From Awareness to Action

Transcription

1 Overview Students may have a hard time making sense of environmental problems far away as they impact them in their lives. This lesson looks at the impacts of climate change on ecosystems around the world and from a local urban perspective. It asks students to consider their day-to-day habits in the city and what it really means globally to act locally. Objectives Students will: 1. Determine how global climate change will affect other organisms adaptive capacity. 2. Determine how global climate change will affect people in cities. 3. Calculate their personal role in global climate change. 4. Take action to mitigate our personal global impact. Human Cities Lesson 4 From Awareness to Action By Kerry G. Williams SUBJECTS Environmental Science Social Science Materials and Resources Setting Time Needed Class set of laptops Printed homework articles Teacher-created action project rubric Anticipated materials for action project (colored pencils, poster paper, etc.) Copies of students home utility bill Access to the EPA s Climate Change Facts: Answers to Common Questions. Classroom 2 Hours Community & Sustainability Glossary Terms: Adaptive Capacity -- The capacity of a system to adapt if the environment where the system exists is changing. The term is applied to ecological systems and human social systems. As applied to ecological systems, the adaptive capacity is determined by: Genetic diversity of species. Biodiversity of particular ecosystems. Heterogeneous ecosystem mosaics as applied to specific landscapes or biome regions. As applied to human social systems, the adaptive capacity is determined by: The ability of institutions and networks to learn and to store knowledge and experience. Creative flexibility in decision making and problem solving. Power structures that are responsive and consider the needs of all stakeholders. 105

2 Background Information This lesson is one in a series of lessons designed to answer the driving question, How does a constantly changing planet sustain life? and How does a constantly changing city sustain its citizens with minimal environmental impact? These driving questions provides a cohesiveness and overarching focus. This lesson specifically answers the third subquestion in the unit How do human activities affect the Earth s ability to sustain life? The lesson was intended for a two-hour block, but can be modified to accommodate a traditional schedule. This lesson follows one that included the term adaptive capacity, and the term is used again in a follow-up lesson (not included in this anthology) for continual reinforcement. Before this lesson, it is very important to make sure that students have a copy of their home utility bill to complete the lesson and build personal relevance. It is important to have a set of generic utility bills available for students who may not have their own. *Note to teacher: People can be very set in their habits of long showers, driving to school, etc. Some issues addressed in this lesson may have the potential to spark defensive reactions. This potential area for conflict is rich material that could be integrated as an active part of the lesson. Urban Relevance Students in an urban environment can experience disconnect between themselves and the natural world that sustains them. Students may not notice their direct impacts on the environment, and indirect impacts are even more elusive and difficult to understand. Concepts such as global climate change can be particularly challenging because of the enormity and abstract nature of the problem. This lesson helps teachers create consumers who are aware of the direct and indirect costs of resource consumption; makes students aware of their own impact; helps students as they try to make better choices as individuals, and facilitates student success as they take positive action as a class. *Before getting started, have students generate a brainstormed list titled, What We Know about Climate Change and What We d Like to Know. This can be used to flesh out what the students know and understand as well as misunderstandings they may have. After 10 minutes and a share out, have students explore Access to the EPA s Climate Change Facts: Answers to Common Questions epa.gov/climatechange/facts.html. Here they will find answers to many common questions, many of which may reflect their own. This collection of facts (versus assumptions) will be important as students move through the lesson. Students should take notes as they explore this page. You might want to challenge them to record at least ten facts they did not know (or something similar) to increase engagement. Procedure This lesson follows the 5 E s of lesson planning: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate Engage: Articles referenced in this section appear at the end of this lesson. 106

3 1. Students read the article, Rare Alpine Insect May Disappear with Glaciers by the United States Geological Survey (found at Students are placed in teams of three and must discuss and answer the guiding questions below to write a summary/reflection that they will share during a discussion. 1. Why does the loss of glaciers and snowpack in Glacier National Park affect this insect? 2. Why is this insect referred to as the melt water stonefly? 3. Why is this insect a good indicator of climate warming in mountain ecosystems? What does that mean? 4. Can you restate what Clint Muhlfield is expressing in your own words? 5. In the last paragraph, Joe Giersch states this isn t just about an obscure insect we will never see. What does he mean? 6. Glacier National Park is located in Montana. How could the lifestyle decisions we make here in (insert your city) impact glaciers melting in Montana? 2. Students follow this by reading Climate Change and Chicago a collaborative effort by the Chicago Mayor s office, Energy Impact Illinois, Global Philanthropy Partnership and Civic Consulting Alliance (Found at chicago/5.php). Again, in teams of three (re-shuffling teams is optional), students discuss and answer the guiding questions below to write a summary/reflection that they will share during a discussion. 1. What evidence does the city of Chicago have that climate change is taking place there? How are they using this evidence? 2. How is the city of Chicago directly taking action to address the predicted change to Chicago s temperature, precipitation and ecosystems? 3. What is the city of Chicago expecting from its citizens and businesses in addressing these issues? 4. What is the overall mindset of the city regarding the challenges of climate change? What does it think its role is locally and globally? 5. Do you think climate change is affecting your city? Have you noticed a change in temperature, precipitation and ecosystems? 6. The overwhelming impact of Hurricane Katrina on the city of New Orleans and Super Storm Sandy on New York City and the surrounding area have shown us how vulnerable our cities are to the increased strength and frequency of extreme weather events, which many scientists have linked to being a result of climate change. What lessons can we learn from these events? How can these coastal cities better prepare themselves for future storms? 107

4 Explore, Explain, Elaborate: 1. Bookmark the Hinkle Foundation ( and Green Progress Carbon Footprint Calculator ( beforehand. 2. Ask students to complete the Engage activity. (15 minutes) 3. Discuss student responses. The melt water stonefly (and others of its ilk) will become severely constricted in its range or extinct by 2030 due to global warming and climate change. As the glaciers recede/disappear, the very cold water it needs to live disappears as well. Unless the melt water stonefly can adapt to warmer water quickly, it will not survive. This ability to adapt quickly is referred to as adaptive capacity. A very slow/low adaptive capacity will likely lead to extinction. The extinction of one creature starts a rippling effect in the entire food web of an ecosystem. On the other hand, weedy species, such as the algae discussed in tonight s homework reading, have a very high adaptive capacity and they can take advantage of changing conditions to spread and crowd out other struggling species quickly. 4. Ask students to consider what the topics of these two articles have in common. The overall takeaway is to recognize that climate change has far-reaching effects on both human and non-human populations, whether locally in an urban setting like Chicago (or their city) or in a more wild setting like the mountains of Montana. As the lesson moves on from this point to explore ways in which students can reduce their carbon footprint, it will be useful to keep these articles in mind to help in making the topic more relevant and impactful. (10 minutes) 5. Explain to students that they are going to take a look at how much of the global climate change problem is caused by our behavior. Show the Hinkle Charitable Foundation graph of American carbon emissions compared to all other countries ( html). Show enlarged image. Discuss our immense use of fossil fuels (directly and indirectly) and our responsibility to take action. (5-10 minutes) The text here also is also a rich resource. Use it for information for a written reflection, which should be scaffolded into a discussion on solutions. This is also a good point to allow students to brainstorm what aspects of city infrastructure they think use the most fossil fuels and what alternatives help reduce this use. 6. Students will assess their personal carbon footprint using the Green Progress for a Green Future calculator found at but are not required to share their impact with the entire class. When students receive their final carbon emissions and report card, encourage them to click on the ideas given in the Areas for Improvement section. If they find any changes that they are willing to make, they can go back and recalculate their impact. The per capita average is 10 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced a year. Can they get down to the global average? If not, what can we do to mitigate the extra carbon that we create? (25 minutes) 108

5 Erika Nortemann/The Nature Conservancy Shantal Braham rides a bike during cycling class at New York Harbor School on Governor s Island. Braham was selected to participate in the Conservancy s LEAF internship program. The increased number of bike lanes helps to reduce a city s carbon footprint. *Notes to teachers: 1. There are many tools out there for calculating carbon footprints. This one was perfect for this class, but for other classes or learners, a more visual online calculator might be recommended for the sake of differentiation. 2. You may want to consider using a laptop and projector to model for students how to use this calculator works first. 7. In a notebook or journal, have students make a list of ways they could lower their carbon footprint in their day-to-day lives and ways they could motivate family members and friends to do the same. (5 minutes) Use this to drive an open discussion about personal energy use and choices. (No more than 5-7 minutes] 8. At this point students may be feeling overwhelmed and greatly burdened by the magnitude of the climate change problem and their (likely large) contribution to the problem. This is completely natural. Acknowledge these feelings and the enormity of the situation. Ask the class to write ideas in their notebook or journal for how we, collectively, can help reduce the creation of emissions of greenhouse gases AND help the Earth sequester the carbon that we are releasing (personally, school-wide, communitywide, citywide, statewide, nationally, globally). Brainstorm ideas at each level. (20 minutes) 9. Perhaps we cannot control the United Nations, but we can certainly control our own behavior. Share the famous Margaret Mead quote, A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it s the only thing that ever has. Today we will use the Internet to search for positive ways to impact the environment. Google search What can we do about global climate 109

6 change? (Eartheasy, NASA Kids, US EPA and the Nature Conservancy have clear activity options.) Search to find ways to reduce our impact and mitigate impacts that we have already created. Give students parameters: Are they allowed to try to start a local movement and contact other active groups in the area? Can they contact the principal about starting a school program like recycling, vermicomposting in the cafeteria or using less energy for the fall? Would you like the project be to simply take action today, such as writing a letter to your representatives? The magnitude of this project is up to you and your students. Plan, debate and begin implementing a project today. See the lesson Environmental Legacy Project by Conrad Benedicto in the Human Cities section of the Anthology for more information on undertaking an action project in your school. (45 minutes) a. Place students in teams of three. b. Ask teams to put together a plan of action (including resources needed and a timeline) for the school community or their own lives. TEAMS MUST PRESENT A WRITTEN PLAN. c. Teams must develop a way in which they will assess the success of their plan. EXTENSION: Cities are the future! It may surprise students to find out that city dwellers actually have a smaller carbon footprint than suburban and rural dwellers. (Adam Vaughan, City Dwellers have Smaller Carbon Footprint, Study Finds, The GuardianMarch, environment/2009/mar/23/city-dwellers-smaller-carbon-footprints). Students write a short essay explaining why they think this is so (you may choose to share the article after students share and discuss this topic). Reflection At the end of the lesson, come back to the Engage activity. Ask students to write in their journals how their action plans could have a positive impact not only on the health of their city and community, but on those melting glaciers and the melt water stonefly in Montana. Have an open discussion about the concept of thinking globally, acting locally. Does it really work? Literacy Connections Students write a summary/reflection in Engage activity, do significant reading and writing in Action Project, and write a science fiction story and comic strip in homework. Technology Students use the internet to search for global climate change action ideas. Career Pathways Addresses role of active citizenry. Cross Curricular Connection Emphasis on writing (summaries and science fiction) connects to English Language Arts Political and environmental action connects to social studies. Creating a comic strip in homework connects to art education. Assessment Students Action Plan in a final written form. Students speaking and overall performance in discussions and teamwork opportunities, such as creating their action projects. Students written responses to the Engage articles and Cities are the Future! activities, action projects and homework. 110

7 Climate Change Readings for Students Rare Alpine Insect May Disappear with Glaciers by the United States Geological Survey Loss of glaciers and snowpack due to climate warming in alpine regions is putting pressure on a rare aquatic insect, the meltwater stonefly, according to a study recently released in Climatic Change Letters. In the study, scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Montana, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service illustrate that alpine aquatic insects can be good early warning indicators of climate warming in mountain ecosystems. The glaciers in Glacier National Park are predicted to disappear by 2030 and, as its name infers, the meltwater stonefly (Lednia tumana) prefers to live in the coldest, most sensitive alpine stream habitats directly downstream of disappearing glaciers, permanent snowfields and springs in the park. Our simulation models suggest that climate change threatens the potential future distribution of these sensitive habitats and the persistence of the meltwater stonefly through the loss of glaciers and snowfields, said Clint Muhlfeld, project leader and USGS scientist. These major habitat reductions imply a greatly increased probability of extinction and/or significant range contraction for this sensitive species. The meltwater stonefly has been petitioned for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act because it is at risk of becoming extinct due to the melting of the glaciers in Glacier National Park. This isn t just about an obscure insect that most people will never see--it s about an entire threatened ecosystem which harbors a whole suite of rare, poorly known, native species- the biology and survival of which are dependent on very cold water, said Joe Giersch, USGS scientist and coauthor of the study. Climate Change and Chicago By Energy Impact Illinois To assess the impacts of climate change and to develop a plan for the future, the City of Chicago consulted leading scientists to describe various scenarios for Chicago s climate future and how those would impact life in the city. The results of the research are both serious and encouraging. Since 1980, Chicago s average temperature has increased approximately 2.6 degrees. Our current trajectory poses risks to our economy and health. They demonstrate that we need to act now to reduce our emissions, while preparing for climate changes that cannot be avoided. We face a big challenge--but we have also been granted a big opportunity. Every Chicago resident and business has a role to play in implementing the Chicago Climate Action Plan, which will not only ensure a more livable climate for the world but also for the city. The economy and quality of life could improve. Jobs could be created. New technologies will emerge. We are moving in the right direction but we must move faster and on a far broader scale if we hope to make a genuine impact. We believe that the initiatives already underway in Chicago and the strategies and goals outlined in the Chicago Climate Action Plan, can make Chicago a stronger and more resilient city. 111

8 Effects: Potential Changes in Chicago s Temperature The most obvious change to come could be hotter summers and more frequent and intense heat waves. Hot days could feel even hotter because of higher humidity. More heat waves will mean more heat-related illness and deterioration in the quality of air we breathe. Higher temperatures will also boost demand for electricity and put stress on power plants. It will cost more to maintain roads and buildings because of increased wear and tear. Landscaping costs will rise, too, as a result of heat stress and a longer blooming season. Costs of both police and fire services could be higher--police receive more calls during heat waves--and hot days could result in more fires and power outages. Taking Action: To prepare for the likelihood of more frequent and intense heat waves, the City, hospitals and community organizations will work together to update Chicago s emergency response plan, identifying key populations that are most at risk. Further research into urban heat islands may identify additional steps to eliminate these hot spots. A program to attract innovative new ideas for cooling the city will be launched. Potential Changes in Chicago s Precipitation Heavy rains and snow could become more frequent in winter and spring. Increased intensity of downpours will make travel more dangerous, flood basements, pollute bodies of water, damage crops, stress the city s infrastructure and disrupt transportation. During summer, rains may fall more heavily but less frequently, translating to more dry spells as well. Taking Action: In collaboration with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD), the City will prepare a watershed plan that factors in projected climate changes, the first time these changes will be included in a Chicago regional infrastructure plan. The City will also collaborate with MWRD and other municipal agencies to find ways to use available space from vacant land to parking lots to manage storm water. Potential Changes to Chicago s Ecosystems Chicago s native ecosystems could change, too. Chicago s plant hardiness zone has already shifted to that of central Illinois in If left unchecked, climate changes could make our plant hardiness zone equivalent to that of northern Alabama by the end of the century. Taking Action: To prepare for changes in Chicago s growing zone, the City, nurseries, developers and other stakeholders will work together to amend the landscape ordinance to accommodate plants that can tolerate the altered climate. The city will work with these partners to publish a new plant growing list focusing on plants that can thrive in warmer conditions. 112

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10 S U B M I T T E D B Y COMMON GROUND HIGH SCHOOL New Haven, Connecticut Common Ground is the nation s oldest charter school focused on the urban environment, preparing students to become the next generation of environmental leaders. It is also a small college preparatory high school, helping students develop the skills and knowledge to succeed after graduation. Students use Common Ground s unique location a 20-acre site and urban farm located at the base of West Rock Ridge State Park in the City of New Haven as a laboratory for learning. A L E A F P A R T N E R S C H O O L