In this next lesson, we look at climate change.
You are going to think about some facts about the climate. Some people do not believe they are facts – perhaps you too are a climate sceptic? We then move on to hear about how these huge conclusions are made from a big data climate scientist.
Form groups of three or four pupils.
Discuss in your group what you know about climate change.
This lesson contains 6 steps and an evaluation. Work them through step by step.
Step
Activity
Introduction
Find out what you already know.
Step 1
Listening and reading
Name three certainties about climate change. Associate numbers about climate change with facts. Answer questions about this subject. Watch a video about climate change by numbers. Read the transcript, note 3 points.
Step 2
Reading
Tick sentences about bird migration, read a text about this subject. Do the exercise and discuss three reasons with a classmate.
Step 3
Words
Match the words with their definition. Complete sentences with words from the match exercise.
Step 4
Grammar
About the use of wish, Read the theory and rewrite sentences with I wish ...
Step 5
Speaking
Think of other consequences of a rise in temperature. Which is the most significant?
Listening & Speaking
Let’s think about some of the facts.
What facts or certainties do you know about climate change?
Make a note of at least four and share them with your partner.
People say that the planet is getting warmer.
The sea is rising.
....
....
Read the questions and watch the video.
What do the numbers 620 and 40 refer to?
What does Rachel Pike study?
What is it and why is it so important?
Where is the SMOG chamber?
Complete the sentence:
Our models have ..... of thousands of grid boxes calculating ..... of variables each, on ..... timescales.
What did she recently do in Malaysia?
What does she say about the aircraft that she was in?
How does the body of knowledge build up?
Read the transcript.
0:16 I'd like to talk to you today about the scale of the scientific effort that goes into making the headlines you see in the paper. Headlines that look like this when they have to do with climate change, and headlines that look like this when they have to do with air quality or smog. They are both two branches of the same field of atmospheric science.
0:32 Recently the headlines looked like this when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, put out their report on the state of understanding of the atmospheric system. That report was written by 620 scientists from 40 countries. They wrote almost a thousand pages on the topic. And all of those pages were reviewed by another 400-plus scientists and reviewers, from 113 countries. It's a big community. It's such a big community, in fact, that our annual gathering is the largest scientific meeting in the world.
0:58 Over 15,000 scientists go to San Francisco every year for that. And every one of those scientists is in a research group, and every research group studies a wide variety of topics. For us at Cambridge, it's as varied as the El Niño oscillation, which affects weather and climate, to the assimilation of satellite data, to emissions from crops that produce biofuels, which is what I happen to study.
1:16 And in each one of these research areas, of which there are even more, there are PhD students, like me, and we study incredibly narrow topics, things as narrow as a few processes or a few molecules. And one of the molecules I study is called isoprene, which is here. It's a small organic molecule. You've probably never heard of it. The weight of a paper clip is approximately equal to 900 zeta-illion -- 10 to the 21st -- molecules of isoprene.
1:38 But despite its very small weight, enough of it is emitted into the atmosphere every year to equal the weight of all the people on the planet. It's a huge amount of stuff. It's equal to the weight of methane. And because it's so much stuff, it's really important for the atmospheric system.
1:51 Because it's important to the atmospheric system, we go to all lengths to study this thing. We blow it up and look at the pieces. This is the EUPHORE Smog Chamber in Spain. Atmospheric explosions, or full combustion, takes about 15,000 times longer than what happens in your car. But still, we look at the pieces.
2:07 We run enormous models on supercomputers; this is what I happen to do. Our models have hundreds of thousands of grid boxes calculating hundreds of variables each, on minute timescales. And it takes weeks to perform our integrations. And we perform dozens of integrations in order to understand what's happening.
2:22 We also fly all over the world looking for this thing. I recently joined a field campaign in Malaysia. There are others. We found a global atmospheric watchtower there, in the middle of the rainforest, and hung hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of scientific equipment off this tower, to look for isoprene, and of course, other things while we were there. This is the tower in the middle of the rainforest, from above. And this is the tower from below.
2:42 And on part of that field campaign we even brought an aircraft with us. And this plane, the model, BA146, which was run by FAAM, normally flies 120 to 130 people. So maybe you took a similar aircraft to get here today. But we didn't just fly it. We were flying at 100 meters above the top of the canopy to measure this molecule -- incredibly dangerous stuff.
3:00 We have to fly at a special incline in order to make the measurements. We hire military and test pilots to do the manoeuvring. We have to get special flight clearance. And as you come around the banks in these valleys, the forces can get up to two Gs. And the scientists have to be completely harnessed in order to make measurements while they're on board. So, as you can imagine, the inside of this aircraft doesn't look like any plane you would take on vacation. It's a flying laboratory that we took to make measurements in the region of this molecule.
3:24 We do all of this to understand the chemistry of one molecule. And when one student like me has some sort of inclination or understanding about that molecule, they write one scientific paper on the subject. And out of that field campaign we'll probably get a few dozen papers on a few dozen processes or molecules.
3:38 And as a body of knowledge builds up, it will form one subsection, or one sub-subsection of an assessment like the IPCC, although we have others. And each one of the 11 chapters of the IPCC has six to ten subsections. So you can imagine the scale of the effort. In each one of those assessments that we write, we always tag on a summary, and the summary is written for a non-scientific audience. And we hand that summary to journalists and policy makers, in order to make headlines like these. Thank you very much. (Applause)
Do the exercise.
Exercise
Were you surprised by any of the information Rachel Pike spoke about? What did you not know?
Note down three points, and say why you were surprised.
Use phrases like this:
I had no idea......
Example: I had no idea that military pilots flew the planes. It must be because it’s really hard to fly so low.
What surprised me most was .....
Isn't it incredible to think .....
I'm amazed that .....
How interesting do you think her job is? Give three reasons.
Step 2 - Reading
Reading
If you believe that climate change is real, then you’ll know that it affects plant and animal
life too as well as the weather.
Did you know that it also affects bird migration?
Read on to find out.
Even Small Changes In Global Temperatures Can Have Disastrous Consequences For Birds
Higher temperatures could be a death sentence for migratory species, a new study finds.
12/29/2016 03:49 pm ET
Lydia O’Connor
Reporter, The Huffington Post
A new study showing how climate change threatens the migration patterns crucial to many birds’ survival is a reminder of how sensitive wildlife is to even the slightest uptick in temperatures. In a study of 413 species across five continents, researchers with the University of Edinburgh found that, on average, migratory birds are arriving at their summer breeding grounds about one day earlier for each degree Celsius that global temperatures rise. That may not sound like much, but the consequences can be severe.
The study, published Wednesday in the Journal of Animal Ecology, is not the first to note the ties between climate change and avian migration. But it’s the most extensive analysis of its kind, its authors say, and pulls from observations made as far back as 265 years ago, including those of 19th-century naturalist Henry David Thoreau. While rising temperatures were found to prompt early migration in birds across the board, the study found that short-distance migrants are arriving at their destinations significantly earlier than long-distance migrants.
Those changes throw off a delicate balance in the ecosystem and could have serious effects. If migratory birds arrive at their breeding grounds too early ― or too late, relative to those arriving even earlier ― there’s a potential for “mismatch of trophic interactions,” the study explains, meaning the birds may miss out on peak resource availability or face stronger competition for breeding sites or mates. This would affect the timing of their offspring hatching, putting the baby birds’ survival at risk, too.
Of course, none of this would occur in a vacuum. The endangerment or extinction of one species can have reverberations up and down the food chain, creating a dangerous ripple effect across entire ecosystems. The study comes just days before the end of what will likely prove the hottest year on record thus far. While NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are expected to release their findings next month, Dr. Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, tweeted in October that the record was probably already “locked in.”
With data now available through September, the 2016 annual record (~1.25ºC above late 19th C) seems locked in. President-elect Donald Trump has raised much alarm over wind turbines, a renewable energy tool that could prove crucial to the ongoing effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Trump has argued that turbines kill birds that collide with them. This may be true: Studies estimate that every year, turbines are responsible for somewhere between 140,000 and 368,000 bird deaths worldwide. But these numbers pale in comparison to the potential consequences of climate change. The Audubon Society has found that climate change threatens more than half of all bird species in North America alone.
De onderstaande antwoorden moet je zelf nakijken; vergelijk jouw antwoorden met de goede
antwoorden, en geef aan in welke mate jouw antwoorden correct zijn.
The final sentence is: The Audubon Society has found that climate change threatens more than half of all bird species in North America alone.
Glossary: The Audubon Society is a non-profit environmental organisation dedicated to conserving and restoring natural ecosystems focusing on birds and other wildlife.
How surprised are you by this?
Discuss with your partner, giving at least three reasons for your thoughts.
De onderstaande antwoorden moet je zelf nakijken; vergelijk jouw antwoorden met de goede
antwoorden, en geef aan in welke mate jouw antwoorden correct zijn.
I wish that global warming didn’t affect every aspect of the environment so dramatically.
We use 'wish' to regret something, a situation that is not as we would like it to be.
We use the past after 'wish', although the meaning may not be the past.
I wish there weren’t so many people at this football stadium.
There are a lot of people (present) and I regret that there are.
We might follow this with and if-clause stating how we would like the situation to be:
If I had stayed at home, I would have been able to see the game better.
Step 5 - Speaking
Speaking
Bird migration is just one aspect that is affected by a rise in temperature.
What other changes can you list?
You have 30 seconds to list as many as you can.
Which do you consider to be the most significant?
You will have to define significant (in terms of danger).
Task: Writing an email (a report)
You are going to write a report about an environmental problem.
You have received this email:
Dear students,
My name is Jo Jackson and I have just inherited some money. I would like to donate it to an environmental cause. I thought it would be interesting to hear your view points as to the most important environmental issues of the day.
Please write a report about a burning issue and explain why I should donate my money to your cause.
Thank you
JJ
Read about how to write a report. A report outlines a problem or a situation.
You usually receive guidelines as to what you need to include in your report.
A report is not usually personal, but is about a situation or an event.
Use third person/passive and not ‘I’.
You might be asked to give advantages and disadvantages to a situation and you may also be asked to make suggestions.
Here are some points to help you:
Start by stating the purpose of the report.
Include the points. (This will probably be a few paragraphs.)
Conclude.
Use an impersonal, semi-formal style.
You should use headings, and have an intro and conclusion.
Use clear layout with headings.
Include a final sentence summarizing your report.
Write in 200-250 words.
Evaluation
Fill in the schedule and answer the questions below.
Lesson
Activity
Needs improvement
Satisfactory, good
Excellent
Step 1 - Listening and reading
I can listen and read about climate change and answer questions.
Step 2 - Reading
I can read and understand a text about bird migration.
Step 3 - Words
I can understand and use the words.
Step 4 - Grammar
I can understand and use the grammar.
Step 5 - Speaking
I can speak about aspects that are affected by a rise of temperature.
Step 6 - Task
I can write a report about an environmental problem.
What have you learned in this lesson?
Answer the following questions:
Het arrangement Global temperature h45 is gemaakt met
Wikiwijs van
Kennisnet. Wikiwijs is hét onderwijsplatform waar je leermiddelen zoekt,
maakt en deelt.
Dit lesmateriaal is gepubliceerd onder de Creative Commons Naamsvermelding-GelijkDelen 4.0 Internationale licentie. Dit houdt in dat je onder de voorwaarde van naamsvermelding en publicatie onder dezelfde licentie vrij bent om:
het werk te delen - te kopiëren, te verspreiden en door te geven via elk medium of bestandsformaat
het werk te bewerken - te remixen, te veranderen en afgeleide werken te maken
voor alle doeleinden, inclusief commerciële doeleinden.
Van dit lesmateriaal is de volgende aanvullende informatie beschikbaar:
Toelichting
Deze les valt onder de arrangeerbare leerlijn van de Stercollectie voor Engels voor havo, leerjaar 4 en 5. Dit is thema 'Environment'. Het onderwerp van deze les is: Global temperature. In deze les staat klimaatverandering centraal. Hierbij worden een aantal oorzaken en gevolgen besproken en vogelmigratie komt aan bod. De grammaticaopdracht behandelt het gebruik van het woord 'wish'.
Deze les valt onder de arrangeerbare leerlijn van de Stercollectie voor Engels voor havo, leerjaar 4 en 5. Dit is thema 'Environment'. Het onderwerp van deze les is: Global temperature. In deze les staat klimaatverandering centraal. Hierbij worden een aantal oorzaken en gevolgen besproken en vogelmigratie komt aan bod. De grammaticaopdracht behandelt het gebruik van het woord 'wish'.
Introduction - Global temperature
Listening & Speaking
Reading
Grammar
Speaking
Task: Writing an email (a report)
