Download Introduction to Climate Change

Download all our resources at
Curriculum ideas – Climate Change http://news.linkethiopia.org/resource
KS3 Introduction to Climate Change
KS3 Curriculum Links
KS3 Curriculum Links
Science
Geography
Citizenship
An introductory lesson about climate change, exploring the process, causes and consequences.
Objectives
 Students understand the process of the greenhouse effect, along with causes and consequences of climate change.
Preparation
 Four sheets of flipchart paper with the heading Climate Change. Write “The Greenhouse Effect” in the middle of the
first sheet, “Causes” on the second and “Consequences” on the third. Keep the fourth one aside.
 Projector and internet access
 Photocopy the definition matching sheet (1 per student)
 Load up the videos and slideshows ready to start. Note there is a 30 second advert at the beginning of the National
Geographic video which you will need to let play then pause at the beginning of the video.
Time: 45 mins
Instructions
 Ask the class to put up their hands and suggest words for each category.
(5 mins)
 Record the responses on the flipchart paper. At this stage, accept all their ideas and don’t attempt to clarify or
explain. The activities that follow are designed to fill in some of the gaps.
 Show the first video on the greenhouse effect: http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/earthguide/diagrams/greenhouse/
(2 mins)
 Hand out the definitions sheet and have the students match the words with the definitions on the right. (5 mins)
 Ask for answers from the students. Clarify any definitions on which mistakes were made. (5 mins)
 Now show the brief animation about the causes of the increased greenhouse effect:
http://www.yourclimateyourlife.org.uk/1_what_is_cc.html (2 mins)
 Look back at the flipchart labelled ‘Causes’. Are there any causes here that were not covered in the video? Are there
any causes which you didn’t think of? (5 mins)
 Watch the National Geographic Video about the consequences of climate change:
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/environment/global-warming-environment/way-forwardclimate.html (10 mins)
 Look back at the flipchart labelled ‘Consequences’. Are there any consequences here that were not covered in the
video? Are there consequences which you didn’t think of? (5 mins)
 Now write on the fourth flipchart: ‘What can we do?’ Ask for suggestions from the class. (5 mins)
Follow Up
Students can investigate ways of reducing the greenhouse effect and alleviating the problems of climate change.
Investigate your school’s carbon footprint – how can it be reduced?
Start a campaign in school asking people to stop climate change by taking simple actions.
Match the words in the left column with the definitions in the right column.
Download all our resources at
Curriculum ideas – Climate Change http://news.linkethiopia.org/resource
1. ___ Carbon Dioxide
a) When substances are discharged into the air,
such as from automobile or other engine
combustion.
2. ___ The Greenhouse Effect
b) Usually defined as the "average weather," or
more rigorously, as the statistical description
in terms of the mean and variability of relevant
quantities over a period of time ranging from
months to thousands of years.
3. ___ Emission
4. ___ Global Warming
5. ___ Climate Change
6. ___ Climate
7. ___ Weather
c) Any process, activity or mechanism which
removes a greenhouse gas, an aerosol or a
precursor of a greenhouse gas or aerosol from
the atmosphere.
d) The United Nations Climate Change
Conference held in 2009 which was an
international conference on global warming
between 200 nations and several
organizations.
e) A gas found in the atmosphere. It is a byproduct of human respiration as well as a by
product of an engine combustion from an
automobile. CO2 is a heat-trapping gas in the
atmosphere that reflects heat back down into
the Earth.
f)
8. ___ Sink
9. ___ COP15
The rapid increase of the Earth's overall
temperature due to the release of too much
Co2, methane, and other heat trapping gases.
g) Any change in global temperatures and
precipitation over time due to natural
variability or to human.
h) Atmospheric condition at any given time or
place. It is measured in terms of such things as
wind, temperature, humidity, atmospheric
pressure, cloudiness, and precipitation. In
most places, weather can change from hourto-hour, day-to-day, and season-to-season
i)
The ability of an earthly atmosphere to reduce
heat loss from its surface, making it possible to
use the absorption of solar radiation to warm
the earth’s surface instead.
Download all our resources at
Curriculum ideas – Climate Change http://news.linkethiopia.org/resource
Answers: 1e, 2i, 3a, 4f, 5g, 6b, 7h, 8c, 9d
Teacher’s Notes:
The Greenhouse Effect





There are certain gases that have a major influence on the Earth's energy balance; these are known as greenhouse
gases and include carbon dioxide, water vapour, methane and nitrous oxide.
These greenhouse gases trap some of the energy reflected off the Earth and prevent it from escaping out to space,
causing the atmosphere to warm.
The gases act in a similar fashion as the glass of a greenhouse, hence the name ‘greenhouse effect'.
This natural greenhouse effect keeps the Earth approximately 35°C warmer than it would otherwise be. Without it,
the average global temperature would be -20°C and life on Earth would be very different!
When too much CO2 and other greenhouse gases are released, the temperature of the earth starts to rise, an effect
called global warming.
Causes of the Greenhouse Effect





Most carbon dioxide in the UK comes from energy industries
Nearly a quarter of carbon dioxide released in the UK comes from road transport
Aviation fuel releases carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is also released from other industries, such as farming
The energy we use in our homes contributes to carbon emissions