Positives

• The paper is excellent practice for reading academic papers in the future.
• The worksheet includes a glossary of key terms and there are links to additional resources provided.
• The supplemental videos help provide additional context and information to the paper.
  

Additional Prerequisites

• Teachers must fill in a form with their name, email, and school information to access the teacher's key, which includes answers to the discussion questions.
• Students should be familiar with reading and interpreting maps and bar graphs.

Differentiation

• It may be helpful for some students to use the audio version of the article (the first video on the webpage).
• To help younger students process the article, have them answer the comprehension questions orally in groups before putting their responses in writing.
• Just as some parts of the article are highlighted, have students practice annotating and highlighting parts of the article they consider most important.
• As a follow-up activity, have students create questions for the scientists, swap with another student, and answer each other's questions by researching online.
• Watch this video to learn more about how the urban heat island effect impacts communities of color.
• Physics classes can use this paper to connect to lessons about heat transfer, thermodynamics, and properties of materials.
• Biology classes can connect this resource to lessons about heat stroke, homeostasis, trees, evapotranspiration, the water cycle, green spaces, and ecosystems services.