhouseGases(GHG)andwhatdotheydo?

a) Lookatthepictureabove.Inyourownwords,describetheroleplayedbygreenhousegasesontheEarth.

b) AreGHGsgoodforlifeonEarthornot?Explain.

c) Researchthefollowinggreenhousegasesandnotewheretheycomefrom.

Naturalsources Man-made/anthropogenicsources(causedbyhumans)

Carbondioxide(CO2)

Methane(CH4)

Watervapour

Nitrousoxide(N20)

Chlorofluorocarbon(CFC)

Name:____________________________________________ Date:_____________________