Curriculum Paper- Climate Change Through TIme

Title of Lesson: Present Day Climate (Science)

Main Idea: Have the students talk about their lives in their homes, in their own neighborhoods, and their lives at school from an environmental standpoint.

Objectives:

1. To teach 5th graders about climate change and what they are presently seeing
2. Develop student’s critical thinking
3. Have students demonstrate their ability to discuss environmental changes they see in their neighborhoods
4. Develop students’ research skills

Materials: Poster board and markers.

Activity: For this lesson, the teacher will start out by asking the students what causes the planet to heat up. The students will list all of the causes that lead to the planet warming. After all students have written something on the board the teacher will ask them if they see any connections and if they do to draw a line connecting them.

Homework: Students will conduct research on a location that they have never been before, whether it is in another country or another state. After choosing their location they will conduct research on the climate of that area and how many natural disasters occur in that location.

Title of Lesson: Present Day Climate (Art)

Main Idea: Have the students create art projects that depict climate change affecting different locations that they live in or interact with as well as depicting other locations.

Objectives:

1.   Develop creative skills

2.   Developing artistic skills

3.   Developing ways to depict climate change through art

Materials: Plain white paper, construction paper, scissors, glue, tape, crayons, markers, colored pencils, rulers, and any other material the students would like to use.

Activity: For this lesson, the teacher will tell the students to draw a picture of their home and what sort of things surround their home. Next they will make a drawing of their neighborhood and put in the different buildings that help them remember their neighborhood. Next they will make a drawing of their school and what surrounds their school. Based on the different drawings and what the students put in them the following questions can be asked to the students:

1. Why did you choose to put those buildings in there?
2. Can you describe the air quality in one of the locations that you drew?
3. Why did you choose those particular colors?
4. What are the most important aspects of your drawings?
5. What’s your favorite drawing and why?

After the questions the teacher should split the students up into groups of two and have the students compare and contrast their artworks.

Assessment: After completing their drawings and sharing them with another student, the students will share with the rest of the classroom what they learned about the other person and the environments that they live in.

Homework: Students will choose a location that they haven’t been to and complete a drawing of it. It can range from drawing a city they have never been to, a mountain top, an island, etc. This will determine how well the students can represent a place they have never seen before. 

Title of Lesson: Present Day Climate (Writing)

Main Idea: Have students write about their homes, neighborhoods, etc. Especially by looking into the five senses.

Objectives:

1.   Develop students’ writing

2.   Demonstrate the importance of observation

Materials: Notebooks, pencils, and pens. Part of the activity will take place outside.

Activity: For this lesson, the teacher will start out by having the students write about their homes and neighborhoods. They will answer the following questions:

1.   What do you do when you are at home and in your neighborhood?

2.   What do you smell in your home and your neighborhood?

3.   What kind of sounds do you hear throughout your home and neighborhood?

4.   What kind of food reminds you of your home and your neighborhood?

5.    Do you feel that you can explore your home and neighborhood?

After that exercise have the students go outside the school. The teacher should just tell the students to journal about anything. Give them some freedom the choose what they want to write about whether it’s about what they are seeing or if they write a poem about how they are feeling at the moment.

Assessment: After completing their journaling outside have the students come back into the classroom and share what they wrote about outside. See if any students had similar things written down in their journals.

Homework: Students should choose a different location and write about it. Have them try to envision the new location. What sort of things will they hear, see, smell, feel? What types of foods will be popular in that area. This should be in the form of an essay. It will be graded based on how well they followed the assignment, spelling, and grammar.

Title of Lesson: Past Climate (Science)

Main Idea: Have the students talk about their lives in their homes, in their own neighborhoods, and their lives at school from an environmental standpoint. Specifically look into what the past climate looked like.

Objectives:

1.   To teach 5th graders about climate change

2.   Develop student’s critical thinking

3.   Have students demonstrate their ability to discuss environmental changes they see in their neighborhoods

4.   Develop students’ research skills by learning about past environments

Materials: Poster board and markers. Use of a computer.

Activity: For this lesson, the teacher will start out by having the students go to a computer lab to conduct research on past environments. They will research what Camden/area of Camden and their home environment was like 50 years ago, 100 years ago, and 1,000 years ago. They will be keeping the following questions in mind: 

1.   What exists in the world now that didn’t exist 50/100/1000 years ago?

2.   What was the temperature like 50/100/1000 years ago?

3.   What was the landscape like 50/100/1000 years ago?

After completing their research on past environments the students will then create a poster board to demonstrate what they learned from their research.

Assessment: After the students complete their posters they will then share them with the rest of the class. 

Homework: Students will conduct research on a location that they have never been before, whether it is in another country or another state. After choosing their location they will conduct research on the climate of that area 50 years ago, 100 years ago, and 1000 years ago. If the students wish to choose the same location as their present day assignment they are allowed to do so. 

Title of Lesson: Past Climate (Art)

Main Idea: Have the students create art projects that depict climate change affecting different locations from the past.

Objectives:

1.   Develop creative skills

2.   Developing artistic skills

3.   Developing ways to depict climate change through art

4.   Demonstrate their ability to take a text (such as research) and turn it into a creative piece

Materials: Plain white paper, construction paper, scissors, glue, tape, crayons, markers, colored pencils, rulers, and any other material the students would like to use.

Activity: For this lesson, the teacher will tell the students to draw a picture of what their home would look like 50 years ago, 100 years ago, and 1000 years ago. What sort of things would surround their home? What would the environment look like? Based on the drawings and what the students put in them the following questions can be asked to the students:

1. Why did you choose to put in certain details?
2. Can you describe what the air quality might have been?
3. Why did you choose those particular colors?
4. What are the most important aspects of your drawings?
5. Can you see distinct differences between your three drawings?

After the questions the teacher should split the students up into groups of two and have the students compare and contrast their artworks.

Assessment: After completing their drawings and sharing them with another student, the students will share with the entire classroom what they learned about the other person and the environments that they live in.

Homework: Students will choose a location that they haven’t been to and complete a drawing of it. They will then create three different drawings. One for 50 years ago, one for 100 years ago, and one for 1000 years ago. For extra credit then can complete a fourth drawing that depicts a later era (for example 1 million years ago). They need to keep in mind the questions that were brought up after they completed the last set of drawings they did in class.

Title of Lesson: Past Climate (Writing)

Main Idea: Have students write about their homes, neighborhoods, etc and what they were like 50 years ago, 100 years ago, and 1000 years ago. They should be think about the five senses and how they are incorporated in the past.

Objectives:

1.   Develop students’ writing

2.   Demonstrate the importance of observation

3.   Develop research skills

Materials: Notebooks, pencils, and pens. Part of the activity will take place in a computer lab.

Activity: For this lesson, the teacher will start out by having the students write about their homes and neighborhoods and what they would look like in the past. They will answer the following questions:

1.   What do you think your home and neighborhood would have looked like 50/100/1000 years ago?

2.   What kinds of smells would there be?

3.   What would you hear?

4.   What food would have been around? Would you have eaten any of the food?

5.   Do you feel that you could explore the area? Would it have been safe?

After that exercise have the students conduct research on those same questions. The students will compare what they thought and the realistic answers to those questions.

Assessment: After completing their drawings and sharing them with another student, the students will share with the entire classroom what they learned about the other person and the environments that they live in.

Homework: Students should choose a different location and write about it. Have them try to envision the new location and what it would have looked like 50 years ago, 100 years ago, and 1000 years ago. What sort of things would they have heard, saw, smelled, felt? What types of foods would have been popular/around in that area. This should be in the form of an essay. It will be graded based on how well they followed the assignment, spelling, and grammar.

Title of Lesson: Future Climate (Science)

Main Idea: Have the students talk about their lives in their homes, in their own neighborhoods, and their lives at school from an environmental standpoint and how they will look in the future.

Objectives:

1.   To teach 5th graders about climate change

2.   Develop student’s critical thinking

3.   Have students demonstrate their ability to discuss environmental changes they see in their neighborhoods

4.   Demonstrate how they could predict the future of our climate

Materials: Poster board and markers. Use of a computer.

Activity: For this lesson, the teacher will present the hockey stick graph about climate change and show the students where we are on the timescale. Then have the students each write something on the poster board about what they think they will see in the future. For example, still having high CO2 levels in the atmosphere or more cars being used. They will be keeping the following questions in mind: 

1.   What exists in the world now that you will see in 50 years, 100 years, 1000 years?

2.   What do you think the temperature will be like in 50 years, 100 years, 1000 years?

3.   How do you think the landscape will differ in 50 years, 100 years, 1000 years?

Assessment: After the students complete their postings on the poster board they should have a discussion about why they chose to write certain things on the poster board. How can we eliminate some of the hazards that we will see in the future of Camden?

Homework: Students will conduct research on a location that they have never been before, whether it is in another country or another state. After choosing their location they will conduct research on what the climate of that area will be like in 50 years, 100 years, and 1000 years. If the students wish to choose the same location as their present day assignment they are allowed to do so.

Title of Lesson: Future Climate (Art)

Main Idea: Have the students create art projects that depict climate change affecting different locations in the future.

Objectives:

1.   Develop creative skills

2.   Developing artistic skills

3.   Developing ways to depict climate change through art

4.   Demonstrate their ability to take a text (such as research) and turn it into a creative piece

Materials: Plain white paper, construction paper, scissors, glue, tape, crayons, markers, colored pencils, rulers, and any other material the students would like to use.

Activity: For this lesson, the teacher will tell the students to draw a picture of what their home would look like 50 years from now, 100 years from now, and 1000 years from now. What sort of things would surround their home? What would the environment look like? Based on the drawings and what the students put in them the following questions can be asked to the students:

1. Why did you choose to put in certain details?
2. Can you describe what the air quality might be like?
3. Why did you choose those particular colors?
4. What are the most important aspects of your drawings?
5. Can you see distinct differences between your three drawings?

After the questions the teacher should split the students up into groups of two and have the students compare and contrast their artworks.

Assessment: After completing their drawings and sharing them with another student, the students will share with the entire classroom what they learned about the other person and what their environments will look like.

Homework: Students will choose a location that they haven’t been to and complete a drawing of it. They will then create three different drawings. One for 50 years from now, one for 100 years from now, and one for 1000 years from now. They need to keep in mind the questions that were brought up after they completed the last set of drawings they did in class. What will the environments look like in the future? Will the world be declining or rising from where it is today?

Title of Lesson: Future Climate (Writing)

Main Idea: Have students write about their homes, neighborhoods, etc and what they were like 50 years from now, 100 years from now, and 1000 years from now. They should be think about the five senses and how they will be incorporated in the future.

Objectives:

1.   Develop students’ writing

2.   Demonstrate the importance of observation

3.   Develop research skills

4.   Develop interpretation and imagination skills

Materials: Notebooks, pencils, and pens. Part of the activity will take place outside.

Activity: For this lesson, the teacher will start out by having the students write about their homes and neighborhoods and what they would look like in the future. The students can go to a local park outside to write to give them inspiration and freedom. They will answer the following questions:

1.   What do you think your home and neighborhood will look like 50/100/1000 years from now?

2.   What kinds of smells would there be?

3.   What would you hear?

4.   What would food be like? More processed food or will there still be farms?

5.   Would it be safe?

Assessment: After completing their journal entries the students will share them with the rest of the class. After everyone has shared the teacher will give a presentation on realistically what the future will look like if we continue at the rate that we are going. Then the teacher can have a discussion with the students about ways in which they can help the planet now, which will make the planet better for the future.

Homework: Students should choose a different location and write about it. Have them try to envision the new location and what it look like 50 years from now, 100 years from now, and 1000 years from now. What sorts of things would they hear, see, smell, feel? What types of foods would be popular/around in that area. This should be in the form of an essay. It will be graded based on how well they followed the assignment, spelling, and grammar.