Investigation 5 - Explaining Impacts of a Warming Climate
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Class Time Required |
8-12 class periods |
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| 1-3 hours to read materials, watch videos, research and provide resources to students |
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Prior Student Knowledge |
Completion of Investigations 1-4. Experience with iMovie, Photo Story 3, Powerpoint, or other digital story applications would be helpful. |
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Vocabulary |
concise, storyboard, succinct |
| Science GLEs Addressed |
6th Grade: SA1.1, SA3.1 SE2.2 7th Grade: SA1.1, SA3.1 8th Grade: SA1.1, SE3.1 |
Overview: In this culminating activity, students will share their knowledge of the impacts of a warming climate with others by creating a digital story of the potential effects of a warming climate in their community, the Arctic, and/or the Bering Sea.
Focus Question:
How can we help others learn about the potential effects of a warming climate on our community, in the Bering Sea and/or in the Arctic?
Engagement: (1 class period)
Ask students to share their responses to this question:
"Why is it important that people become informed about the potential impacts of a warming climate to the Bering Sea ecosystem, the Arctic, or our community?"
After the discussion, tell students that their assignment is to create a digital story or documentary about the potential impacts to the Bering Sea, the Arctic, or their community if the climate continues to get warmer at an accelerating rate. (If technology in your school is lacking, students may write a newspaper article instead.)
Show a few of the following videos, or choose your own. These videos were chosen to illustrate several different methods for creating a story. The content is not always a warming climate. The idea is to help students begin to generate some creative ways they might approach the task of creating a digital story.
This movie is an example of using still photos, text, and music to create the story: Global Warming - Climate Change
CFL Lightbulbs in Plain English: An easy, but effective way to create a story, using narration, cutouts, a white board, and hands.
The following were created by students:
What is Global Warming? Text, images and student narration.
Give students time to review their science notebooks, reflecting on the things that they found interesting or important throughout the unit. They may also use some of their interview from the last investigation if it is appropriate.
Students can use video cameras to create their digital story if they are available, or they can create a digital story using photos, drawings, text, sounds, and/or illustrations. They may create their own illustrations, or find them on the Web. iMovie is an easy application to use to create the story. Photo Story 3 is a free downloadable application. PowerPoint can be used to create the story if there are no other applications available.
Exploration: (4-5 class periods)
Discuss the basic requirements and expectations for their finished product. Distribute the Digital Story rubric or one you have adapted or created, and discuss it with students. You may choose to have students help you adapt the rubric to fit your situation.
- Students should spend some time thinking about their story before they begin.
- The purpose of the story is to help others learn about the potential effects of climate change in the Bering Sea, in the Arctic, or in their community.
- Creating a storyboard will allow them to organize their ideas and give you the opportunity to help guide their thinking. Stories should be no more than 2 minutes in length, so students will need to get their message across in a short amount of time. There are several ways to create storyboards. Using 3 x 3 inch sticky notes allows students to rearrange and regroup easily. Using a storyboard template is also effective.
- The first part of the storyboard is the narrative or script. What is the message they want to convey? What are some important facts or concepts they want to share?
- When the narrative is complete, images can be created or collected to fit the story.
- If time and technology allow, music can be added.
Explanation: ( 2-5 class periods)
Plan a potluck dinner or another event and invite the community to learn about the students’ research throughout the unit. Share the finished stories with the class, school, and community. Divide up the tasks and assign to small groups of students. One or more groups might share aspects of the interviews, another group(s) might prepare to share results of the outdoor field investigations, and another group might be the “logistics coordinators” who take care of the overall coordination of the program, the invitations, and the setup.
Elaboration: (up to 4 class periods, as time permits)
Plan and begin a long-term project to monitor one or more potential impacts of climate change in your local ecosystem.
Post presentations and interviews on the Alaska Seas and Watersheds forum to share with students across the state.
Evaluation:
Use the Digital Story rubric to evaluate the student stories and assess their understanding.
Teacher Preparation
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Tips from Teachers |
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No tips are currently available. |
Read through all the materials and handouts. Look at local newspapers and Internet sources for examples of stories. Research the availability of cameras, software and other technology, and volunteers who have expertise in digital story production. Choose resources to be used, and arrange to make those available to students, utilizing information sources that students have already used during the unit.
Curricular Connections
Language Arts.Storytelling.Technology: digital media
| Student Handouts |
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| Items for Group Display |
Climate change videos |
| Material Items |
Computer and appropriate software for each student group Digital cameras, video cameras if available Drawing materials Poster board and art supplies if needed for presentations. Invitation materials and supplies for potluck if applicable. |
| Facility/Equipment Requirements |
Computer access for online research, word processing, and development of story. Software such as iMovie, PowerPoint, Photo Story 3, etc. If available and desired: video cameras and editing software Digital projector |
Alaska Science Standards and Grade Level Expectations Addressed:
6th Grade:
The student demonstrates an understanding of the processes of science by
SA1.1 asking questions, predicting, observing, describing, measuring, classifying, making generalizations, inferring, and communicating.*
The student demonstrates an understanding that interactions with the environment provide an opportunity for understanding scientific concepts by
SA3.1 gathering data to build a knowledge base that contributes to the development of questions about the local environment (e.g., moose browsing, trail usage, river erosion). (L)
7th Grade:
The student demonstrates an understanding of the processes of science by
SA1.1 asking questions, predicting, observing, describing, measuring, classifying, making generalizations, inferring, and communicating.*
The student demonstrates an understanding that interactions with the environment provide an opportunity for understanding scientific concepts by
SA3.1 designing and conducting a simple investigation about the local environment. (L)
8th Grade:
The student demonstrates an understanding of the processes of science by:
SA1.1 asking questions, predicting, observing, describing, measuring, classifying, making generalizations, inferring and communicating.*
The student demonstrates an understanding of how scientific discoveries and technological innovations affect our lives and society by
SE3.1 predicting the possible effects of a recent scientific discovery, invention, or scientific breakthrough.
Essential Questions:
Enduring Understandings:
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