Thursday, October 28, 20103:30 – 4:30 pm

Roberta Johnson, Becca Hatheway,David Mastie, and Parker Pennington IVNational Earth Science Teachers AssociationBoulder, CO

Tackling the Global Warming Challenge

http://www.windows2universe.org

http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/climate/climate.html

Three levels of content in two languages

Presentation OverviewPresentation Overview

• Intro: Why is global warming happening? What can we do?

• Climate and Global Change educational resources from Windows to the Universe

• Activities:– Plugged in to CO2– CO2: How Much Do You Spew?– Watch Where You Step

Workshop OverviewWorkshop Overview

The rise has been relentless and shows a remarkably constant relationship with fossil-fuel burning, and can be well accounted for based on the simple premise that 57% of fossil-fuel emissions remain airborne. Here the number 57% was selected to fit the curve at the ends of the record, but what is significant is how well this link with fossil-fuel burning also fits the curvature in the record, sloping upwards less rapidly at the beginning, and more rapidly at the end. http://scrippsco2.ucsd.edu/program_history/keeling_curve_lessons_3.html

Line plot of global mean land-ocean temperature index, 1880 to present, with the base period 1951-1980. The dotted black line is the annual mean and the solid red line is the five-year mean. The green bars show uncertainty estimates. Hansen et al., 2010-02-18, http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs/, NASA GISS.

Earth is warming…

What controls the climate?What controls the climate?

Volcanic eruptions Reflective snow & ice

The Sun & Earth’s orbit

And the amount of greenhouse gases…

Clouds

Greenhouse gases trap heat, causing warming.

Heat absorbed by CO2 radiated to space (A). Heat can make its way to space directly (B). Heat absorbed by CO2 radiated towards Earth (C).

Sources of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions in 2004. (IPCC, 2007)

Where do the extra greenhouse gases come from?

• We can try to adapt to changing climate– Adaptation: protecting people/places by making them less

vulnerable to climate impacts

• We can try to slow or stop warming– Mitigation: slowing global warming by lowering levels of

greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

What can we do?

Overall goal –keep Earth a livable place

Sustainability: meeting our present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs

Energy Choices and Climate Change• Energy Choices and Climate Change, an online module,

provides a new way to look at how the choices we make about energy affect the amount of greenhouse gases we send into the atmosphere.

• Users make decisions about the types and amount of energy used and see what effect those decisions have on the amount of carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere.

• The goal is to reduce CO2 emissions from fossil fuels while keeping costs within reason.

Now Available on Windows to the Universe!www.windows2universe.org/modules/energy

Plugged in to CO2Students investigate various appliances and electronics, discovering how much energy each uses and how much carbon dioxide (CO2) is released to produce that energy.

Calculate these! Work with your neighbors!

P.S.1 kilogram

(or ~2 pounds) of CO2 gas

would fill up an average refrigerator.

Discussion questions:

Did the appliances that use the most energy according to the kill-a-watt meter produce the most CO2 over a year?

How can we reduce the amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere while still using these appliances?

CO2: How Much Do You Spew?Students analyze the energy consumption of a hypothetical household to determine the amount of carbon dioxide they are adding to the atmosphere each year.

Directions:• Each group has the a different family/individual described on their card. All these people live in different situations and use energy in different ways.• Read the information about the family’s energy use.• Use the worksheet to calculate their CO2 emissions.• Then, let’s discuss!

How do you use natural resources?Watch Where You Step© Facing the Future

First, Choose:• A Favorite Meal• A Favorite Object• A Piece of Clothing• A Mode of

Transportation

Then, Diagram:• Resources needed• Processes needed• Impacts on the

environment

Guiding questions• What’s it made of?• What resources are needed to make it?• What processes are needed to make it?• Is transportation required?• Are fossil fuels required?• What are the possible impacts?

slaughterhouse

packaging

Transport to the store

gasoline

highways

Refrigeratedtruck

styrofoam

plastic wrap Grazing landCattle feed

pesticides

fertilizer

Fossil fuels for tractors

water

water soil

soiltractors

sun

sun

Cow

Beef

cooking

stove naturalgas

pan

Transport home

gasoline

roads

car

refrigerator

© Facing the Future

Facing the Future Resources

Teacher lesson plan books Many lessons available for free

at www.facingthefuture.org

1-2 week curriculum units Containing lesson plans and student readings

Student textbooks

Linked to lessons available on website

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