WHATS THE BIG DEAL ABOUT 2C?!

THE BIG IDEAS

What makes up
climate??

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

WHAT IS CLIMATE,
ANYWAY?

WHATS THE BIG

DEAL ABOUT 2
DEGREES?

GO WITH THE FLOW

PART 1

GO WITH THE FLOW

PART 2

CHALLENGE BOARD
WORK DAY

Ocean Currents!

Atmospheric Currents

SOURCES AND
SINKS

EXAMINING THE
EVIDENCE

CHALLENGE BOARD
WORK DAY

Discover how oceans

play a role in balancing
carbon in our
atmosphere

How does climate data

show us that the
climate is changing?

Use this time to

interview/analyze your
department

HOW CAN WE BE
SMART
CONSUMERS OF
CLIMATE MEDIA?

WHAT CAN WE DO
TO COMBAT
CLIMATE CHANGE?

Discover how
climate is different
than weather

THE GREENHOUSE
EFFECT
What happens when you
throw carbon into the
mix?

How will climate change

impact my community?

CARBON CYCLE

Learn how data

shows us that the
climate is warming

Learn about the

fascinating life cycle of
one of Earths most
important elements!

WHAT DOES
CLIMATE CHANGE
LOOK LIKE?

WHAT DOES
CLIMATE CHANGE
LOOK LIKE?

CLIMATE CHANGE
IN THE PUBLIC EYE

Continued
investigations of
climate change
impacts

How is climate change

talked about in the
media?

WHAT DO YOU
NEED?

FINAL PROJECT
WORK DAY

Investigate what
kinds of impacts
climate change will
have
What can we do about
climate change?

Discover what 2
degrees C looks/feels
like

FINAL PROJECT
WORK DAY
Work with your
groups to develop
your campaign for
reducing the schools
carbon footprint!

Media decoding

Introduction and
Brainstorming for
Class Project

UNIT ASSESSMENT

PROJECT
PROPOSALS

Show me what you

know!
Let me know how I
can support you in
your project

Prepare Your
Presentations for the
Committee

Choose your
department and
brainstorm how you
will analyze their
carbon footprint

Present Your
Recommendations to
the Committee!

Your Mission: You have been assigned

to an elite task force of superheroes to
keep the global temperature from
rising more than 2C. The
International League of Superheroes
knows that you all have the power to
save our world from the impacts of
climate change, but in order to
complete your mission, you first must
attend the Climate Superhero Training
Academy. During the next four weeks,
you will learn how earth systems
distribute heat around the world, how
carbon contributes to warming our
atmosphere, what kinds of impacts
climate change will bring, and work
together to design ways to combat
climate change.

Whats the big deal about 2C?

How can such a small change in
temperature have such a huge impact
on the world? As you move through the
training academy, you will discover for
yourself the answer to this complex
question. At the end of your training
academy, you will be asked to work
together as a class to propose a plan for
how our school can help combat climate
change! Your proposal will be presented
to the Climate Superhero Committee.

The Big Ideas

Phase 1: What makes up
climate?
Phase 2: What happens when
you add carbon to the mix?
Phase 3: How will climate
change impact my community?
Phase 4: What can we do to
combat climate change?

Climate Superhero Challenge Board

Throughout the Climate Superhero Training Academy, in addition

to your other tasks, you will be asked to choose one project from
this challenge board to complete by the end of the academy. This
project will further prepare you to graduate the academy, ready to
take on climate change! You will have 2 days in class to work on
this project, but you are expected to use out of class time to
complete the project as well.
1.Choose one department and analyze their carbon footprint.
2.Develop recommendations for the department to reduce their
carbon footprint.
FoodService

Maintenance/Custodial

Athletics

Transportation

Administration

ChooseYourOwn
Adventure!
Gotanotherdepartmentin
mind?Great!

Media Decoding- Day 14

Teaching Context

Grade level: 8th grade

Subject area: science & environment
Unit: Climate Change Why does 2C matter??
What might come before or after this activity: Students will have an understanding of physical
processes/systems related to climate change

Objectives
Content Objectives:
Students will understand components of the carbon cycle
Students will understand that humans are a contributing factor in the current increase in global average
temperature.
Literacy/Critical Thinking Objectives:
Students will distinguish between objective and subjective messages in media

RL/RI.X.2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key
supporting details and ideas.

RL/RI.X.6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

RL/RI.X.8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the
reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

Document(s) description and link:

Video analogy relating climate change/CO2 emissions to a game of tetris: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/climatechange-earth-s-giant-game-of-tetris-joss-fong#watch
Video about pollution/CO2 emissions http://www.projectlooksharp.org/?action=global_warming

Key Questions

What message about CO2 do you think this video communicates?

o What techniques are used by the creators to communicate this message?
Who do you think created this video?
Who might the intended audience be?
Who should be responsible for mitigating climate change?

Probing Plan
I intend to use this media decoding as an introduction to the second half of my climate change unit. The
first two weeks of the unit will be spent learning about the physical processes that affect/are affected by
climate change, with one week focusing on oceanic circulation and one week focusing on atmospheric
circulation. The students will have a base understanding of the carbon cycle prior to the media decoding.
At this point, I might use one probing question as a Do Now when students come into class. I may use a
question like, What (if anything) should be done about climate change? or Should we worry about CO2 in the
atmosphere? just as something to get students thinking about the topic of the videos they are about to see.
After showing students each video, I will ask the students the first couple of key questions, which revolve
around what they think the messages of the videos are as well as who they were created by/for, making sure to
allow for wait times and give students a chance to think critically and respond to each others thoughts. I am
hopeful that the conversation will then transition to a discussion about who should be responsible for mitigating
climate change. Should we be worried about extra carbon in the atmosphere? How might media messages
contribute to whether actions are taken by governments on climate change?
This media decoding will take place on the first day of the second half of the unit, which will involve
questions regarding the social implications of climate change (mitigation and adaptation). Students may choose
to use what they learn from this media decoding in their final projects (My Climate Story multi-media project)