Unit Overview

Students investigate Earth's changing climate and human impact on planetary systems. Through examining rising global temperatures with data analysis or solving ice melting mysteries, conducting ecological footprint calculations comparing resource consumption across lifestyles, and designing solutions reducing carbon emissions through renewable energy proposals or sustainable community planning, students discover connections between daily choices and planetary health learning how individual actions scale to global consequences.

• Next Generation Science Standards

  MS-ESS3-3

  Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of the design process include examining human environmental impacts, assessing the kinds of solutions that are feasible, and designing and evaluating solutions that could reduce that impact. Examples of human impacts can include water usage (such as the withdrawal of water from streams and aquifers or the construction of dams and levees), land usage (such as urban development, agriculture, or the removal of wetlands), and pollution (such as of the air, water, or land).]

  MS-ESS3-4

  Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems. [Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence include grade appropriate databases on human populations and the rates of consumption of food and natural resources (such as freshwater, mineral, and energy). Examples of impacts can include changes to the appearance, composition, and structure of Earth’s systems as well as the rates at which they change. The consequences of increases in human populations and consumption of natural resources are described by science, but science does not make the decisions for the actions society takes.]

  MS-ESS3-5

  Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century. [Clarification Statement: Examples of factors include human activities (such as fossil fuel combustion, cement production, and agricultural activity) and natural processes (such as changes in incoming solar radiation or volcanic activity). Examples of evidence can include tables, graphs, and maps of global and regional temperatures, atmospheric levels of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, and the rates of human activities. Emphasis is on the major role that human activities play in causing the rise in global temperatures.]

• Inquiry Scale
  • Each lesson in the unit has an Inquiry Scale that provides directions on how to implement the lesson at the level that works best for you and your students.
  • “Level 1” is the most teacher-driven, and recommended for students in 4th-5th grades. “Level 4” is the most student-driven, and recommended for students in 7th-8th grades.
  • For differentiation within the same grade or class, use different inquiry levels for different groups of students who may require additional support or an extra challenge.
• Common Misconceptions
  • Greenhouse gases do not form a physical barrier, as the blanket metaphor implies
  • ​Greenhouse gases do not “trap” heat but rather absorb and re-radiates (or reflects) heat.
• Vocabulary
  • • Melting
    • Temperature
    • Average Yearly Temperature
    • Atmosphere
    • Greenhouse Gas
    • Climate
• Content Expert
  • Joanna Pelc
    NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Global Modeling and Assimilation Office Expertise: Earth Science, Applied MathematicsKrzysztof Wargan
    Research Scientist, Science Systems and Applications, Inc. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Global Modeling and Assimilation Office
• Leveled Reading

  * To give our users the most comprehensive science resource, Mosa Mack is piloting a partnership with RocketLit, a provider of leveled science articles.

  • More People, Not Enough Minerals

    Some resources don't grow on trees! In this article, we look at some of the consequences of the large populations of the world and the impact of mineral mining on the environment.

  
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  • The Desert Climate

    This article introduces students to the terms "climate," "humidity," and "biome," in the frame of the unique characteristics of the desert biome.

  
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  • Climate vs Weather in the Arctic

    This article uses at the Arctic as an example of the difference between Climate and Weather. We also define Temperature and Climate Change, specifically talking about the data over time that's needed to show the Climate is changing. Even though temperatures change over the course of a year, that doesn't mean the climate is changing.

  
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  • FARM EVERYTHING

    With the growing number of humans on earth, our needs for food have had negative consequences on the environment. In this article, we introduce students to some of the effects of over farming.

  
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  • Ocean Pollution

    This article focuses on the different types of pollution that human activities lead to and the results of that pollution on the environment.

  
  RocketLit serves tailored Science reading to every student in your classroom at their independent reading level.
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