UP:SC15.6.14
Vocabulary
- Natural processes
- Human activities
- Global temperatures
- Mean surface temperature
- Global warming
- Solar radiation
- Greenhouse Effect
- Volcanic activity
- Fossil fuels
- Combustion
- Urban heat islands
- Agriculture
- Natural systems
- Carbon dioxide (gases)
- Greenhouse gases
- Concentration
- Atmosphere
- Climate change
Knowledge
Students know:
- Natural processes and/or human activities may have affected the patterns of change in global temperatures over the past century, leading to the current rise in Earth's mean surface temperature (global warming).
- Natural processes may include factors such as changes in incoming solar radiation, the greenhouse effect, or volcanic activity.
- Human activities may include factors such as fossil fuel combustion, the creation of urban heat islands, and agricultural activity.
- Natural processes and/or human activities may lead to a gradual or sudden change in global temperatures in natural systems (e.g., glaciers and arctic ice, and plant and animal seasonal movements and life cycle activities).
- Natural processes and/or human activities may have led to changes in the concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere over the past century.
- Patterns in data connect natural processes and human activities to changes in global temperatures over the past century.
- Patterns in data connect the changes in natural processes and/or human activities related to greenhouse gas production to changes in the concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
- Reducing the level of climate change and reducing human vulnerability to whatever climate changes do occur depend on the understanding of climate science, engineering capabilities, and other kinds of knowledge, such as understanding of human behavior and on applying that knowledge wisely in decisions and activities.
Skills
Students are able to:
- Organize given data on various human activities, natural processes, and changes in local and global temperatures to allow for analysis and interpretation.
- Analyze the data to identify possible causal relationships between human activities and natural processes and changes in local and global temperature over time.
- Interpret patterns observed from the data to provide causal accounts for events and make predictions for events by constructing explanations.
Understanding
Students understand that:
- Human activities and natural processes may affect local and global temperatures over time.
Scientific and Engineering Practices
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Crosscutting Concepts
Stability and Change
