Friday: Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) Writing Practice

In science, students use a form of writing called Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) to construct scientific explanations.  Today, students will use the evidence they have collected throughout the week about climate change to practice writing CER statements.  Students have a template to use in Google Classroom.  In addition, students need to submit their Climate Change Claims and Evidence Note Catcher in Google Classroom by the end of the day.

Students that have finish with additional class time should check out these links:

• Radio Story: New England’s Ski Industry Prepares for a Changing Climate (5 min)
• Portland Press Herald: Meet Maine’s Arctic experts Article
• Bangor Daily News: 5 reasons Maine should care about warming Arctic waters Article
• TED Ed Video: Can wildlife adapt to climate change?
• TED Ed Video: Cloudy climate change: How clouds affect Earth’s temperature
• TED Ed Video: 300 years of fossil fuels in 300 seconds
• TED Ed Video: The secret to rising sea levels

ASSIGNMENTS:

• Climate Change Claims and Evidence Note Catcher needs to be submitted in Google Classroom by the end of the day (it was due yesterday)
• Claim, Evidence, Reasoning practice statements due by the end of the day (submit in Google Classroom).

Thursday: Analyzing Evidence

Today students are taking a closer look at evidence in order to better understand how evidence supports a specific claim.  From their notes collected this week, students will need to identify which pieces of evidence best support the claim.  Students will practice this together using this activity: Warm-Up- Identifying the best evidence to support a claim

ASSIGNMENT:

• 8-12 pieces of evidence for each claim in the Note Catcher, due today
• 3-4 of the best pieces of evidence highlighted for each claim in the Note Catcher, due Fri

Tuesday & Wednesday: Climate Change Claims and Evidence

Building on their work from yesterday, students will be reading one to two articles in class today to look for additional evidence in support or not in support of scientists’ claims about climate change.  The articles students will need for class include:

• Newsela: Climate change confirmed? Last year called the warmest on record
• Science News for Students: The certainty of climate change
• Newsela: After losing huge amount, Greenland ice is melting faster than ever

Additional Articles (for students trying the “Exceeds the Standard”):

• Portland Press Herald: Maine’s warm February: Is our unusual winter weather due to climate change?
• Science News for Students: Earth breaks heat record for third year straight
• Science News for Students: Arctic Sea could be ice-free by 2050
• Science News for Students: Feverish climate is melting glaciers, study confirms
• The Guardian: Humans causing climate to change 170 times faster than natural forces (advanced reading level)
• Newsela: Climate change: Northeast US on pace to warm faster than any place on Earth
• Newsela: Global warming is causing coral on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to die

Students also reviewed the grading rubric for their Notes Catcher assignment (rubric and assignment in Google Classroom).

ASSIGNMENT:

• 3 additional pieces of evidence in the first two pages of the Climate Change Notes Catcher (for a total of 9 in each section) due Thursday, grading rubric in google classroom.

Monday: Claims and Evidence about Earth’s Climate

Students have done a lot of work this year in Science, ELA and Social Studies examining claims and evidence writing.  This week we are taking a closer look at scientific claims and evidence with the focus on Earth’s climate.  Students will be looking for evidence that supports or does not support the following two claims commonly made by climate scientists:

Claim 1: Earth’s climate is changing.

Claim 2: Humans are causing Earth’s climate to change.

Students will need to focus on relevant evidence that comes from a specific scientist or research agency and includes specific quantifiable data.  Students will be using a “Note Catcher” in google classroom to collect their research.  They will be using this research to write a claims and evidence statement later this week.  Both the Note Catcher and the Claim and Evidence Writing are considered formal assessments of student learning and will be entered as a “test grade” in Infinite Campus.

Today in class students will focus on data specifically from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that they collected in last week’s Climate Change Webquest. Students are expected to have at least 3 pieces of evidence/notes from the EPA in each section of the Notes Catcher when they come to class tomorrow.

ASSIGNMENT:

• 3 pieces of evidence/notes from the EPA for each section of the Notes Catcher (located in google classroom) due Tuesday at the start of class.

Tuesday – Friday: EPA Climate Data

For the next few days, students are going to look at data and findings from the Environmental Protection Agency (also known as the EPA) about climate change. The EPA is the United States’ agency that oversees the environment. Recent data about Earth’s ocean and surface temperatures, the strength of recent hurricanes, changing rain and snow patterns, sea levels and the amount of sea ice all point to changes in Earth’s overall climate.

Use the links below to gather information for class:

• Greenhouse Gases
• The Climate in the Past
• Ruled Out
• Signs of Climate Change
• What You Can Do

Students that finish before with extra time can check out these links:

• CARBON CYCLE GAME
• CARBON VIDEOS (start with episode 1)
• HOW GLOBAL WARMING WORKS VIDEOS

ASSIGNMENTS:

• Climate Change Webquest due Friday

Friday: HOWLs Review

Today students took some time to reflect on their second trimester at LMS.  Students completed a self-assessment on how they feel they are doing with their Habits of Work and Learning (HOWLs) in the areas of Respect, Responsibility and Perseverance.  Students will be using these reflections to set goals for their final trimester of the year.  Final science HOWLs grades for term 2 will be posted in Infinite Campus later next week.

Thursday: Researching Greenhouse Gases

Many students have brought up the idea of The Greenhouse Effect in class.  Today we will discuss what this term means and students will research specific gases known as Greenhouse Gases.  Here are resources from class:

• ASSIGNMENT: CO2 Emissions Research
• Types of Greenhouse Gases Vocabulary Page
• Greenhouse Gas Pie Charts
• Link to EPA Research Website

ASSIGNMENTS:

• ASSIGNMENT: CO2 Emissions Research
• Carbon Cycle Game Notes due Fri
• Introduction to Carbon Cycle Notes due Fri

Wednesday: Carbon Cycle Game

Today students will be modelling how carbon moves throughout the carbon cycle.  Important things to remember are that the amount of carbon on Earth doesn’t change, but whether it exists as a solid, gas or liquid and where it is located on Earth does change.  Students that missed today’s class should plan to come in before school or stay after on Thursday to make up the activity.

ASSIGNMENTS:

• Carbon Cycle Game Notes due Fri
• Introduction to Carbon Cycle Notes due Fri

Monday: Introduction to the Carbon Cycle

As a continuation of our study of the atmosphere and climate, students will be learning about the Carbon Cycle today.  Much like water, carbon cycles throughout Earth in the form of a solid, liquid and gas.  See the notes from class today to review:

• Introduction to Carbon Cycle
• Introduction to Carbon Cycle Notes

Students that finish with extra time can check out these videos:

• TED Ed: Climate Change as Earth’s Giant Game of Tetris
• Khan Academy: The atmosphere and climate
• TED Ed: The Carbon Cycle

ASSIGNMENTS:

• Introduction to Carbon Cycle Notes due Tuesday
• Revisions to the Google Earth Assessment (in Google Classroom) due by 3:30 on Thursday as well as missing work for this trimester – the end of the trimester is Friday.
• Homework/assignment support is available with me each morning this week at 7:15, Monday from 2:15-3:30 and Thursday from 2:15 until 2:45

Friday: Comparing Climate and Weather

Today students in class applied what they learned about climate and weather by comparing examples of climate and weather.  Students had to sort these examples into the correct category:

Typically rainfall in June will be under 5 inches

The earth’s temperature has increased 1 degree F over the past 100 years

This winter should be colder than normal

There is a severe thunderstorm watch for the local area

It has never gone above 100 F in the month of May

The low temperature last night was 10 degrees above normal

The skies are clearing

A cold front is expected to cause lower temperatures this week

Each year we lose more of the polar ice caps due to melting

During the Ice Age, Earth was colder than it is now

Following this, students used online climate and weather data to compare different places in the world.  Students used the “history” feature on https://www.wunderground.com/ to look at recent and historical data.

ASSIGNMENTS:

• The end of the trimester is Friday, March 17th.  Students who want to come in to get additional help with science work can do so any day before school at 7:15, this upcoming Monday from 2:15 until 3:15 and this upcoming Thursday from 2:15 until 2:45.