An At-Home STEM Lesson Plan Crafted by BGCHarlem STEM Specialist Chaelee Dalton
Photo: Newsweek
Parents:
This week is our culminating lesson on climate and climate change!
Today, we will focus on what we can do personally, with our family, and with our communities, to respond to climate change and work for climate justice.
We will use what we learned from previous lessons about climate and climate change to better understand how we can better combat climate change.
If your child cannot read, read the text out loud to them. Ask them the questions and have them respond and/ or solve on a separate sheet of paper.
If your child can read, simply give them the second page of this handout and have them read the text out loud or in their head.
ANNOUNCEMENT: We’re going live on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays! Click here if you want your child to participate in our virtual after school program. Materials: Blank paper, pen or pencil, Internet access/YouTube
Addresses Common Core Standards:
Addresses NGS Standards:
Students:
Climate Justice Now!
Let’s begin by doing this quiz. This quiz will help us evaluate how much carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) a household emits each year. If you don’t know the answer to a question, be sure to ask a family member for help.
After you finish the quiz, look in the upper right corner of your screen. The first line should say ____ tons. This is how many tons of carbon dioxide your household emits every year.
Write down here or below the number of tons: _______tons of carbon dioxide.
Using the calculator, change one of your choices for household, transportation, or food. What is one choice you could make to reduce your household’s carbon dioxide emissions?
One choice I could make to reduce my household’s carbon dioxide emissions is
_______________________________________________________________.
According to the calculator, how much would your emissions be reduced by? _____ tons
Click on the Analysis section of the quiz and scroll to the two bar graphs (see below).
The bar graph compares your household’s carbon dioxide emissions (“Me”) to the average in the U.S.’ (“US”) and in the world (“World”). Compare your emissions to the U.S and the world.
My emissions are (more than, less than, equal to) __________ the average U.S. household’s emissions.
My emissions are (more than, less than, equal to) __________ the average world household’s emissions.
The average U.S. household’s emissions are (more than, less than, equal to) __________ the average world household’s emissions.
I think the average U.S. household’s emissions are more than the average world household’s emissions because _________________________________________.
Photo: PBS
Take a look at this graph above. The left side represents different household incomes or how much money a family makes, in one year.
The right side, the bars, represent the yearly carbon dioxide emissions for that household. Do you notice any trends in the graph?
Write below or on a separate piece of paper:
One trend I notice in the graph is _________________________________________.
From last week, we know that different cities would be affected differently due to sea levels rising.
We also see this week that different regions and groups of people have different impacts on climate change because regions and people with more wealth emit more carbon dioxide.
While it is important to make personal and household choices to combat climate change, it is also important to work with others nationally and globally for broader change.
Let’s finish by watching the video below about climate activist Xiye Bastida-Patrick.
After you watch the video, answer the questions below a piece of paper.
One thing Xiye Bastida-Patrick has done to address the climate crisis is ________________.
Xiye Bastida-Patrick’s age has affected her perspective on climate because __________________________________________________________________.
Xiye Bastida-Patrick’s background has affected her perspective on climate because __________________________________________________________________.
One thing I can do to address the climate crisis in my family, school, or in Harlem is _____________________________________________________________________.
Special thanks to our #STEMMondays partners:
Follow BGCHarlem social media channels for daily updates. And students, we would love to see your work!
Be sure to upload a picture of yourself with your completed lessons using the hashtag #BGCHarlem.
View our additional 'Resources For Students & Parents for Dealing with COVID-19' HERE