Curriculum Unit
Tim Dorsey
Fossil Fuels and Our Changing Climate
Title Author
KEY LEARNING, ENDURING UNDERSTANDING, ETC.
Students will learn how to interpret data from a variety of sources to make predictions, learning about the concept of scale and how a collection of variables can be used to make a climate forecast. Students will then learn how the concentration of greenhouse gases can influence the earth’s temperature. Next students will learn about the choices and trade off of using fossil fuels to meet an energy demand.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION(S) for the UNIT
How are fossil fuels impacting our environment?
CONCEPT A CONCEPT B CONCEPT C
Managing Energy Choices
The Greenhouse Effect
Climate Change
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS A ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS B ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS C
What are the tradeoffs for generating energy from coal, oil, or natural gas?
How do greenhouse gases warm the earth?
How can you model the warming affect of carbon dioxide?
How can the color of a surface affect its temperature?
How has the earth changed throughout its history? What are the climate trends and forecast for the atmosphere? What are the climate trends and forecast for the hydrosphere? What are the climate trends and forecast for the cryosphere?
VOCABULARY A VOCABULARY A VOCABULARY A
Fracking, mining, bituminous coal, anthracite coal, trade off
Greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, greenhouse effect, albedo
Hydrosphere, Cryosphere, Scale, Sea Ice, Acidity, Gravimetry, Altimetry
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION/MATERIAL/TEXT/FILM/RESOURCES
Variety of Data Sets for Concept A – please follow this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QWRPTzI12-QS87EswEsuE6KZKiRqGYbhiSlX006w8CY/edit?usp=sharing
Variety of Videos and Simulations are optional for Concept B – please follow this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lHS7lP6T_pb4p3Xy41rSGEXH-tbm_V6APnRgJq0THI4/edit?usp=sharing
Game directions and cards for Concept C – please follow this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EEOt72D9xCd4cXHgcXbcIyrOtJVjHh8c4Rdouw-bqL8/edit?usp=sharing