Climate Change MEL
Grades9, 10, 11, 12Earth and Space Sciences, English Language Arts
What it is
This activity asks students to weigh four lines of evidence against two competing explanations for climate change, one stating that humans releasing gases into the atmosphere are the cause and the other stating that increasing energy from the Sun is the cause.
Students rate how plausible each model is, draw connections between the evidence and the models on a diagram, and complete an explanation task, and they can use lateral reading to judge the credibility of three online sources related to the evidence about solar activity.
Teaching tips
Preparation:
Take a look at the overview to understand the important context for MELs.
Print the student handouts.
Prerequisites:
An optional Plausibility Ranking Task can be completed before the activity to help students understand how evidence supports or refutes a model.
Use this activity after introducing the greenhouse effect so students have background knowledge for evaluating the evidence.
Extensions:
If students do well with this pre-constructed activity, consider challenging them with a more open-ended MEL activity.
Scientist's Note:
This resource guides students to learn how to evaluate scientific theories and ideas and normalizes the notion that these theories and ideas are updated with new evidence.
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Hosted on serc.carleton.edu
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