Part II: A Macro Plan for Climate Change

Title – Environment Unit Part II:
A Macro Plan for Climate Change
By – Jay Kilby
Primary Subject – Social Studies
Secondary Subjects – Science
Grade Level – 11-12

Contents:

This is a four-part

environmental unit

on climate change and the water pollution problem.
• Part I: The Science of Climate Change
• Part II: A Macro Plan for Climate Change (below)
• Part III: A Personal Plan for Climate Change
• Part IV: The Water Pollution Problem

Objectives:

• Identify and explain realistic target reductions in carbon emissions set by climate scientists for avoiding disastrous effects from climate change by mid-century.
• Identify and explain options that could be implemented in order to achieve these target reductions.
• Explain what role government could play in stimulating innovations that could allow us to achieve these target reductions.
• Evaluate which options for achieving these target reductions are best and why.

Time Requirements:

Approximately 2 Instructional Hours

Skills Addressed:

• Analyzing complex concepts
• Note-taking
• Critical thinking

Assessment:

• Formative Assessment:
  Students will work in groups to create and present a plan identifying which of several options will best allow us to meet realistic target goals for reducing carbon emissions by mid-century.
• Summative Assessment: Multiple choice test
  at end of unit.

Resources:

• PowerPoint: Solutions to Climate Change
• Handout: 20 E.C.E. (a 2-page excerpt from Hot, Flat, and Crowded, by Thomas Friedman) Page 1 Page 2
• Handout: Stabilization Wedges: A Concept and Game (created by the Princeton University Environmental Institute)
• Additional copies of the Wedge Worksheet (1 page included within the above handout) for each group of 4-6 students in your class.

Key Terms:

• cap and trade
• carbon tax
• energy efficiency
• carbon capture and storage
• renewable energy
• bio-fuels
• biostorage

Instructional Activities:

1. Students take notes on the first 3 slides of the PowerPoint: Solutions to Climate Change. Pass out handout: 20 E.C.E. (a 2-page excerpt from Hot, Flat, and Crowded, by Thomas Friedman). Have students read it and then discuss it with them briefly. Then show the remainder of the PowerPoint.
2. Assist students with Wedges Worksheet homework assigned last class.
3. Students take out handout that they have completed as homework: Stabilization Wedges: A Concept and Game (created by the Princeton University Environmental Institute). Divide them into groups of four to six in order to complete a common Wedge Worksheet.
4. Groups present their plans to the class. Invite other students to comment on feasibility, costs, and challenges of each plan presented.

Big Picture Questions: What, according to climate scientists, are options that would enable us to avert disastrous consequences of climate change? Which of these options is best, and why? Main Points:

Accommodations:

• During the group activity, have IEP, ELL, and struggling students work with partners who can help them with these complex concepts.
• You may wish to give these students the option of completing and turning in their individual Wedge Worksheets for homework after the presentations so that they do not have to rely on the reading alone in order to complete the homework.

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