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Climate Change Toolkit:
Modeling Climate Change (teacher guide)
Recommended Grade Level(s):
Appropriate for: Grade 8
Standards:
a. Evidence—Evidence consists of observations and data on which to base scientific explanations. The goal is to help students
use evidence to understand interactions and predict changes.
b. Models—Models are tentative schemes or structures that correspond to real objects, events, or classes of events, and that
have explanatory power. The goal is to help students learn how to make and use many models, including physical objects,
plans, mental constructs, mathematical equations, and computer simulations.
c. Explanations—Explanations provide interpretation, meaning, or sense to objects, organisms, or events. Explanations incor-
porate existing scientific knowledge and new evidence from observations, experiments, or models into internally consistent,
logical statements, such as hypotheses, laws, principles, and theories. The goal is to help students create explanations which
incorporate a scientific knowledge base, logic, and higher levels of analysis
Time Requirements:
Activity Time: 90 minutes
Objective:
Students will use their knowledge of climate modeling to predict the outcome of their investigation into air temperature and rate
of ice melting as it responds to placement in various manipulated climates.
Essential Question:
Can we use models to simulate the interactions of systems on our planet?
Teaching Notes:
Climate models enable scientists to make reasonable predictions about the interactions of the systems on our planet. They condense
large volumes of interconnected data and attempt to mitigate discrepancies that could occur due to those interactions. Current climate
models primarily focus on surface and ocean temperatures and carbon dioxide emissions. Making predictions should allow us to prepare
for future climate change and examine where our attention should be focused in order to maximize the effectiveness of any efforts we
make to ameliorate the problem. This activity will allow students to create their own small scale climate model and test their predictions
against what actually occurs when they conduct their experiment.
Introduction:
• Students will view the Teachers Domain video clip: Climate Models
• The following essential questions will be addressed during classroom discussion following the video:
1. What is a climate model and what is its purpose?
2. What can climate models tell us?
3. How can climate models help us plan for climate change?
