Final Project

I will be teaching a 7 week long course titled “Environmental Science” this spring (Feb-April), and intend to incorporate the digital resources listed below.  I provide some explanation (rational) for using them, along with the connection to my students.  My goal is to make the class as relevant and meaningful to them as I can, while perhaps opening their eyes (somewhat, at least) to the impact(s) we are having on the world around us, much like what this course taught me.  I don’t go into great lesson plan detail, but rather provide a summary of each of the digital resources.  My intention for integrating Alaska Native ways of knowing is to make the class materials/resources as real for my students as possible. 

I will begin the unit with this essential question: “What Will It Take To Make You Change?” which originates from the linked website where the same question was asked of the public.  I’d like to start my unit with this open-ended question & have my students ponder it for the next 7 weeks.

First we will view “Earth as a System” TD video, which will introduce my students to Earth’s integrated system of components and processes, setting the framework for what is to come.

Next, I hope to inspire my students with the YouTube Symphony of Science “We Are All Connected” video.  I am so visual and this just had my brain firing at all synapses, so I am hopeful it will have a similar impact on my kids.  Some things just hit a nerve and this is one; I really look forward to using it in my classroom.

In going more in-depth, we’ll delve first into the subject of greenhouse gases:

The TD video, Global Warming, The Physics of the Greenhouse Effect starts with a question that permeates on the Kenai Peninsula: “Why should adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere be cause for alarm?”  This is the kind of question many of my students ask when the subject of global warming comes up, so I think it’s a good beginning for the unit.

The car analogy for greenhouse gases in the TD video Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect is a great demonstration—I think it would be a helpful example for students to better understand how greenhouse gases really do have an effect.  We all hate being in an unconditioned car on a hot sunny day with the windows rolled up! 

The Nova/Frontline video clip from TD, Global Warming: Carbon Dioxide and the Greenhouse Effect really made an impact with me.  A gallon of gasoline that I burn will spread throughout the entire atmosphere and show up all the way in Antarctica by next year.  What a staggering statement!  And it sticks around in the atmosphere for about a hundred years.  Then it gets absorbed into the ocean—and we know what carbon dioxide is doing there: ocean acidification.  I will offer time for discussion following this clip, so students can really process their impact.  We’ll ponder what emissions we contributed just in the last few hours:  driving or busing to school, etc., as well as days: snowmachining, flying, burning wood, etc.

The Oceans of Climate Change balloon popping video offers a great example of a classroom demo that would be easy to emulate—not much in the way of materials (costs) and yet provides a very clear explanation & visualization of the difference in heat capacity between water and air.  I’ll probably show the YouTube video first, then follow it up with an actual class demonstration (because it’s only a little messy & will leave a lasting impression!).  It will provide a nice segue into our next study. 

Next we’ll explore Water (both liquid & frozen), beginning with utilizing the USGS fill-in-the-blank questions “A drop in the bucket” and “1000 snow flakes.”  These would each make for good introductions to the lesson (“anticipatory sets”):

How much of Earth's water is in the ocean? How much is fresh? How much is in the atmosphere? How much is in lakes, rivers, or underground? How much of Earth's fresh water is stored frozen as permafrost and glaciers?


A Drop in the Bucket
How would you estimate the planet's supply of water is distributed if it were reduced to 1000 drops. Give a try before you peek!

• _____ drops are in the oceans and inland seas
• _____ drops are in glaciers
• _____ drops are in ground water and soil moisture
• _____ drops are in the atmosphere
• _____ drops are in lakes and rivers
• _____ drops are in all living plants and animals
• 1000 drops total.

(Find answers at USGS,Water on Earth)

1000 Snow Flakes
More than 2/3 of all fresh water on Earth is stored in glaciers. If all present glaciers were represented by 1000 ice snow flakes, how would you estimate the distribution of glaciers on Earth? Give a try before you peek!

• _____snow flakes in Antarctica
• _____snow flakes in Greenland
• _____snow flakes in N. America
• _____snow flakes in Alaska
• _____snow flakes are in Asia
• _____snow flakes in S. America, Europe, Africa, New Zealand, etc., etc.
• 1000 snow flakes total

(Find answers at USGS, Introduction to Glaciers)

I like the “Documenting Glacial Change” screen of actual pictures to compare glaciers now and then—WOW!  It’s remarkable how different and even absent some glaciers are in a relatively short period of time. 

I will then incorporate the “Phun Physics of Phase Change Lab” as it demonstrates all too well what will happen if we lose our Arctic ice.  I also want to use Clay’s analogy from Module VIII:

Our planet uses many of the same tricks that over-heated humans use to cool off. Our circulatory system is like the great ocean currents moving our excess heat to cooler places. We mist and fan ourselves, put on a white shirt and white broad-brimmed hat, or we head for the shade.

Arctic Climate Systems video elaborates quite a bit on the possible outcomes of global climate change into the future, providing some interesting scenarios: significant melting of permafrost causing a “burp” of greenhouse gases, permanent alteration to or even halting the ocean’s currents,  etc.  Each of the TD videos thus far has mentioned the impact to animals (i.e. polar bears need the sea ice to hunt for food) over and over again, but this video actually went into depth about the possible (catastrophic) effects to Earth’s systems in far more detail, which I appreciate, and I think my students will, too.  I’d like to end this topic with a table discussion where paper strips are randomly drawn with each of the above mentioned global climate change outcomes for students to then debate/discuss/consider with one another through dialog.

TD video “How the Arctic Ecosystem Might Change” helped me realize how a system with low biodiversity such as the Arctic really cannot bounce back from change the way a biodiverse system can—that it’s fragile.  I hadn’t really considered the Arctic food chain before, but now in considering it for the first time I can see just how few species do rely on each other for food, so with even a slight change, it can be catastrophic to the ecosystem, and I want to share this perspective with my students.  By now everyone is aware of polar bears losing their habitat.  But the ramifications to this ecosystem can be catastrophic, and I want to be sure they are made aware of this.

And, I have to finish with viewing: The methane lighting on lakes, because what kid wouldn’t pay attention to this?!  I’m curious to learn if any of my students have ever had such an opportunity to experience methane lighting on a lake in Northern Alaska. . .

In wrapping up the unit we will revisit our essential question “What Will It Take To Make You Change?” and I look forward to hearing some articulate answers (regardless of the change or not).  I am undecided what method I will have my students use to respond to the essential question—written, verbal, I’m not sure; perhaps an individual speech (no pressure there! Ha!).  I guess I have time still to decide.  I will also replay the YouTube Symphony of Science “We Are All Connected” video, because in watching it again myself, I find it has a nice concluding message to leave everyone with.