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Climate Change and the Great Lakes

Identity and Home

Secondary, Middle

Description

This lesson examines how climate change is impacting the Great Lakes. Using information provided in two feature newspaper articles, students learn how surrounding communities depend on these lakes and the specific threats that climate change presents to their livelihoods. The lesson proceeds as follows.

Warm Up: Students reflect individually on their own homes and favourite places, discuss what common elements they identified and how they would collectively describe their community

Introduction: Students are provided with a brief description of the importance of the Great Lakes region and the goals of the lesson.

Resource 1:  "On the Largest Freshwater Island in the World, Lake Huron's Native Americans Warn of the Fragility of Water".  Guided by a series of questions to accompany their reading, students examine the impact that climate change is having on Native American and First Nation tribes as well as coastal communities surrounding Lake Superior.

Resource 2: "Homeowners Near the Great Lakes Face a 'Very Scary" Challenge: How Do You Handle a Generation's Worth of Water Level Changes in Just a Few Years?".  This reading explores climate change impacts on Lake Huron communities and is also accompanied by guiding questions.

Activity: Students complete a template individually or in small groups to describe how climate change is affecting the identity, sense of home, income, and livelihood of each of the different communities discussed in the articles including First Nations, commercial and sports fisherman, and homeowners.

Discussion:  Questions help guide a whole group discussion on how a sense of home and identity has been altered in these communities as a result of climate change.

A number of extension activities are suggested.

 

General Assessment

What skills does this resource explicitly teach?

This lesson is not skill driven. 

Strengths

  • The lesson does an excellent job in illustrating the how climate change impacts the social and economic fabric of communities.
  • The newspaper articles supporting the lesson provide current and compelling case studies to illustrate how climate change can effect the identity of communities.
  • The lesson demonstrates effectively, the interplay of social, economic and environmental factors resulting from climate change
  • The resource is thorough and easy to use.

Recommendation of how and where to use it

The somewhat unique focus of this lesson on community identities and livelihoods would serve to broaden and support any study of climate change across the curriculum.  

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        • Science for Citizenship 11: Scientific understanding enables humans to respond and adapt to changes locally and globally
      • Social Studies
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        • Explorations in Social Studies 11: Indigenous peoples are reclaiming mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being despite the continuing effects of colonialism

Themes Addressed

Air, Atmosphere & Climate (1)

  • Climate Change

Ecosystems (3)

  • Endangered Species
  • Habitat Loss
  • Invasive Species

Food & Agriculture (1)

  • Aquaculture

Human Rights (1)

  • Environmental Racism/Justice

Indigenous Knowledge (1)

  • TEK -- Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Land Use & Natural Resources (2)

  • Fisheries
  • Rural Issues

Water (2)

  • Water Quality
  • Watershed Protection

Sustainability Education Principles

Principle Rating Explanation
Consideration of Alternative Perspectives Good

The newspaper articles used to provide an assessment of the climate change effects draw on the observations and experiences of a range of different individuals and communities being impacted. 

Consideration of Alternative Perspectives:
  • Satisfactory: absence of bias towards any one point of view
  • Good: students consider different points of view regarding issues, problems discussed
  • Very good: based on the consideration of different views, students form opinions and  take an informed position
Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions Very Good

This lesson illustrates effectively the interconnectedness of environment, society and economy in its examination of how climate change has affected the great lakes and specifically the social fabric and economies of those communities on Lakes Superior and Huron. 

Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions:

Effectively addresses the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the issue(s) being explored.

  • Satisfactory: resource supports the examination of  these dimensions
  • Good:  resource explicitly examines the interplay of these dimensions
  • Very Good:  a systems-thinking approach is encouraged to examine these three dimensions
Respects Complexity Good

The questions provided to support student analysis of the issues and promote discussion draw attention on the complex nature of climate change impacts.

Respects Complexity:

The complexity of the problems/issues being discussed is respected.

Acting on Learning Poor/Not considered

Extension suggestions of letter writing and deeper analysis are offered. 

Acting on Learning:

Learning moves from understanding  issues  to working towards positive change — in personal lifestyle, in school, in the community,  or for the planet

  • Satisfactory: action opportunities are included as extensions 
  • Good: action opportunities are core components of the resource
  • Very Good: action opportunities for students are well supported and intended to result in observable, positive change
Values Education Satisfactory

While most of the questions and discussion address specific facts and events raised in the articles, there are opportunities for students to express their own values. 

Values Education:

Students are explicitly provided with opportunities to identify, clarify and express their own beliefs/values.

Empathy & Respect for Humans Good

The articles and lesson design build empathy and respect for Great Lake First Nations communities being impacted by climate change. 

Empathy & Respect for Humans: Empathy and respect are fostered for diverse groups of humans (including different genders, ethnic groups, sexual preferences, etc.).
Personal Affinity with Earth Poor/Not considered

The focus of the lesson is on the how climate change is effecting the life and livelihoods of communities.  The environmental impacts from climate change are implied but not addressed directly. 

Personal Affinity with Earth:

Encourages a personal affinity with -the natural world.  

  • Satisfactory: connection is made to the natural world
  • Good: fosters appreciation/concern for the natural world
  • Very Good: fosters stewardship though practical and respectful experiences out-of-doors 
Locally-Focused Learning Satisfactory

While the lesson goal is to describe the climate change impacts on specific communities in the Great Lakes Region, the warm-up exercise aims to illustrate for the students the special and unique features of their own communities, why these are important and how they help define who they are. One extension suggestion asks students to consider how what they have learned can be applied for the benefit of their own community

Locally-Focused Learning:

Includes learning experiences that take advantage of issues/elements within the local community. 

  • Satisfactory: learning is made relevant to the lives of the learners
  • Good: learning is made relevant and has a local focus
  • Very Good: learning is made relevant, local and takes place ‘outside’ , in the community 
Past, Present & Future Good

The lesson does provide historical context, a current description of the issue and consideration of what is required in the future. 

Past, Present & Future: Promotes an understanding of the past, a sense of the present, and a positive vision for the future.

Pedagogical Approaches

Principle Rating Explanation
Open-Ended Instruction Good

Students are presented factual, first-hand accounts to illustrate how climate change is effecting communities on and around the Great Lakes.  

Open-Ended Instruction :

Lessons are structured so that multiple/complex answers are possible; students are not steered toward one 'right' answer.

Integrated Learning Good

While the direct environmental impact of climate change is largely implied, the social and economic effects are effectively explored. As such, the resource has application for geography, social studies and environmental science. 

Integrated Learning:

Learning brings together content and skills  from more than one  subject area

  • Satisfactory: content from a number of different  subject areas is readily identifiable
  • Good:  resource is appropriate for use in more than one subject area
  • Very Good:  the lines between subjects are blurred 
Inquiry Learning Poor/Not considered

The lesson does not feature elements of inquiry learning. 

Inquiry Learning:

Learning is directed by questions, problems, or challenges that students work to address.   

  • Satisfactory: Students are provided with questions/problems to solve and some direction on how to arrive at solutions.
  • Good: students, assisted by the teacher clarify the question(s) to ask and the process to follow to arrive at solutions.  Sometimes referred to as Guided Inquiry
  • Very Good:  students generate the questions and assume much of the responsibility for how to solve them.  . Sometimes referred to as self-directed learning.

 

Differentiated Instruction Satisfactory

Students are primarily involved in reading articles and answering  questions.  There is one paper and pencil activity and students work both individually and in groups. 

Differentiated Instruction:

Activities address a range of student learning styles, abilities and readiness.

  • Satisfactory:  includes a variety of instructional approaches
  • Good: addresses  the needs of visual, auditory &  kinesthetic learners
  • Very Good: also includes strategies for learners with difficulties
Experiential Learning Poor/Not considered

The core activities do not provide for experiential learning. 

Experiential Learning:

Authentic learning experiences are provided

  • Satisfactory: learning takes place through ‘hands-on’ experience or simulation
  • Good: learning involves direct experience in a ‘real world context’
  • Very good: learning involves ‘real world experiences’ taking place’ beyond the school walls.
Cooperative Learning Satisfactory

Suggestions for working in groups are included. 

Cooperative Learning:

Group and cooperative learning strategies are a priority.

  • Satisfactory:  students work in groups
  • Good: cooperative learning skills are explicitly taught and practiced
  • Very Good: cooperative learning skills are explicitly taught, practiced and assessed
Assessment & Evaluation Good

Questions provided throughout the lesson create opportunities for both formative and summative assessment. 

Assessment & Evaluation: Tools are provided that help students and teachers to capture formative and summative information about students' learning and performance. These tools may include reflection questions, checklists, rubrics, etc.
Peer Teaching Poor/Not considered

Peer teaching opportunities are not provided.

Peer Teaching:

Provides opportunities for students to actively present their knowledge and skills to peers and/or act as teachers and mentors.

  • Satisfactory: incidental teaching that arises from cooperative learning, presentations, etc.
  • Good or Very Good: an opportunity is intentionally created to empower students to teach other students/community members. The audience is somehow reliant on the students' teaching (students are not simply ‘presenting')
Case Studies Very Good

The lesson uses case studies that feature real people describing real events to reveal the environmental, social and economic impacts of climate change on their communities.  

Case Studies:

Relevant case studies are included.  Case studies are thorough descriptions of real events from real situations that students use to explore  concepts in an authentic context.

Locus of Control Poor/Not considered
Locus of Control: Meaningful opportunities are provided for students to choose elements of program content, the medium in which they wish to work, and/or to go deeper into a chosen issue.

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