Module 7 How is the earth's climate connected?

How is the earth's climate connected to geological, biological, and cultural systems?

Explain:

  It's easy to understand how climate affects cultural and  biological systems - just look at evolution and some of the physical characteristics that people and animals have evolved to survive, and it's easy to understand that the climate drives changes in plants, animals, and people.  I can teach this to third graders so they can understand it.  Stretching a little farther, I can also teach them that geological processes such as volcanoes like the one at Mt Redoubt  pictured below

put out enough gasses into the atmosphere to change climate (and as far as cultural and human connections, well, anyone who had to fly past Anchorage during those two weeks and was grounded knows firsthand how geological processes can affect us).  Where the going gets tough for me is teaching the other direction - getting my students to understand that culture can have an effect on geological processes.

It's tough to conceptualize that people can change climate, especially for a little kid - "The climate is big and lasts a long time, I'm small and will be alive for a short time, therefore I don't matter" is kind of along the lines of their thinking. This unit taught me that this is not true, and I'm trying to teach that to my students. Explaining something like global warming and glacial rebound in a way that an eight year old can understand it is, to say the least, a challenge.

Extend:

  So how do I explain it? Well, to start out, because earth is a closed system - ie: all the material, elements, ("stuff"), in the world are here already,  we don't  get or grow any new "stuff" - we simply shuffle  from one place to the other.   A good way to teach this is to place the carbon cycle game, designed by Alaska Project Wild where students are each an atom of carbon that goes from place to place in the classroom - living organisms, the atmosphere, and even carbon sinks such as the ocean or the rock. It is a good way to get kids to understand the recycling of carbon.

Another lesson that I haven't used that is similar to that is one my buddy in Wrangell taught - He started it out by passing out pretzels and saying "You are eating the same salt that your grandfather ate". Kinda gross, but it gets the kids of sit up.

I also use The Alaska Science Forum to get information for my class. This linked article was on Glacial Rebound in Lituya Bay. I explain that by telling the kids to imagine that the earth's crust is like a water bed - if there is a bunch of ice on the crust that is like someone sitting on the bed. When the ice melts and runs off, the bed springs back up.

The TD movies are good but I think the only one I would use with my class is Global Warming and Greenhouse Effect.  I don't expect them to take to much away from it, but I want them to understand that the amount of greenhouse gasses does effect our environment.

Evaluate:

How is this relevant?  Well, understanding that, (with the exception of a few trace elements coming in from meteors) the "stuff" that we have here on Earth is all we will ever have and we will just keep reusing it, it's very relevant that we know how to protect it.  Mankind has figured out how to tap into carbon sinks like natural gas, fossil fuel, and coal, and are releasing carbon into the atmosphere faster than nature has ever been able to do before. This will affect the balance of the earth systems.

You cannot be an Alaskan and not affected by oil. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline  (below) literally crosses our state.

According to Pipeline facts, over 15 billion barrels of oil has moved through the pipe, and each barrel has been burned and released into the atmosphere.  Whether this is a bad thing or not, it is important to understand that burning fuel can and will shift the balance of the climate systems, and be aware of what those shifts will result in, before we make our choices.

Three C's

 I visited Esther's blog who has an interesting story about getting sunburn in Hawaii and oceans absorbing heat.

I visited Amy at Amy's Explore Alaska who thought that the video of Arctic haze was interesting and  wondered what it will be like fifteen years from now...

I visited my buddy Matt Hunter (just to see if he did module seven yet) and got a good recommendation for the book Firecracker Boys