A toolkit of learning resources designed to involve Geography students in an active
appraisal of the impacts of climate change on the Arctic Ocean and its surroundings.
The Climate Change toolkit looks at the importance of careful data collection and
explores the different ways that data on ice thickness can be collected. This toolkit
encourages young people to debate the consequences for the planet of the warming
temperature.
At Home >>
Climate Change is an ideal resource for homework support. For younger children,
the short videos are a great way of putting the complex issue of climate change
into context; other content ranges from the importance of a cup of tea at the end
of a long day to the nutritional requirements of an explorer! For younger children,
Climate Change can be treated as complementary to The Story resource, perhaps through
a performance drama.
Chip Cunliffe, Catlin Arctic Survey, Head of Operations explains in a video clip,
how the ice thickness is measured. This puts an abstract concept into focus and
leads well into exercises where young people can explore the measurements taken
by the “ice team” and, by using the Excel spreadsheets, can plot their own measurements.
Answers are helpfully provided at the end of the resources. These can be removed
from the Guidance Notes (editable version for teachers) and given to young people
as a holiday challenge or in preparation for formal exams1.
At School >>
The versatile Climate Change resource is full of lesson ideas for a variety of subjects
including Geography, Maths, Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE), Citizenship,
Critical Thinking and General Studies. As the lesson ideas are not exam board specific,
they are ideal building blocks for coursework1 or debating a host of issues.
The short videos are a vital part of this resource. They introduce the technology
that is used to measure the ice and the difficult terminology associated with ice
measurement, all in an accessible way.
The addition of the editable teacher resources means that you can tailor the lessons
to suit your students’ needs.
The Climate Change Guidance Notes include many questions to debate regarding climate
change and other geographical questions that make ideal starters or plenaries to
lessons and so encourage independent thinking.
They are also ideal questions to be given to debating societies and students studying
Critical Thinking, part of the Model United Nations Society, Citizenship or the
‘Global Citizens’ unit in many PSHE schemes of work.
The resource then moves into the plotting of the ice, with exercises suitable for
students aged 14-16 who are working with the manipulation of data.
Those who are undertaking extended research2 will find a plethora of resources to
help them, particularly focusing on the issues of sustainable engineering and geo-engineering.
The excel spreadsheet allows students to interact with the data themselves and the
question sheets support homework activities. Teachers’ notes accompany the resource
and provide ideas for lessons, help with the planning of these lessons and ideas
for standalone lessons or how to incorporate Climate Change into a longer scheme
of work.
Due to the complex nature of some parts of the resource, they may also be suitable
for further education students who are researching unfamiliar situations3.