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Science lesson plan · 11th grade (Year 12 in England) · 30 minutes

Analyse climate data: COâ‚‚ records and temperature trends

Weather and climate

CCSS NGSS.HS-ESS3-5CCSS NGSS.HS-ESS2-4CCSS NGSS.SEP 4England: GCSE Combined Science: Chemistry of the atmosphere (evaluating evidence for climate change)

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Analyse climate data: COâ‚‚ records and temperature trends.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: The greenhouse effect and climate change; Interpreting data from tables and graphs

Leads to: Climate feedbacks and natural climate cycles

Materials: Weather maps, Thermometers, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 4 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (The greenhouse effect and climate change; Interpreting data from tables and graphs). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Which of these is a greenhouse gas? (methane / nitrogen / argon / oxygen) → methanePrompt: Cattle and rice paddies release it.
  2. Study: Stretching a spring. Force (N) → Extension (cm) 0 → 0 1 → 2.5 2 → 5 3 → 7.5 4 → 10 5 → 12.5 Estimate the value at 4.5, assuming the pattern between neighbouring points is a straight line. → 11.25Prompt: 4.5 lies halfway between 4 and 5.
  3. Before 1800, carbon dioxide in the air was about 280 ppm. Recently it was about 400 ppm. By how many ppm has it risen? → 120 ppmPrompt: Subtract the old value from the new value.

Hook · 3 min

  • Show today's forecast and ask what it means for the class and how forecasters know.
  • Share the objective: Analyse climate data: COâ‚‚ records and temperature trends. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 7 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Annual mean COâ‚‚ at the Mauna Loa observatory was about 317 ppm in 1960 and about 414 ppm in 2020. What was the mean rate of increase, in ppm per year? Give 1 decimal place.
  • Step 1: (414 − 317) ÷ (2020 − 1960) = 97 ÷ 60 = 1.62
  • Step 2: So the answer is: 1.6
  • Answer: 1.6
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 6 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. Annual mean CO₂ at the Mauna Loa observatory was about 369 ppm in 2000 and about 421 ppm in 2023. What was the mean rate of increase, in ppm per year? Give 1 decimal place. → 2.3Prompt: rate = change in CO₂ ÷ change in time
  2. A website claims "the climate has always changed, so today's warming is natural". Which response is best supported by evidence? (There has been no warming since 1900 / Natural changes cannot happen / The claim proves humans have no effect / Past changes were mostly slower and had natural causes; today's rapid warming matches the rise in CO₂ from human activity) → Past changes were mostly slower and had natural causes; today's rapid warming matches the rise in CO₂ from human activityPrompt: Look at the speed and the cause of the change.

You do: independent practice · 7 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 3 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Annual mean CO₂ at the Mauna Loa observatory was about 339 ppm in 1980 and about 414 ppm in 2020. What was the mean rate of increase, in ppm per year? Give 1 decimal place. → 1.9Prompt: rate = change in CO₂ ÷ change in time
  2. How do scientists know CO₂ levels from hundreds of thousands of years ago? (they guess / from old newspapers / from satellite photos of the past / from air bubbles trapped in ice cores from Antarctica) → from air bubbles trapped in ice cores from AntarcticaPrompt: Snow traps tiny samples of air as it turns into ice.

Watch out for

  • Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
  • Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: The greenhouse effect and climate change.
  • Use concrete materials: weather maps.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Move on to: Climate feedbacks and natural climate cycles.
  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-11.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

eurekami

Analyse climate data: COâ‚‚ records and temperature trends

Name

Date

Score/ 6

  1. Question 1

    Pre-industrial COâ‚‚ was about 280 ppm. In the 2020s it is above 420 ppm. Roughly what percentage increase is this?

    • A. about 5 %
    • B. about 15 %
    • C. about 50 %
    • D. about 150 %

  2. Question 2

    Annual mean COâ‚‚ at the Mauna Loa observatory was about 369 ppm in 2000 and about 414 ppm in 2020. What was the mean rate of increase, in ppm per year? Give 1 decimal place.

    Answer

  3. Question 3

    Climate evidence: which statement is NOT true?

    • A. Burning fossil fuels is the main cause of the recent rise in atmospheric COâ‚‚.
    • B. A cold winter in one city disproves global warming.
    • C. Arctic sea ice in summer has shrunk since satellite records began in 1979.
    • D. Sea level is rising as oceans warm and land ice melts.

  4. Question 4

    The COâ‚‚ record from Mauna Loa rises every year but also goes up and down within each year. Why the yearly wiggle?

    • A. The instruments are faulty
    • B. People burn no fuel in summer
    • C. Northern Hemisphere plants absorb COâ‚‚ in spring and summer and release it in autumn and winter
    • D. Volcanoes erupt every winter

  5. Question 5

    Annual mean COâ‚‚ at the Mauna Loa observatory was about 369 ppm in 2000 and about 421 ppm in 2023. What was the mean rate of increase, in ppm per year? Give 1 decimal place.

    Answer

  6. Question 6

    How do scientists know COâ‚‚ levels from hundreds of thousands of years ago?

    • A. from old newspapers
    • B. from air bubbles trapped in ice cores from Antarctica
    • C. they guess
    • D. from satellite photos of the past

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Answer key: Analyse climate data: COâ‚‚ records and temperature trends

  1. 1. C. about 50 %

  2. 2. 2.3

  3. 3. B. A cold winter in one city disproves global warming.

  4. 4. C. Northern Hemisphere plants absorb COâ‚‚ in spring and summer and release it in autumn and winter

  5. 5. 2.3

  6. 6. B. from air bubbles trapped in ice cores from Antarctica