ES: Geography, Climate, and Human Cities

12 Components
Unit Overview
Geography, Human Cities, and Climate Change Unit Plan Where Would You Live? Performance Task Unit 7 Regent-Based Item Bank
5E Instructional Model Plans
Geographical Representations (Topographic/Contour Maps) 5E Instructional Model Plan What is Climate? 5E Instructional Model Plan Altitude, Mountain Ranges, and Bodies of Water 5E Instructional Model Plan Coastal vs. Inland Climate 5E Instructional Model Plan Climate Change 5E Instructional Model Plan
Laboratory Experience
Make a Contour Map Lab
Highlighted Resources
What Do the Contour Lines Tell Us? Lake Effect Snow How Does El Nino Affect Climate?
ES Unit 7: ES: Geography, Climate, and Human Cities
Browse Components
Unit Overview
Geography, Human Cities, and Climate Change Unit Plan Where Would You Live? Performance Task Unit 7 Regent-Based Item Bank
5E Instructional Model Plans
Geographical Representations (Topographic/Contour Maps) 5E Instructional Model Plan What is Climate? 5E Instructional Model Plan Altitude, Mountain Ranges, and Bodies of Water 5E Instructional Model Plan Coastal vs. Inland Climate 5E Instructional Model Plan Climate Change 5E Instructional Model Plan
Laboratory Experience
Make a Contour Map Lab
Highlighted Resources
What Do the Contour Lines Tell Us? Lake Effect Snow How Does El Nino Affect Climate?
5E Instructional Model Plan:

Climate Change 5E Instructional Model Plan

Plan for teaching about different factors that influence climate, using the 5E Instructional Model as a framework

5-7 days
See Standards
Earth Science (NY State Core Curriculum, 2005) - Standard 4:
ES 2

Key Idea 2: Many of the phenomena that we observe on Earth involve interactions among components of air, water, and land.

ES 2.1

PERFORMANCE INDICATOR 2.1: Use the concepts of density and heat energy to explain observations of weather patterns, seasonal changes, and the movements of Earth's plates.

ES 2.1a

MAJOR UNDERSTANDING 2.1a: Earth systems have internal and external sources of energy, both of which create heat.

ES 2.1h

MAJOR UNDERSTANDING 2.1h: Atmospheric moisture, temperature and pressure distributions; jet streams, wind; air masses and frontal boundaries; and the movement of cyclonic systems and associated tornadoes, thunderstorms, and hurricanes occur in observable patterns. Loss of property, personal injury, and loss of life can be reduced by effective emergency preparedness.

ES 2.1i

MAJOR UNDERSTANDING 2.1i: Seasonal changes can be explained using concepts of density and heat energy. These changes include the shifting of global temperature zones, the shifting of planetary wind and ocean current patterns, the occurrence of monsoons, hurricanes, flooding, and severe weather.

ES 2.2

PERFORMANCE INDICATOR 2.2: Explain how incoming solar radiation, ocean currents, and land masses affect weather and climate.

ES 2.2d.ii
  • Human influences including deforestation, urbanization, and the production of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane.
Analysis, Inquiry, and Design SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY (NY State Core Curriculum, 2005) - Standard 1:
SI 1

KEY IDEA 1: The central purpose of scientific inquiry is to develop explanations of natural phenomena in a continuing and creative process

SI 1.2

PERFORMANCE INDICATOR 1.2: Hone ideas through reasoning, library research, and discussion with others, including experts

SI 3

KEY IDEA 3: The observations made while testing proposed explanations, when analyzed using conventional and invented methods, provide new insights into natural phenomena.

SI 3.1

PERFORMANCE INDICATOR 3.1: Use various methods of representing and organizing observations (e.g. diagrams, tables, charts, graphs, equations matrices) and insightfully interpret the organized data

Common Core Learning Standards - Grades 6-12 Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, & Technical Subjects:
9-10.R.ST.3

Reading: Key Ideas and Details

Follow precisely a complex multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks attending to special cases or exceptions defined in the text. 

9-10.R.ST.4

Reading: Craft and Structure

Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 9–10 texts and topics.

9-10.R.ST.7

Reading: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Translate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text into visual form (e.g., a table or chart) and translate information expressed visually or mathematically (e.g., in an equation) into words.

9-10.R.ST.10

Reading: Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity band independently and proficiently

9-10.W.HST.10

Writing: Range of Writing

Write routinely over extended time frames (time for reflection and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Students learn about the greenhouse effect and how an increasing concentration of greenhouse gases are contributing to a rise in average global temperature. Students further their understanding of how humans are contributing to current climate change by reading an interactive text and watching a video. Students extend their thinking by exploring the implications of climate change in the regions be analyzed for the performance task.

Resources: