Format
1. This program is a discussion about using proxy data to investigate changes to our planet's climate in the deep past.
2. If students can have pencil & paper to take notes, this is very helpful during discussion.
Objectives
Students will demonstrate a conceptual understanding that an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is causing our global climate to change, and human activities are driving the increase in greenhouse gases:
? (Optional: this objective will be addressed only if students participate in the Extend the Learning activities before, during & after the CMNH program) Students will construct & revise a model that demonstrates their understanding of how we know human activities are driving climate change.
? Students will examine proxy data methods to learn how past climate data is collected.
? Students will have the opportunity to make a plan to determine, monitor and reduce their personal carbon footprint and take action in a local community science initiative.
Standards Alignment
State Standards
Grade 7
Nature of Science – Scientific Inquiry, Practice and Applications
• Apply knowledge of science content to real-world challenges.
• Identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigations
• Use appropriate mathematics, tools and techniques to gather data and information.
• Analyze and interpret data.
• Develop descriptions, models, explanations and predictions.
• Think critically and logically to connect evidence and explanations.
• Recognize and analyze alternative explanations and predictions.
Nature of Science – Science is a Way of Knowing
• Science is a way of knowing about the world around us based on evidence from experimentation and observations.
• Science is a continual process and the body of scientific knowledge continues to grow and change.
• Science assumes that objects and events occur in consistent patterns that are understandable through measurement and observation.
• Science should carefully consider and evaluate all data including outliers.
• Science is based on observable phenomena and empirical evidence.
Nature of Science – Scientific Knowledge is Open to Revision in Light of New Evidence
• Science explanations are subject to revision and improvement in light of additional scientific evidence or new understanding of scientific evidence.
Earth and Space Science – Cycles and Patterns of the Earth and Moon
• 7.ESS.2 Thermal-energy transfers in the ocean and the atmosphere contribute to the formation of currents, which influence global climate patterns.
• 7.ESS.3 The atmosphere has different properties at different elevations and contains a mixture of gases that cycle through the lithosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere.
High School
Nature of Science – Scientific Inquiry, Practice and Applications
• Identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigations.
• Use technology and mathematics to improve investigations and communications. •
• Formulate and revise explanations and models using logic and scientific evidence (critical thinking).
• Recognize and analyze explanations and models.
• Communicate and support scientific arguments
Nature of Science – Science is a Way of Knowing
• Various science disciplines use diverse methods to obtain evidence and do not always use the same set of procedures to obtain and analyze data (i.e., there is no one scientific method).
• Make observations and look for patterns.
• Analyze data graphically and mathematically.
• Logical arguments should be evaluated with open-mindedness, objectivity and skepticism.
• Science arguments are strengthened by multiple lines of evidence supporting a single explanation.
• The various scientific disciplines have practices, methods, and modes of thinking that are used in the process of developing new science knowledge and critiquing existing knowledge.
Nature of Science – Science is a Human Endeavor
• Science depends on curiosity, imagination, creativity and persistence.
• Science and engineering are influenced by technological advances and society; technological advances and society are influenced by science and engineering.
Nature of Science – Scientific Knowledge is Open to Revision in Light of New Evidence
• Science can advance through critical thinking about existing evidence.
• Science includes the process of comparing patterns of evidence with current theory.
• Some science knowledge pertains to probabilities or tendencies.
• Science should carefully consider and evaluate anomalies (persistent outliers) in data and evidence.
• Improvements in technology allow us to gather new scientific evidence.
Environmental Science – Earth Systems – Interconnected Spheres of Earth
• Atmosphere (Atmospheric properties and currents)
• Lithosphere (Geologic events and processes)
• Hydrosphere (Oceanic currents and patterns [as they relate to climate], Surface and ground water flow patterns and movement, and Cryosphere)
• Movement of matter and energy through the hydrosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere and biosphere (Energy transformation on global, regional and local scales, Biogeochemical cycles, Climate and Weather)
Environmental Science – Earth’s Resources
• Air and air pollution (Greenhouse gases)
Environmental Science – Global Environmental Problems and Issues
• Climate change
• Sustainability
• Species depletion and extinction
• Air quality
• Deforestation and loss of biodiversity