Agriculture and Climate Change Student Lab
Articles/Websites
Grades7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12Biology, Earth and Space Sciences
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Provided by The Climate Initiative
What it is
- This interactive site will help students learn how climate change is affecting our ability to produce food, what sustainable agriculture looks like, how agriculture looks in different states, how snowpack in places like the Sierra Nevada mountains affects agriculture, and how people are affected by these changes and practices.
- Students will watch videos, read articles, view maps, and answer questions to broaden their understanding of the connections between agriculture and climate change.
- A comprehensive teacher guide (Learning Lab), including six lessons that go along with this student resource, can be utilized to create an entire unit for your classroom.
Teaching tips
Positives
- The second and third presentations have a button to reveal clickable media, making exploring this resource even easier for students!
- One of the videos on the second presentation is in Spanish with English subtitles, which is great if you have some students whose first language is Spanish.
- The second presentation includes some questions for students to answer that may facilitate comprehension and discussions.
Additional Prerequisites
- In the third presentation, clicking on the icons will not take you to video playlists, as indicated by the directions.
- Students should understand what climate change is and how humans are contributing to climate change.
Differentiation
- Some students, especially those using the virtual classroom, may benefit from guided notes to ensure that students are fully investigating the resources and understanding vital information.
- Classrooms can utilize the jigsaw strategy, with each student or group of students investigating a different presentation or resource, then reporting back to the rest of the class.
- Students who struggle with auditory processing can increase comprehension with the videos by either slowing the video playback speed or utilizing closed captioning.
- Consider assigning specific links or sections to students to connect with your lessons about the agriculture industry and farm or livestock workers, the economic effects of climate change, or how agriculture can affect biodiversity, water quality, access to clean water, pollution from pesticides, erosion, and greenhouse gas emissions.
From the scientist review
This resource is an interactive page where students can learn about agriculture and how it is impacted by climate change. The interactive classroom has an abundance of resources for students to begin to explore the many ways food, agriculture, and the environment are interconnected. Students can also learn about "climate conscious" farming practices. Below the resources, there are two interactive activities for students to explore how climate change is impacting agriculture and how industrial agriculture impacts the environment in California. The videos in the bottom interactive activity did not work consistently. The amount of resources could be overwhelming to some, however, this is a great page for students to get familiar with agriculture and climate change. All resources have been assessed. The information presented is accurate and this resource is recommended for teaching.
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Hosted on theclimateinitiative.org
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