BAESI is developing a series of lesson plans designed to help teachers integrate climate change and other Earth science concepts with the other sciences. Part of our motivation stems from a desire to help high school teachers integrate these critically important topics with biology, chemistry, and physics using the NGSS High School Three-Course Model being implemented in many secondary schools today. The lessons also link to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in language arts and math and California’s Environmental Principles and Concepts.
The lessons are adaptable for students in grades 4-12, with numerous adaptations and extensions to help meet the needs of all learners.
Presented in the 5E Instructional Model, the impactful framework helps you and your students:
- Engage
- Explore
- Explain
- Enrich / Extend
- Evaluate
Each lesson contains these elements to help you integrate them into your instruction:
- Overview
- Guiding questions
- Standards alignment: Next Generation Science Standards, Common Core State Standards, and California’s Environmental Principles and Concepts
- Teacher background
- Materials and preparation
- Teaching suggestions for engaging students in the 5E Model
- Links to resources to help you and your students expand your knowledge and skills
Each lesson seeks to engage students with one or more scientific phenomenon. Students also gain experience with the scientific method while conducting investigations and/or researching the phenomena.
The free lesson plans that connect to climate change issues include:
- Pika Models + Climate Change (integrates biology and ecology with Earth science)
- Carbon Travels—Then and Now (integrates biology, chemistry, physics, and ecology with Earth science)
- Albedo, Melting Ice, and Feedback Loops (integrates physics with Earth science)
- Modeling the Formation of Ocean Currents (integrates chemistry and physics with Earth science)
- Modeling Seafloor Spreading (integrates Earth science and physics with climate science)
We hope you and your students enjoy the simulations, investigations, and wide-variety of other activities. We’d love to hear your feedback, including ideas for improvements as the lessons continue to evolve!
