Download Climate Change - Cleveland Museum of Natural History

ClimateChange:
TEACHERGUIDE
InvestigatingOurImpact
60-MinuteEarthScienceLesson
InteractiveVideoConferencing
Grades:7-12
ClimateChange:InvestigatingourImpact
Description
There’snodebate duringthis program! Heat
up your classroom as we challenge your
students to explore the connection between
several simple scientific principles and the
changes in temperature and weather that
scientists refer to as “global climate change”.
During this interactive investigation we will
experiment with the phenomenon of the
“greenhouse effect”, directly observe the
relationshipbetweenvisibleandinfraredlight,
illustrate several techniques used to gather
climatedatafromthepast,anddetailhowitis
usedtopredictfuturechanges.
Objectives
•
•
•
•
Explorethebasicprinciplesof
refraction,reflection,thermal
convection,andthe“greenhouse
effect”throughhands-onactivities.
Describewaysthatscientistscollect
climatedatafromthepast.
Discoversomeofthewaysthat
globalclimatechangemayaffectlife
onthisplanet.
Identifywaysthattheycanhelp
mitigatetheeffectsofglobalclimate
changeandreducetheirfamily’s
carbonfootprint.
Ohio’sLearningStandards
Grade7:EarthandSpaceScience-CyclesandPatternsofEarthandtheMoon
• Thermal-energytransfersintheoceanandtheatmospherecontributetotheformation
ofcurrents,whichinfluenceglobalclimatepatterns.
• Theatmospherehasdifferentpropertiesatdifferentelevationsandcontainsamixture
ofgasesthatcyclethroughthelithosphere,biosphere,hydrosphereandatmosphere.
HighSchool:EnvironmentalScience-EarthSystems:InterconnectedSpheresofEarth
• Atmosphere(Atmosphericpropertiesandcurrents)
• Hydrosphere(Oceaniccurrentsandpatterns[astheyrelatetoclimate])
• Movementofmatterandenergythroughthehydrosphere,lithosphere,atmosphereand
biosphere(ClimateandWeather)
BeforeYourProgram&HowToSetUpYourRoom
AkitofmaterialsandspecimenswillbesenttoyourschoolviaUPSbeforeyourscheduled
program.Makesurewhenschedulingthatyougiveusyournameaswellastheschooladdress.
• WewilldemonstratehowtousetheitemsinthekitduringtheIVCprogram.Alistingof
kitcontentsisattheendofthisguide.
• Pleasehavethekitopenandaccessibleonatablethatisvisibletoyourclass.
Optional:Ifyou’dliketoreplicateour‘greenhouseeffect’activityduringtheprogram,youwill
needtoprovidetheseitems:
• 10-gallonfishtank
• ringstand
• abouttwocupsofbakingsoda
• threecupsofvinegar
• somebubblesolution&onebubblewand
Vocabulary
weather-thespecificconditionsoftheatmosphereataparticulartimeandplace,measuredin
termsofvariablesthatincludetemperature,precipitation,cloudiness,humidity,airpressure,and
wind.
climate-thelong-termaverageofconditionsintheatmosphere,ocean,andicesheetsandseaice
describedbystatistics,suchasmeansandextremes.
climatechange-asignificantandpersistentchangeinthemeanstateoftheclimateworldwide.
globalwarming–anobservedincreaseintheaveragetemperatureneartheearth’ssurfaceand
intheloweratmosphere.Oftenusedincorrectlyasasynonymforglobalclimatechange.
greenhousegases-gasesinanatmospherethatabsorbradiationwithinthethermalinfrared
range(heat),includingcarbondioxide,methane,watervapor,nitrousoxide,andmanyothers.
anthropogenic–causedbyhumans
reflection-thereturnoflight,heat,sound,etc.,afterstrikingasurface.
refraction-thechangeofdirectionofarayoflight,sound,heat,orthelike,inpassingobliquely
fromonemediumintoanotherinwhichitswavevelocityisdifferent.
convection-thetransferofheatbythecirculationormovementoftheheatedpartsofaliquidor
gas.
electromagneticspectrum-therangeofallpossiblefrequenciesofelectromagneticradiation,
includingvisiblelightandinfraredradiation.Theelectromagneticspectrumofanobjectisthe
characteristicdistributionofelectromagneticradiationemittedorabsorbedbythatparticular
object.
infraredradiation–theportionoftheelectromagneticspectrumwithwavelengthsjustlonger
thanvisiblelight.Itcausesobjectsittouchestoincreaseintemperature.i.e.-gettingwarmedby
thesun.
visiblespectrum-theportionoftheelectromagneticspectrumthatcanbedetectedbythe
humaneye
energywave–thewayinwhichelectromagneticradiation(energy)travelsthroughspaceandour
atmosphere.
thermalexpansion-thetendencyofwatertochangeinvolumeinresponsetoachangein
temperature.
thegreenhouseeffect-theheatingofthesurfaceofaplanetduetothepresenceofan
atmospherecontaininggasesthatabsorbinfraredradiation(heat).
treecookie–acrosssectionofatreetrunkorlimbthatshowstheconcentricrings,usedby
scientiststogatherclimatedatafromthepast.
icecore-asamplefromtheaccumulationofsnowandiceovermanyyearsthathaverecrystallizedandhavetrappedairbubblesfromprevioustimeperiods.Thecompositionofthese
icecores,especiallythepresenceofhydrogenandoxygenisotopes,providesapictureofthe
climateatthetime.
fossilfuel–energysourcessuchaspetroleum,coal,ornaturalgas,whicharederivedfromliving
matterthatexistedduringapreviousgeologictimeperiod.
mitigation–humaninterventiontoreducethesourcesofgreenhousegases.
carbonfootprint-thetotalsetofgreenhousegasemissionscauseddirectlyandindirectlybyan
individual.
ExtensionActivities
1. Collectandtrackweatherdataovertime,includingdailytemperature,precipitation,
andhumidity,inordertomakeyourownobservationsaboutthelocalclimate.Mark
yourobservationsonacalendarfor12monthsandgraphyourdataattheendofthe
year.
2. Worktogetherasaclasstoreduceyourenergyconsumptionandfossilfuelusageby
walkingmore,turningoffelectronicsandlights,usinglesswater,andspendingmore
timeoutside.
3. Onahot,sunny,dayuseaprismandthermometertoobservetheinfraredspectrum
(theseitemsareincludedinthekitsenttoyourschoolpriortoourvideoconference).
Usingtheprism,refractthelightontothegroundorotherflatsurface,andthenplace
thethermometerjustoutsidetheredendofthespectrum.Youshouldseeasmall
increaseinthetemperaturebecausetheinfraredspectrumhaswavelengthsjust
slightlylongerthanthoseofvisibleredlight.
4. Usethiswebsite(http://www.nature.org/greenliving/carboncalculator/index.html)to
calculateyourfamily’scarbonfootprint.
5. Collectpastclimatedataaboutourregionbyanalyzingtheringsonfallenorchopped
downtreesinyourneighborhood.
OnlineResourcesforTeachersandStudents
Clickthelinkbelowtofindadditionalonlineresourcesforteachersandstudents.Thesewebsites
arerecommendedbyourMuseumEducatorsandprovideadditionalcontentinformationand
somefun,interactiveactivitiestosharewithyourclass.
CMNHEducatorsregularlyreviewtheselinksforquality.Webaddressesoftenchangesoplease
notifyusifanylinkshaveissues.
ClevelandMuseumofNaturalHistoryhttps://cmnh.org/edlinks
WhatIsInTheKit?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1infraredlamp(forfixtures100wattsormore;werecommendusingadomeforreptile
tanks)
1“TreeCookie”section
1mockicecoreinfoamwrapper(Fragile!–pleasereplaceinfoamforreturntoCMNH)
lightsourceformockicecore
1largeplasticprism
30prism“peepholes”
3alcoholthermometers
1digitalthermometer
2fossilizedplants
•
•
•
•
•
WHATYOUWILLNEEDTOPROVIDE:
(ifyou’dliketoduplicateourgreenhousedemonstrationinyourclassroom)
emptyfishtank
ringstand+100-wattlampfixture(werecommendusingonemadeforreptiletanks)
bakingsoda
vinegar
bubblesolution&wand
•
SAFETYNOTE:
TheinfraredlampgetsVERYHOT!Makesureyourfixtureisratedfor100wattsormoretoavoid
damageorfire.Pleasemakesuretowrapthelampintheprovidedprotectiveboxforshipment
backtousafteryourprogram.