Positives

• This article serves as an excellent example of providing scientific evidence to defend a claim and explaining research methods.
• This reading will support learners in developing their scientific literacy as they read a brief technical text with domain-specific vocabulary, multiple units of measurement, and a concise tone.

Additional Prerequisites

• Learners should be familiar with the unit gigaton, the unit in which carbon emissions are measured.
• Learners should understand concepts such as carbon sequestration, carbon sink, carbon emissions, and land conversion.
• This interactive table of solutions can be used to show students the rankings of solutions by scenario on the Drawdown website and may make it easier to understand the relative impact of grassland protection.

Differentiation

• The information in this article provides the opportunity for interdisciplinary study in math, biology, and ecology by quantifying the different models and results of land protection.
• Consider having students discuss social and economic barriers to grassland protection and talk critically about the viability of this solution.
• To investigate other solutions to help reduce greenhouse gas levels check out the articles on forest protection and walkable cities.
• As an extension, students could identify major grassland habitats and species in their region and investigate whether or not they are legally protected or if they contain endangered or threatened species.