Activity
Day 1
1. Give a brief lecture on the four geo-spheres of planet
earth: lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere.
A good source is Your Guide to Geography by Matt Rosenberg
at: http://geography.about.com/od/physicalgeography/a/fourspheres.htm.
As students take notes, ask them to list examples of
each geo-sphere.
2. Ask students to get into in small groups to brainstorm
how climate change encompasses all of the geo-spheres.
Remind students of the previous lesson, “The Warming
Planet”. After five to ten minutes have the groups
share their ideas; list student responses on the board.
3. Tell the students that they are going to participate
in an imaginary road race that will take them around
the world.
First
they will become familiar with the website by doing
a warm up exercise. Give the students Warm
up exercise (Handout A) for
this exercise, where they will learn the meaning of
the terms used in the Race.
They
will travel to 8 different regions of the world where
they will compete to obtain a pair of
trekking shoes that will transport them to the
next region. In order to obtain the shoes they will
need to
complete
a special task that will be given to them by
the
race director (you the teacher). Give each student
a Race Log.
Tell them that the log must be presented
to the race director at the completion of each
regional race to be stamped. Once their log has been
stamped
they will be given a pair of trekking shoes that
will transport
them to the next regional race. A student competitor
who has received a stamp at each regional race
will have successfully completed the race.
Global
Warming Race Log Instructions:
Go to http://www.climatehotmap.org/
For each regional race you will click on the appropriate
map at http://www.climatehotmap.org/ in order to find the
required information to record in your field notebook and
complete the race.
Your race log must be stamped by the race director (teacher)
at the completion of each regional assignment in order to
receive the “trekking shoes” that will transport
you to the next regional race.
1. To complete each regional race you must complete three
tasks:
A) List three examples from the region that validates
the theory of global warming.
B) Identify each example as having an impact on one
of the four geo-spheres;
Lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, or atmosphere.
C) Show your field
notebook (Handout B) to the race director
in order to have your race log stamped.
D) After your log has been stamped you will receive
the “trekking
shoes” that will transport you to the next region.
Day 2: Take students to the computer
lab for the race.
Give each student a warm
up exercise sheet, an instruction
sheet, a race log, and the field
notes sheet.
After
they complete the warm up give them the
first pair of trekking shoes. As they complete the assignments
for each continent give them additional trekking shoes.
They will collect 9 shoes in all. The shoes can be glued
or taped to the race log.
Options:
You may
want to
give all of the students the same assignment
/trekking shoes so they all start the
race in the same place
or you may divide the class into eight
groups and have each
group begin in a different region of
the world.
Trekking Shoes
One
shoe for each continent for each student
cut from the trekking
shoes sheet.
 AFRICA
ANTARCTICA
ASIA
CENTRAL AMERICA
EUROPE AND RUSSIA
NORTH AMERICA
OCEANIA
SOUTH AMERICA
Day 3: If possible take the students to the computer
lab for the final activity or copy the following
articles “Global Warming-Impacts, Water Resources”, “Environmental
Quality & Recreation” and “Flood
Control” at
http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/ImpactsWaterResources.html
1. Have students read the articles or explore the site
to learn the impact that global warming can have on water
supplies.
2. Have students answer the following questions:
-
How will your quality of life change without an adequate
supply of water?
-
How might our health be affected?
-
What impact can global warming have on our economy?
-
Which regions of the United States would be most affected
by the impact of global warming on our water supplies?
3. Have students brainstorm the following
questions in small groups:
- What significant changes do you believe will occur in
the United States in the next 50 years
if global warming continues? List as many changes that you can think of.
- From the list you created with your partners, describe
an imaginary scenario of what life will
be like in the United States fifty years from now.
Closure
Drawing upon their field notebooks students should discuss,
as a class, the issue of climate change. Ask students
if they believe that there is compelling evidence to
support the contention that the earth is getting warmer
as a result of human actions. If so, what do they believe
world leaders should do?
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