In this activity, students will analyze how the effects of climate change in one region can affect other far removed regions. Students will explore the concept of the impacts of climate change in Bhutan, a country that is considered carbon negative, through a short video clip and discuss how the melting glaciers in the Himalayas can displace millions of people, ultimately affecting them personally. Making connections between the effects of climate change in far away places and their own lives expands students’ understanding of their personal stake in climate change. Students will have an opportunity to recognize, interpret and examine the possible significance of climate change to their own lives.

Students will watch a documentary clip from The Age of Nature, identify central ideas and key details, and ask clarifying questions. Students will complete a brief analysis of information presented in graphs and images. As a final activity students will be able to craft a complete scientific explanation using the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning framework, and hold an academic discussion that compares and contrasts their claims identifying similarities and differences.

About the Author: 

Mariana Garcia Serrato is a STEM teacher at AdVENTURE, a STEM program from the Oak Grove School District in San Jose, California. She currently teaches Science and Engineering in grades five through eight. She is a certified PBS Media Literacy Educator, Google Certified Educator, KQED Media Literacy Innovator, and SCCOE/TI STEM Teacher of the Year (2014). Her goal of making STEM relevant to her students has inspired her to create a fully gamified PBL classroom and can often be found hiking in the Santa Cruz Mountains.