Download The Data Behind Climate Change-

Yakima WATERS Mini Lesson
The Data Behind Climate Change --- Temperatures
Targets and Assessment
WA Science Standards Addressed:
 9-11 APPA, APPF – Understand and list questions
scientists investigate based on societies needs,
and analyze scientific information in order to
influence personal decisions.
 9-11 INQA, INQB, INQC, INQG– Collect, analyze,
and appropriately display data, revise and
criticize explanations.
Lesson Parameters
Content Area: Earth Science
Assessments:
 Students will complete a worksheet and share
that information with other students.
Suggested Time: 1 - 50 min class period
Overview: Students will divide into three groups and
answer questions based on graphs and tables provided.
Students will then share that information with students
from other groups.
Grade Level: 9th
Special Materials (per group of 3 students):
 3 x handouts as described below
(Note: At this point this only contains the worksheet for temperature. Eventually it will include similar
worksheets for Snow/Ice, and Greenhouse Gasses).
Learning Outcomes:
Knowledge: Students will be able to explain climate change data and present the information to their
peers. Students will analyze graphs and tables displaying past temperature changes, changes in snow covered
area, global ice volume, and greenhouse gas concentrations. Students will investigate the greenhouse effect,
and relate that to increasing levels of greenhouse gasses to draw their own conclusions about their influence
on climate.
Skill: Students will identify and summarize trends in climate change data, evaluate different view
points, develop their own opinion, and support and defend their conclusions.
Science Concept Background:
Climate change and global warming have recently become a politicized topic. The majority of scientists
across the globe agree that global temperatures are rising and can be unequivocally attributed to humans. In
a particularly conservative area, it’s important to present the students with the evidence for anthropogenic
climate change, and let them draw their own conclusions from the data.
Materials (per group of three students):
1 x “The Data Behind Climate Change – Temperatures” worksheet
1 x “The Data Behind Climate Change – Ice/Snow/Sea-level” worksheet
1 x “The Data Behind Climate Change – Greenhouse Gasses” worksheet
Procedure:
 Provide a short introduction to the day’s activities, and emphasize that the students will be studying
some of the climate change data and making their own conclusions.
 One handout will be handed to every third student. One gets temperature, the next snow/ice, the next
greenhouse gasses, and then repeat.
 The students will read and complete their worksheets individually.
 Upon completion, divide the students into groups of three, making sure that each group contains one
student with each type of handout (temperature, snow, ghgs).



Each student will present the information on their handouts to the other two members of the group.
The two students who are NOT presenting have questions at the end of their worksheets to ask and
they are required to record the responses.
Once each student has presented, and all questions are answered, then the students will turn in the
assignments.
Extension(s):
You may want to give an expanded introduction, getting more in depth about the current state of the
science. Depending on the political atmosphere of the class, it may be appropriate to share different movies
about climate science (i.e., An Inconvenient Truth). In our class, this lesson will be preceded by a lesson
explaining different climate proxies, and how scientists can get information about temperatures and
atmospheric conditions thousands of years ago.
Teaching Tips:
Some of the graphs may be difficult for students to understand, especially the temperature anomaly
graphs. It’s important to explain that these aren’t actual temperatures, but they are the difference from some
average (many of them use the 1961-1990 time period as the average). This is an advanced concept, and I
don’t expect most students to really understand what that means. However, it’s not entirely important for
them to understand that in order to complete the lesson and to gain the appropriate information. It would be
a good idea to familiarize your self with climate science in general, and the most recent work regarding
climate change in preparation for student questions. Some good websites for this are as follows…
http://www.globalwarmingart.com/
http://www.realclimate.org/
http://www.ipcc.ch/
Again, I’ll have to update this section after I teach the lesson, and see how it goes.
Supplements:
Handouts for each climate change component.
Author: Matt Jenkins, Yakima WATERS Project, CWU, Winter 2011
The Data Behind Climate Change: Global Temperatures
Introduction:
When most people think about climate change, they think about temperature (think global warming).
There are many different components of climate change, and most of them can be linked to changes in
temperature. We are going to investigate how global temperatures have changed in the geologic past, what we
are presently observing, and how scientists are predicting they will change in the future. Ultimately, you will be
drawing your own conclusions from the data, and formulating your own opinion on climate change.
Procedure:
You will be provided with _____ graphs and data tables. You will be asked to analyze these figures and
make conclusions about the data presented. You will then be asked to answer a series of questions about the
information provided and compare/contrast them. These graphs all display the temperature anomaly which
means that the graphs show a difference from some average (usually the overall average from 1960-1990). For
example, the first graph states that in 2000, the temperature anomaly was about 0.25 degrees C. This means
that it was 0.25 degrees C warmer than the average temperature for that area.
Questions:
1) The goal of this exercise is explained in the last two sentences of the introduction. Rephrase it in
your own words:
2) Examine the graph titled “Holocene Temperature Variations.” This shows temperature differences
(“anomaly” refers to a variation from average) over the last 12,000 years. The different thinner
lines are data from different scientific studies, and the thick black) line is the general trend of all
the other data.
a. Recall our last WATERs lesson about Paleoclimate Proxies. What are two ways that
scientists can determine what temperatures were thousands of years ago?
b. What are the two axes of the graph? X is __________________. Y is __________________________.
c. The thinner lines have lots of variation (jump around a lot). What does this mean in terms
of temperature over the time period of the graph?
d. Do you think the black line is a good representation of the general trend of the graph? Why
or why not?
e. The arrow with “2004” marks our approximate current position on the graph. Connect the
end of the black trend line to the point of the arrow. How does our current temperature
compare to the rest of the graph?
3) The next graph examines temperature over a shorter period of time. Again, the different lines are
records of temperature from different scientific studies.
a. What is the amount of time represented by the X axis?
b. What does the Y axis represent?
c. Draw a line of best fit on the graph (remember, these lines CAN curve).
d. At what Y value does your line start?
i. Where does it end?
e. You may have noticed a sharp increase towards the end of the graph. Approximately what
year does this increase begin?
f. Where are we now? How does that compare to the general trend of the graph?
g. Explain the temperature trend (using information from the graph) over the time period of
the graph.
4) Examine the following graph. This graph displays temperature over the shortest time period.
a. What are the two axes of the graph? X is _____________. Y is __________________.
b. Referring to the circles, which year was the warmest?
i. The coldest?
c. Look at the smooth line labeled “five-year average.” What is the temperature anomaly of
that line at 1980? 2005?
d. Using information (numbers!) from the graph, describe how temperatures have changed in
the last 25 years.
5) After examining all three graphs, how does the rate of temperature change in recent years
compare to the general trends in the past?
6) These graphs display not the actual temperature, but the temperature anomaly. Re-read the
procedure and define this in your own words:
a. One common average to compare against is the average temperatures from 1960-1990.
How would the graphs be different if they used the average temperatures from 1990Present?