A Changing Climate in the Great Lakes (Lesson 2)

Transcription

1 A Changing Climate in the Great Lakes (Lesson 2) Subject/ target grade: Science/High School (10 th Grade) Duration: 2 periods of 55 minutes apiece. Setting: Classroom. Materials and Equipment Needed: (All material found in CD-ROM provided with lesson) Per class Computer and LCD projector Climate Change and Your Community (Interactive Presentation) Per student (or group of 3-4 students) Global and Great Lakes Climate Change Graph; provide a printed copy for each student (Procedure 2) Magnetic cards that each has a factor that may be influenced by climate change printed on the front. Two sets of cards have Increase and Decrease printed on the front (Procedure 1) Learning Objectives: Students will be able to: 1) Explain climate change, describe the supportive data, and predict the potential effects on local ecosystems and biodiversity (B1.1f, B1.1e.). 2) Identify actions that could be taken by governmental, special interest, and public groups to decrease the predicted effects of climate change B1.2B). Michigan Content Expectations: B1.1g Based on empirical evidence, explain and critique the reasoning used to draw a scientific conclusion or explanation. B3.4C Examine the negative impact of human activities; B3.4e List the possible causes and consequences of global warming. Lesson Overview: Students will be introduced to the concepts of climate change, understand the scientific evidence, and predict how the Great Lakes watershed may change with increasing temperatures. Students will determine some of the threats facing the Great Lakes if current climate change scenarios are realized. Lesson Core The Guiding Question: How a changing climate alters the biological, social and economic conditions found in the Great Lakes? Safety precautions: None Advanced Preparation: Students will have received an introductory lesson on major concepts regarding climate change including the difference between weather, climate, the greenhouse effect, historic changes in climate, and anthropogenic effects increasing CO 2. They will have completed Lesson 1 where the students will have discussed global and Great Lakes CO 2 and temperature data. Student will have completed the interactive on-line assignments found in the Environmental Protection Agency s: A Student s Guide to Global Climate Change. x.html. Background Information for Teachers: An increasing climate has been documented in the Great Lakes region with high variability over the past few decades; this is Ecology Unit Great Lakes Climate Change Lesson 2 1

2 especially evident because of the short time period of monitoring. The global increase has exhibited less variability due to buffering of the numerous sample locations and regional differences. The data used for tracking Great Lakes climate change is from both atmospheric and water temperature data. These were collected from air monitoring stations and boats and buoys respectively. Warming has also been observed in the Great Lakes by data collected using satellite thermal imaging (Schneider and Hook 2010). Recent predictions of an increasing air temperature in the Great Lakes, and subsequent water temperatures, have scientists concerned that animals, particularly fish may be vulnerable to the effects of an increasing climate. Even though much of the recent dialogue about climate change has focused on atmospheric increases there is concern that increasing water temperatures have the potential to change the biological community of regional lakes. All fish species have temperature ranges which are optimal for their growth and metabolic functions and an increasing water temperature would shift many aquatic systems towards warmer water species. In the Great Lakes this could negatively impact many functions of the lake including the recreational and commercial uses of humans (Hill and Magnuson 1990). Important Terms: Temperature Anomaly: The temperature deviation from what is considered normal. Anthropogenic impacts: Human impact on the environment. Climate variability: Long-term climate averages produced by significant annual climate variability. Optimal Temperatures for Growth: The temperature at which an organism growth is maximized. Procedure: 1. Ask students to create an image of what their community would look like with surface water warming in Lake Michigan. (Lesson modified from Miller and Sheaffer 1995). How could many of the functions within the Great Lakes ecosystem change in response to increased temperature? Using the Climate Change and Your Community teacher resource presentation explain the activity where students will determine certain biological and social factors that will either increase or decrease with an increasing temperature. Have students determine major patterns that have been observed within the Great Lakes because of climate change and then predict what effects these changes may have. [Major Patterns: Increasing temperature, shorter winters, earlier springs, shorter ice cover, more extreme rainfall events] Explain that the ecosystem is a system filled with connections and that biological and social scientists try to understand how a changing climate will affect interactions within the system. Use the List of Factors slide from the presentation and tell students they will be given one of these factors to determine how it is influenced by increasing temperatures. Describe that this is only a partial list of factors that may change and that may identify more as effects are determined. Show students how to create a diagram that shows the impacts that an increasing temperature will have on many aspects of their lives (Figure 1). Place the magnetic card that says INCREASING TEMPERATURE in the center of the classroom blackboard along with the INCREASE and DECREASE magnetic cards placed on the side of the blackboard (Included in teacher resource). Explain to students that they will be each Ecology Unit Great Lakes Climate Change Lesson 2 2

3 given a magnetic card of a factor and they will each need to come up to the board and Figure 1. Example of the Procedure 1 activity where students will each determine an increase or decrease for a factor that may be influenced by the warming of the Great Lakes climate. determine if their factor will increase or decrease as the temperature in the Great Lakes rises and to explain the reason why. As more factors are placed on the board have students modify the placement of the factors as they see how the addition of one factor may influence the response of other factors. What are the positive and negative changes that may occur? Is the overall change more positive or negative? How will the community need to change in response to these changes? Explain to student that both positive and negative changes may be observed because of climate change. Have students identify both types of changes [Negative example: A decrease in sportfishing opportunities may lead to decrease in recreational opportunities; Positive: An increase in temperature would create more time that beaches could be used by tourists]. Have students write a one page summary of what changes they predicted and what the negative and positive responses were. 2. Use projected temperatures of the Great Lakes to predict changes in the fish community. How could the aquatic community in Lake Michigan change due to water temperature increases? Using the Climate Change and Your Community teacher resource explain to students that all fish species have a range of temperature which is optimal for their growth and physiological function (Term: Optimal Temperature). Because a fish s temperature is very similar to the environmental temperature all aspects of the fish s physiology will be affected by temperature changes. An increase in the water temperature of the Great Lakes will directly alter the availability and amount of optimal temperature for each species. Cold water species, which make up much of the current Great Lakes fish community, will experience a decrease in areas of the lake that currently posses their needed temperature ranges but may become warmer. Have students connect that an increased temperature would restrict habitat of cold water species by expanding the area of 1) increased temperature of the surface waters and 2) deoxygenated water in the bottom of the lake. Show students the current monthly surface water temperatures for Lake Michigan and discuss how this differs from the projected increases in temperature. From the teacher resource table have students identify and describe all of the labels within the table [Temperature guild: Cold water, cool water, warm water fish species; Optimal temperature range; Upper Lethal Incipient Temperature: The upper temperature that 50% mortality is observed for a given acclimation temperature] Have students 1) write down which of the listed fish species would benefit or be harmed from increased temperatures and 2) how might this process effect biodiversity found within the lake. These questions should be answered individually and then discussed in a classroom setting. Ecology Unit Great Lakes Climate Change Lesson 2 3

4 Engage: Each activity will contain a classroom discussion about answers posed in the student activities. Climate change will be described in a local context and have students determine effects that will affect their lives and connect the students to the issue. This will provide an opportunity for the students to determine how a global issue can affect every community around the world in unique ways. The students will determine how climate change may influence people and the environment of the Great Lakes. Building on prior knowledge: Are certain populations of people throughout the world more impacted by threats of climate change? Which populations have the highest risk? What are the economic burdens associated with climate change by local and national governments? Pre-teaching: The teacher will give an introductory lesson on climate change that will include information about the Greenhouse effect, anthropogenic actions increasing causing climate change, and global issues that currently and may stem from climate change. The lesson immediately prior to this lesson will discuss the long-term data sets for global and Great Lakes monitoring of climate change. Explore: This lesson promotes discussion about the importance of long-term data sets in identifying and addressing biological issues by using the Great Lakes temperature data set. The Great Lakes temperature data set example introduces the importance of atmospheric and water monitoring and provides an opportunity to explore the consequences of not collecting rigorous and sometimes unpopular data. All of the other activities require that the students look at climate change effects that have local and Great Lakes wide impacts. This will allow for student to recognize and discuss how one (or a few) changes in the environment can have numerous interdependent outcomes. The two activities have students predict how their community may be affected by climate change. Explain: The learning objectives focus on the predicted effects of climate change on local ecosystems and how biodiversity may be affected. The activities in this lesson place the students in a position where they determine how their ecosystem, surrounded by the largest amount of freshwater in the world, will be impacted by climate change. In activities 1 and 2 they will work individually and together in a full classroom setting to determine the intricate ecological, social, and economic linkages that may be disrupted by climate change. Because all students will be engaged on a single project that expands as more students input, the ideas they share will create a larger and more diverse outcome. To engage students there will be brief presentations prior to each activity so they will have the knowledge they need to work through each problem. Because all of the activities are making scientific predictions they will be encouraged to work individually and together on predicting ecosystem change, as well as, solutions to the predicted environmental problems that could occur. Elaboration: This lesson requires students to begin at a central concept (climate change) and explore multifaceted problems that may occur (biological, social, and political). To be successful in these activities the students must work together, ask questions and problem solve. Activity 1 was designed to have students problem solve individually and with each other and collaboratively determine how certain Great Lakes and local factors may change based on an increasing Ecology Unit Great Lakes Climate Change Lesson 2 4

5 global temperature. This will require the students to be adaptive in their thinking of climate change effects and will allow the teacher to elucidate questions from the students as they think through problems. Evaluate: During teacher presentation students will be asked to participate in identifying the importance of collecting long-term data and how to interpret these data when in graphical form. This will allow for the teacher to determine the class competency at critically interpreting data and potential problems that the students may have. Lesson Closure: Why is climate change such a controversial subject to many people? What areas should we be focused on to slow the rise in temperature we are observing? How should the government be responding to climate change? In what ways can we reduce the risks of climate change? Ohio Sea Grant Publications, The Ohio State University. Columbus, OH. USA. Schneider, P. and S. J. Hook (2010). Space observations of inland water bodies show rapid surface warming since Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 37, No. 22. (24 November 2010), L Additional Resources: Great Lakes Surface Water Temperature: The Sea Grant website contains current information on Great Lakes surface water temperature monitoring. Retrieved June 15, 2011 from Karl, T.R. D.R. Easterling, R.W. Knight and P.Y. Hughes U.S. national and regional temperature anomalies. Pp in T.A. Boden, D.P. Kaiser, R.J. Sepanski and F.W. Stoss (eds.) Trends 93: A Compendium of Data on Global Change, Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center. Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Oak Ridge, Tenn, U.S.A., Publication ORNL/CDIAC-65, 984 p. Lesson Extension References: Ficke DF, Myrick CA and LJ Hansen Potential Impacts of Global Climate Change on Freshwater Fisheries. Rev Fish Biol Fisheries, 17: Hill, D. K. and Magnuson, J. J Potential Effects of Global Climate Warming on the Growth and Prey Consumption of Great Lakes Fish, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 119: 2, Miller, H. and Sheaffer, A Great Lakes Instructional Materials for the Changing Earth System: An Earth Education Effort of the Ohio Sea Grant College Program and the Ohio State University. Ecology Unit Great Lakes Climate Change Lesson 2 5