Inquiry (5E) Lesson Plan: Climate Investigation

Teachers: Paul Hudak

Subject: Earth and Space
Science Greenhouse unit
Standard:
HS-ESS6C2: Energy in the Earth System (Both Internal and External).

Grade: High School

PO 17: Investigate the effects of acid rain, smoke, volcanic dust, urban development and
greenhouse gases on climate change over various periods of time.

Objective (Explicit):
Describe forcings on Earths atmosphere, including the effects of volcanic dusts and manmade greenhouse
emissions, on climate change
Evidence of Mastery (Measurable):
Include a copy of the lesson assessment.
Provide exemplar student responses with the level of detail you expect to see.
Assign value to each portion of the response
Students will create a Climate Investigation that answers key questions and defines vocabulary.
Students will sketch two curves comparing volcanic debris levels and temperature.
Students will complete a 3-4 page paper describing natural variability and global climate disruption.
SWBAT complete quizzes as assessments
Sub-objectives, SWBAT (knowledge, skill, purpose):
How is this objective relevant to students, their lives, and/or the real world?
What skills and content are needed to ultimately master this lesson objective?
How will you review past learning and make connections to previous lessons?
SWBAT apply understanding of heat transfer and the carbon cycle to make predictions about climate change
SWBAT define key vocabulary
SWBAT sketch a comparison between temperature and aerosol levels
SWBAT describe the relationship between natural climate variability, human activities and climate change
SWBAT defend a position about climate change

Key vocabulary:

Materials:

Anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Natural

Climate Variability, Paleoclimatology, Atmospheric
Aerosols, Global Climate Disruption

Computers, Internet, WebQuest worksheet ID#171623, science

notebooks

Engage (10 min)

How will you activate prior knowledge?
How will you hook student attention?
What question will you pose, based on your objective, that students will seek to answer in Explore?

Teacher Will:

Students Will:

Teacher will communicate the big idea by explicitly

describing the lesson objective. Teacher will
activate prior knowledge by summarizing previous
lessons about heat transfer, the chemistry of
greenhouse gases and the CO2 cycle. The hook
will be a 2.5 min video The Truth About Climate
Change.
EQ1: What is natural climate variability?

Students will create a document called Climate Investigation

and begin working on the first 2 pages of the WebQuest. This
can be typed or handwritten in their science notebooks.The
Climate Investigation will be separated into sections for
students to answer questions. The first section answers the
questions on page one and two of the webquest. The first page
of the webquest provides an introduction and a video. The
second page provides links and a list of vocabulary terms to
define.

Explore (10 min)

How will you model your performance expectations? (remember you are not modeling what you want students
to discover but need to model expected behavior or required procedures).
How will students take the lead and actively use materials to discover information that will help them answer
the question posed in the Engage?
What questions or prompts will you be prepared to use with students while they are exploring?
Teacher Will: After the first 2 pages of the
Students Will: Proceed to the third page and continue to
webquest are complete, explain what to do on the
section 2, answering questions about the links to articles
rd
rd
3 page (section 2). The 3 page which has links to provided. Document their answers in their Climate
reputable sources about certain aspects of climate
Investigation.

change. Prompt students to explore the articles and

write about their findings.
Co-Teaching Strategy
What co-teaching approach will you use to maximize student achievement?
Teacher can model the webquest approach and check in with ELLs / IEPs
Differentiation Strategy
What accommodations/modifications will you provide for specific students?
How will you anticipate students that need an additional challenge?
Gallery walk, check for understanding
Explain (5 min)
How will all students have an opportunity to share what they discovered?
How will you connect student discoveries to correct content terms/explanations?
How will all students articulate/demonstrate a clear and correct understanding of the sub-objectives by
answering the question from the Engage before moving on?
Teacher Will:
Students Will: Students will provide answers and discuss
ideas. Natural climate variability means that the climate
Review what students did in Explore and make
changes naturally without human activity due to volcanic
connections to the big idea. Ask class EQ1: What is emissions, changes in sunlight or Earths orbit, smoke from
meant by natural climate variability? Ask around the wildfires and changes in ice at the poles reflecting sunlight into
room for ideas.
space. Even the asteroid that hit Earth 65 million years ago
kicked up dust that blocked sunlight creating an extinction
event.
Co-Teaching Strategy
What co-teaching approach will you use to maximize student achievement?
Go back to the Big Idea about climate change and refer back to previous lessons
Differentiation Strategy
What accommodations/modifications will you provide for specific students?
How will you anticipate students that need an additional challenge?
Provide ELLs a chance to discuss in a group, pictures of natural phenomenon, write info on board

Elaborate (15 min)

How will students take the learning from Explore and Explain and apply it to a new circumstance or explore a
particular aspect of this learning at a deep level?
How will students use higher order thinking at this stage (e.g. A common practice in this section is to pose a
What If? Question)?
How will all students articulate how their understanding has changed or been solidified?

Teacher Will:

Students Will:

Once EQ1 is discussed, EQ2 can be asked: Is

climate changing today because of natural
variability or because of human activity?

Proceed to 4 page and complete volcano sketch handout.

th
After completion, students will go to the 5 page of the
WebQuest to take quizzes. Write down anything they missed
and write score for each of the 3 quizzes on handout.

Describe pages 4 and 5 to the class. Page 4 has a

worksheet for the students to sketch two curves:
one for temperature and one for volcanic emissions.

th

After quizzes are done, students proceed to page 6. Choose a

topic and will write about it outside of class. Turn in the next
week.

This handout was distributed during Explore.

AFTER the sketch is complete, assign the quizzes
to take in class. Student can write their 3 quiz
scores on the back of the sketch handout.

Page 6 describes their assignment which is a 3-4 page paper

they have to write defending their point of view. They can
choose 1 of 3 topics: Climate change is due to human activity,
Climate change is natural, or the climate isnt changing.

Circulate the room and check for understanding

while students take quiz.
Co-Teaching Strategy
What co-teaching approach will you use to maximize student achievement?
Provide extra assistance during directions, have other teacher help navigate website.
Differentiation Strategy
What accommodations/modifications will you provide for specific students?
How will you anticipate students that need an additional challenge?
Present instructions with visual aide on screen. Gallery walk to check in on students that may require assistance. IEPs
and ELLs can write 1-2 pages.

Evaluate/Closure (9 min)
How will all students demonstrate mastery of the lesson objective (though perhaps not mastery of the
elaborate content)?
How will students have an opportunity to summarize the big concepts they learned (separate from the
assessment)?

Teacher Will:
Bring together all of the closing points about natural
variability. We learned that natural processes affect
the atmosphere, as do human activities. Ask around
the room for vocabulary (Anthropogenic Emissions,
Paleoclimatology). Check for understanding, ask
questions from quiz if time permits.
Briefly explain that the paper is due next week.

Students Will:
Sign out of laptops, turn in Climate Investigation,
answer questions about closure. Discuss ideas
about EQ2.