Climate Change Lesson 12 : What Can I Do?
1. Review potential impacts of climate change on Michigan and the reasons we should care.
Ask students to recall how much the global overland and ocean temperature has changed in the last century. (about 1.3°F). Pose questions about the future for class discussion (Slide 2):
• How will the temperature change by 2100? (It depends. There are several different scenarios for this ranging from 3.2 to 7.2°F. The average rate of warming over each inhabited continent is very likely to be at least twice as large as that experienced during the 20th century.)
• Will every place on the Earth experience the same amount of change? (No, some areas will experience warming, some even cooling, but the overall global temperature is projected to increase.)
• What are some expected changes to the climate in Michigan? (higher temperature; more rain in fall, spring and winter, less in summer; more severe storms; less ice cover on Great Lakes; fewer days of snow; possible lowering or raising of lake levels).
To review indications and impacts of climate change, use Climate Change Review student activity (Slide 3). After groups create sentences, have them posted in the classroom. These sentences can be used for the “education” part of the optional service learning (“DOT”) activity.
Using the Six Reasons transparency master (or Slides 4-6), lead a class discussion about what are important reasons to prepare for climate change in Michigan. Using the location of your school in Michigan, facilitate a student discussion about how these reasons relate to their local environment (i.e., coastal regions, forested regions, cities, suburbs, or agricultural regions).
2. Compare mitigation strategies with adaptation strategies.
Define and discuss two responses to climate change: adaptation (identifying and preparing for the impacts of climate change) and mitigation (reducing greenhouse gases in our atmosphere) (Slide 7). An Adaptation and Mitigation video is available from Climate Wisconsin at http://climatewisconsin.org/. (2:38)
A list of some possible actions is on the Adaptation or Mitigation student activity sheet. Have students decide which are mitigation strategies, and which are adaptations. Many of these actions are designed for public buildings or government /industry/commercial operations. Which ones would affect private citizens? Which might affect students?
Many communities in Michigan have developed climate action plans. See an extension activity that looks at these plans.
3. Select a voluntary but feasible individual action.
Have students review the Climate Change Check Sheet student resource. Students should evaluate the list. Is there one thing that each student is both willing to do and able to do? What are some of the reasons students choose some actions and not others? (Slide 8).
4. Optional Service Learning Activity - Plan and conduct an education campaign.
Introduce DOT (Slide 9). Groups come to a consensus about a goal for a campaign to educate fellow students about climate change and secure peer DOT commitments (if they decide that is to be part of their campaign).
The campaign must include specific scientific facts about climate change. A useful start is to review Guiding Principle for Informed Climate Decisions teacher resource.
Before embarking on the campaign students should identify what they hope the campaign will accomplish and how they will evaluate whether it has met their goals. This can be accomplished through use of the Education Campaign Preparation student activity. They (or the teacher) should determine how long their campaign will last (suggested: 1 week to 1 month).
Develop education materials such as posters, fliers, or videos.
One option for evaluating the success of the plan is to construct a tree of DOTS. Students write their actions on leaves (Template for DOT Tree Leaves Teacher resource) and affix them to the tree. Students can post their DOTS at MDEQ’s Michigan’s Climate Challenge Pledge website (http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,4561,7-135-50990-195739--,00.html)
5. Evaluate and expand the campaign.
Students evaluate their experience by completing the Campaign Follow-Up student activity and reporting the results of their campaign to other groups.