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Science lesson plan · 12th grade (Year 13 in England) · 60 minutes

Climate feedbacks and natural climate cycles

Weather and climate

CCSS NGSS.HS-ESS2-2CCSS NGSS.HS-ESS2-4England: A level Geography: The carbon and water cycles (extension)England: GCSE Combined Science: Chemistry of the atmosphere

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Climate feedbacks and natural climate cycles.

  • 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: Analyse climate data: COâ‚‚ records and temperature trends

Leads to: the next skill in this area.

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

Warm-up · 6 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Analyse climate data: COâ‚‚ records and temperature trends). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Annual mean CO₂ 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. → 2.3Prompt: rate = change in CO₂ ÷ change in time
  2. How do scientists know CO₂ levels from hundreds of thousands of years ago? (from old newspapers / from satellite photos of the past / they guess / 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.
  3. Climate evidence: which statement is NOT true? (Sea level is rising as oceans warm and land ice melts. / Melting sea ice is the main cause of sea-level rise. / Burning fossil fuels is the main cause of the recent rise in atmospheric CO₂. / Global average surface temperature has risen by more than 1 °C since the late 1800s.) → Melting sea ice is the main cause of sea-level rise.Prompt: What is the difference between weather and climate?

Hook · 6 min

  • Show today's forecast and ask what it means for the class and how forecasters know.
  • Share the objective: Climate feedbacks and natural climate cycles. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 12 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Is this a positive or negative climate feedback: more COâ‚‚ boosts plant growth, which takes up some COâ‚‚?
  • Step 1: A negative feedback works against the initial change.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: negative feedback (reduces warming)
  • Answer: negative feedback (reduces warming)
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 12 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. Is this a positive or negative climate feedback: more CO₂ boosts plant growth, which takes up some CO₂? (positive feedback (amplifies warming) / negative feedback (reduces warming)) → negative feedback (reduces warming)Prompt: Does the effect cause more warming or less?
  2. Open ocean has an albedo of 0.06 (it reflects that fraction of sunlight). If 300 W/m² of sunlight arrives, how much is absorbed, in W/m²? → 282 W/m²Prompt: Absorbed fraction = 1 − albedo.

You do: independent practice · 17 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 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 7 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Is this a positive or negative climate feedback: a warmer Earth radiates more energy to space? (positive feedback (amplifies warming) / negative feedback (reduces warming)) → negative feedback (reduces warming)Prompt: Does the effect cause more warming or less?
  2. Forest has an albedo of 0.15 (it reflects that fraction of sunlight). If 340 W/m² of sunlight arrives, how much is absorbed, in W/m²? → 289 W/m²Prompt: Absorbed fraction = 1 − albedo.

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: Analyse climate data: COâ‚‚ records and temperature trends.
  • 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

  • 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-12.

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

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Climate feedbacks and natural climate cycles

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    Open ocean has an albedo of 0.06 (it reflects that fraction of sunlight). If 200 W/m² of sunlight arrives, how much is absorbed, in W/m²?

    AnswerW/m²

  2. Question 2

    Why do large volcanic eruptions sometimes cool the planet for a year or two?

    • A. Ash absorbs all the COâ‚‚
    • B. Lava cools the oceans
    • C. Volcanoes release huge amounts of ice
    • D. Sulfur gases form tiny droplets high in the atmosphere that reflect sunlight

  3. Question 3

    Is this a positive or negative climate feedback: melting ice exposes darker ocean that absorbs more sunlight?

    • A. positive feedback (amplifies warming)
    • B. negative feedback (reduces warming)

  4. Question 4

    Forest has an albedo of 0.15 (it reflects that fraction of sunlight). If 400 W/m² of sunlight arrives, how much is absorbed, in W/m²?

    AnswerW/m²

  5. Question 5

    What are Milankovitch cycles?

    • A. daily changes in weather
    • B. yearly ocean tides
    • C. slow changes in Earth's orbit and tilt that pace ice ages over tens of thousands of years
    • D. the 11-year sunspot cycle

  6. Question 6

    Is this a positive or negative climate feedback: thawing permafrost releases methane?

    • A. positive feedback (amplifies warming)
    • B. negative feedback (reduces warming)

  7. Question 7

    Why can Milankovitch cycles not explain today's warming?

    • A. They act over thousands of years, but today's warming has happened in about 150 years
    • B. They cause cooling only
    • C. They only affect Mars
    • D. They stopped working in 1900

  8. Question 8

    Is this a positive or negative climate feedback: a warmer Earth radiates more energy to space?

    • A. positive feedback (amplifies warming)
    • B. negative feedback (reduces warming)

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Answer key: Climate feedbacks and natural climate cycles

  1. 1. 188 W/m²

  2. 2. D. Sulfur gases form tiny droplets high in the atmosphere that reflect sunlight

  3. 3. A. positive feedback (amplifies warming)

  4. 4. 340 W/m²

  5. 5. C. slow changes in Earth's orbit and tilt that pace ice ages over tens of thousands of years

  6. 6. A. positive feedback (amplifies warming)

  7. 7. A. They act over thousands of years, but today's warming has happened in about 150 years

  8. 8. B. negative feedback (reduces warming)