Lesson 3: Evidence and Consequences of Climate Change

-What scientific evidence demonstrates that Earth’s climate is changing?

-How do temperature trends, ice melt, and sea-level rise provide evidence of climate change?

-What patterns can be identified in long-term climate data?

-How do changes in climate impact ecosystems, weather systems, and human populations?

-How can models be used to predict future climate conditions and impacts?

-Climate change

-Global warming

-Ice core data

-Sea-level rise

-Temperature anomalies

-Climate models

-Extreme weather events

-Feedback loops

-Carbon cycle

-Glacial melt

HS-ESS3-4 – Analyze data to understand the causes and consequences of climate change.

HS-ESS3-5 – Use climate models to make predictions about future environmental conditions.

NGSS Crosscutting Concepts

-Cause and Effect

-Patterns

-Systems and System Models

-Stability and Change

-Students will interpret graphs, tables, and datasets representing temperature changes, ice melt, and sea-level rise.

-Students will analyze scientific texts, reports, and case studies related to climate change evidence.

-Students will construct evidence-based explanations using real-world climate data.

-Students will practice interpreting data trends similar to those found in standardized science assessments.

Students will examine scientific evidence for climate change, including temperature records, ice core samples, sea-level trends, and extreme weather data. They will analyze patterns in long-term datasets, identify cause-and-effect relationships, and evaluate the consequences of climate change on ecosystems and human societies.

Activities may include:

-Analyzing historical temperature and climate datasets

-Interpreting ice core data to identify atmospheric changes over time

-Simulating sea-level rise and its impact on coastal regions

-Using climate models to explore future environmental scenarios

-Constructing explanations supported by scientific evidence

Purpose: Develop the ability to analyze and interpret scientific evidence of climate change and explain its consequences using data-driven reasoning.

DOK Level: 3–4 – Strategic Thinking to Extended Thinking

-Climate change affects local communities through flooding, heat waves, and changes in seasonal weather patterns.

-Students can connect global climate trends to local environmental observations and news events.

-Understanding climate evidence supports informed decision-making about environmental policy and sustainability practices.

-Students explore how climate impacts different regions and populations unevenly across the world.

-Students may confuse short-term weather events with long-term climate trends.

-Students may believe that climate change is not supported by scientific evidence.

-Students may struggle to interpret complex graphs and multi-variable datasets.

-Students may not recognize the interconnected effects of climate change on ecosystems and human systems.

-Tiered data analysis tasks with varying levels of complexity

-Graphic organizers for interpreting climate evidence

-Technology integration using interactive climate models and simulations

-Structured scientific discussions and evidence-based writing support

-Collaborative analysis of climate datasets and case studies

-Guided support for reading and interpreting graphs and scientific reports

-Analysis of climate datasets and graphical representations

-Constructed-response explanations using scientific evidence

-Evaluation of climate model simulations or scenario predictions

-Quizzes on key vocabulary and concepts

-Unit Test

-Scientific argumentation tasks based on climate evidence and impacts

-Climate change slides and worksheets

-Historical temperature, ice core, and sea-level datasets

-Online climate model simulations

-Articles, videos, and case studies on climate impacts

-Materials for hands-on simulations of ice melt and sea-level rise