Climate Change: Learning Log 2 – Sustainable Development Reflections

In the lecture this week, we looked at climate change and the effects that it has around the world. This was very interesting as ideas were shared on the ways in which you would approach teaching children about climate change. We looked at geographical maps that documented the ways in which climate change was effecting the ice caps as well as watching a clip of a man investigating the ways in which floods affect people and the environment. It was a very interesting lecture in terms of the facts that were given out.

The first workshop focused mostly on the weather aspect of climate change, with several practical experiments. We were stationed into six separate groups with a task to do at each station. However, before we started these tasks the full class had to fill out an activity sheet on a specific biome. My group were given a tundra (Northern Siberia) where we had to research; the type of land, the climate, temperature, weather, water, types of animals, plants, people and dangers. The task was that we were stranded in our designated biome with little resources and we had to describe how we would survive. Though this task was one of my favourites out of the whole workshop, to put it to use in a classroom there would need to be significant modifications such as; more time, a fact sheet, more precise instructions etc.

The next activity was creating a tornado in a jar. This was interesting as it was a simplistic version of how a real tornado is formed in real life. The materials needed was; a clear jar with lid, food dye, fairly liquid and a dropper. We were supposed to fill up the jars with water and add a few drops of fairly liquid and food dye then close the lid. Then the jar was swirled around in a circle to create the tornado. Unfortunately, I never got a video of this but this is something that would be worth doing in a class. It was a very engaging activity and would be effective when used in association with either the topic of climate change or weather.

Weather systems was the focus of the next activity. In our group, we had to fill a clear fish tank up with room temperature water and place a cup filled with hot water, red dye and two stones to weigh the cup down and a cup filled with cold water, blue dye and two stones to weigh the cup down at the same time. These two cups represented air front, the red standing for warm and the blue standing for cold. What was interesting about this was that both dyes and water temperature reacted differently when placed in the tank. The red dye stayed up the top and the blue dye sank to the bottom acting as a visual representation of the nature of weather fronts. The video below shows the results. The would again be an effective lesson when educating children on weather fronts.

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Another activity was to create two identical snowflakes and scrunch one up into a ball then drop them down from the same height to see what one reached the bottom first. The pictures and video below show my work. This would be an effective way to teach children about either air resistance or the weather i.e. how different elements are formed and fall (hail and snow).

There was also an activity on the water system in the shape of a quiz which was a fun way to learn about what may be considered a boring topic.

The last activity related again to biomes. We were supposed to create our own animal based on the biome we picked and then write down a bunch of facts that make the animal suited to that environment. This would be an amazing task to do with children of any age as it is bringing in multiple skills including; researching, creating and construction.

Surprisingly our second input on climate change was focused on the political aspect. In small groups, we were handed several resources to look through/watch and decide what the most important for the thing we had been assigned. My group were told to look at climate change from the perspective of an elderly couple living in the suburbs of New Orleans. We were to look at each resource with them in mind, what they would need more than the rest. It was decided that the temperature would be the biggest issue for the couple. As climate change is happening, the earth is gradually getting warmer. This leads to not only increased sea levels from the ice caps melting but also can lead to infrastructure and health problems. Not to mention that natural disasters such as hurricanes thrive in warm air and when taking into consideration hurricane Catrina not that long ago we figured that this would be a priority. When deciding all of this we were looking at protocols such as the Kyoto and Montreal protocol and list what we believe the government can do to help the couple. This proved to be an effective way to get involved in the lesson as well as learn the right stuff. It improved our note taking, listening, writing and researching skills.

The directed study task this week was to calculate our carbon footprint, watch a video clip called “Antarctica on the Edge” and read ‘Climate Challenge (Scotland) Act 2009’. As stated previously I thoroughly enjoyed calculating my own carbon footprint and can see why that is an important thing to do. The legislation however was not a very fun read, but again I see the importance in being able to name the main points of the Act when it comes to assignment time.

Skills I have developed:

Working cooperatively
Researching
Recording
Reporting
Observing
Knowledge

Climate change relates to primary teaching in multiple ways. The most important (to me) is the fact that children are the future. If we don’t educate young people on the impacts and effects that climate change has on the world then there is little hope for it to be slowed down.

Part of the directed study task helped to emphasise this point to me. We were to find out our carbon footprint, which seems easy enough but it was rather daunting. Before this I thought I had a low carbon footprint but it turns out its 111%! If that is just one person who thought they were somewhat ‘healthy’ for the planet, what is an entire generations carbon footprint going to do? If they are educated early then that may lead them to adopt healthier habits which in turn may reduce the rate of climate change.

The clip “Antarctica on the Edge” was extremely eye opening. I was not aware of just how much damage is being done to the earth due to climate change and it was interesting to see the effects first hand. Watching something like this in a class would be a great activity as the children would be seeing how climate change is effecting the world possibly helping them to understand the importance of it.

This theme has enhanced my knowledge of climate change. Before the inputs, I thought climate change was only to do with the weather however I now know that there are multiple contributing factors that cause climate change as well as several different negative effects. After the inputs there were several unanswered questions flowing around my head and so I am going to do some further reading into the topic as a whole in order to educate myself more.

The one area in which I was most interested in was the freak weather incidences that may or may not be a result of climate change. We watched a clip in the lecture of a man testing out how different things hold up in floods which was very interesting that I went home and watched the full video. This would be the type of video that would really get everyone’s attention and so I can see myself incorporating some things like this in future lessons.

Another area that I am interested in researching further is my carbon footprint. Pictured below is my carbon footprint as described by the WWF Website. This number shocked be as I thought my carbon footprint would be a lot smaller. I am planning to research ways in which I can reduce my carbon footprint and do my part to making the world a better place.