Observing the Changes:
The Warming of the North

In a Nutshell:

After reviewing the causes and effects of climate change, students will become observers for “PlantWatch,” a program to monitor the effects of climate change on plants. Students will record blooming and leafing dates for selected local species and submit their observations to researchers.

Goal:

To teach students about the observable impacts of climate change and give them the opportunity to make predictions about long-term impacts.

Background Learning:

Teachers and students should be familiar with the basic science of climate change and potential impacts as reviewed in:

• Intermediate Backgrounder #1: Climate Change Basics: What’s the Big Deal?
• Intermediate Backgrounder #2: Climate Change Impacts: A Changing World?

Teachers should also be familiar with the potential impacts of climate change as reviewed in:

• High School Backgrounder #6: A Changing Land

Learning Outcomes:

Click on the icon for your territory to review the learning outcomes that are addressed by this lesson:

Introduction to Lesson Plan:

This lesson draws students’ attention to an observable impact of climate change: earlier blooming times for many common local plants.

If the students have not done any activities about climate change, review the basics with them, as outlined in Intermediate Backgrounder #1. (Depending on the level of your students, you might find it helpful to refer to High School Backgrounder #6 in your preparation for this lesson. For intermediate level students, you may choose to make copies of the intermediate backgrounders for the students to read themselves.)

Once students have a basic understanding of the causes of climate change, ask them to brainstorm what things may be affected by climate change and why this is of concern to us. It is very important to not paint too much of a gloom and doom picture for the younger students; focusing on solutions and energy conservation are more appropriate for them. If students need some guidance, you could put some key words from Intermediate Backgrounder #2 on the board such as ice, water, land, animals, and plants.

Inform your students that researchers, scientists, and citizens around the world are monitoring the effects of climate change and working together to reduce greenhouse gases. This will be a lead in to your activity. What changes are being monitored and how are they doing it? Give students an opportunity to speculate before introducing the activity.

Because the focus of these activities is observing one of the effects of climate change, it is recommended that teachers follow up with an activity about solutions. It is important that students learn about efforts to reduce the causes of climate change and what they can do to make a difference. You might have a look at the lesson Inspiring Change – at home and at school, also available through this website.

Download and make copies of the student handouts and any backgrounders needed.

Note: The sources for this lesson plan are:

http://www.naturewatch.ca/english/plantwatch/
http://www.devonian.ualberta.ca/pwatch/

Activity One: PlantWatch

To aid in the monitoring of the effects of climate change, students can act as “citizen scientists,” recording flowering times for selected plant species and reporting these dates to researchers. The steps for this activity are based on the information provided on the PlantWatch website: http://www.naturewatch.ca/english/plantwatch/. For younger students, or for an additional monitoring activity, see “Planting Seeds” in the enrichment section below.

1. Begin by discussing what kinds of things plants need to grow. Ask students to list the factors that might affect plant health and survival (temperature, wind, soil (soil moisture, nutrients, rockiness, acid/basic), light, sunlight/shade, elevation and latitude, length of growing season, growing degree days). Emphasize that some plants have a large band of tolerance while others are more sensitive to environmental changes.
2. Tell your students that scientists believe that climate change is affecting blooming times. Some species are blooming almost a month earlier than they were one hundred years ago! Discuss with students what changes in climate might affect plants.
3. Tell students that by monitoring species of plants in their community, students can help researchers discover the effects of climate change on common plants.
4. Introduce your students to key vocabulary: observation, monitor, recording data, reporting, bloom, species, and, depending on their level, to essential vocabulary from the Teacher Handouts for this lesson: the PlantWatch Form and Identifying Plants document. Elicit any knowledge that your students already have about common local plants, and about changes their parents may have noticed.
5. Tell your students that you are going to look for some species to monitor near the school and what information you will be gathering: dates of first bloom, mid bloom, and leafing, as well as location, habitat type, and growing conditions (sunny, slope, etc). Let them know that the information they gather will be sent to researchers, so it’s important to do a good job!
6. With your students (or for your own reference), visit the following web page and enter your province for a list of “key indicator” plants. These are plants that are easy to identify, common, and have a short bloom period in spring. If the winter and spring have been warmer, they flower earlier than usual. Select one or a few species that you will easily find and recognize near your school. Make note of identifying characteristics, blooming times, habitat, PlantWatch pointers, and what to observe. If possible, print pictures of selected species to display in the classroom with your data.
   
   http://www.naturewatch.ca/english/plantwatch/learn_plants.asp
7. To find the plant(s) you want to observe (any species you found listed on the website), take your students for a walk before the flowers start blooming. Some things to consider:
   
   
   • Choose plants growing in flat, easy-access areas.
   • Avoid locations that may have unusual temperature or light conditions such as valleys, near streetlights, buried steam pipes, concrete foundations, beside buildings or paved parking lots and roads.
   • If you’d like to compare the same species in different conditions, use thermometers to record temperatures. Note:
     
     
     1. Plants on north-facing slopes usually flower later than plants on south-facing slopes.
     2. Plants in valleys usually flower later than plants on slopes because cool night air flows down the slopes and settles in the valley.
     3. Plants at higher altitudes (cooler air) usually flower later than plants at lower altitudes.
   • Note: The plant information that your students are collecting is valuable to researchers if it can be collected for a period of several years – ideally five or more – so choose plants and locations that can be monitored year after year.
8. As you consider plants to select, ask questions: What plant lives with beside the plants you are monitoring? What animals depend on these plants for food? What would happen to this plant if the climate got warmer or colder?
9. Label selected plants (trees, large shrubs) or patches of smaller plants with plastic or metal tags. Labels used should be durable and designed to last for at least five years to allow for multi-year monitoring. Consider putting your students into groups and assigning each group a plant or patch of plants to observe. Once the buds have formed, students should be visiting their specimen(s) every two or three days to record changes. Students can make notes and sketch their specimens each visit. On your first visit, record the name of the plant, the location, the habitat type, and any of the optional details possible. You can download PlantWatch observation forms for student logbooks by downloading it from:
   
   http://www.naturewatch.ca/English/plantwatch/printable_observation_form.pdf
   
   
   Consider drawing a map of the area to show the locations of your specimens. The map can be displayed in the classroom.
   
   To determine the latitude and longitude of the plant location, contact your regional coordinator (listed in this website under “More Information”), or visit the website: http://www.devonian.ualberta.ca/pwatch/, where you will find a Teacher’s Guide to PlantWatch, containing a latitude/longitude exercise in “Math Activity 4.”
10. Have students visit their plants every two or three days with their student logbooks. They can make notes of changes and record first bloom, mid-bloom and leafing dates.
11. When all of the information needed to complete the PlantWatch form has been gathered, complete the forms together. Complete one form for each plant or patch of plants observed.
12. To submit data to PlantWatch, you can mail it to your regional coordinator (address provided under “More Information”), or submit it online after registering with NatureWatch as observers. When you submit your data online, it’s added to the web maps instantly, showing bloom dates across Canada.
    
    http://www.naturewatch.ca/english/observations/newuser.html
13. Discuss your findings and the overall experience with your students. Discuss the effect that changes might have on the animals that eat the plants. How about humans? Could these changes affect our lifestyle? Have students make some predictions about future observations relating to plant growth and climate changes. You might have them prepare and submit a report booklet with the data they collected, sketches, and a written summary of what they learned about climate change. Consider graphing your results, especially if you compare the same species in different conditions.

Handouts:

Click on the icon for the handout that supports this lesson – Teacher Handout: Identifying Plants.

Student Web-Exchange:

Students can post their findings and thoughts on how climate change might impact plants in their region. Click on the icon for information on how to post material.

Evaluation:

Evaluate students on their ability to identify parts of plants and how they discuss or write about the connection between climate change and blooming times. They can submit logbooks, final reports, drafts of PlantWatch forms and concept exercise sheets.

Enrichment Ideas:

Science/Social Studies/Language Arts/Math:

Planting Seeds: Plant seeds (beans germinate quickly) and keep them in two different locations in the classroom – a warmer spot and a cooler spot. Mark each spot with a poster that indicates whether it’s warmer or cooler. For each location, have two sets, clearly labeled – moist and dry. The plants labeled moist should receive more water. Set different watering amounts and times for each and have students water and spray the plants to simulate different amounts of precipitation. Compare germination and flowering times. Do warmer temperatures cause earlier blooms? How would this affect the animals that eat these plants?

Berry Survey: Students can interview local people about the yearly changes in berry production. Are berries less or more plentiful than in the past? Are there any berries that were once plentiful that are no longer found? Is there a connection between changes in berry production and changes in community frost dates (first and last)? Older students could correlate their findings with climate records from your local weather office (they can tell you what the weather was like in certain years).

Traditional Foods and Medicine: An Oral History: Students can conduct oral history interviews to find out about the availability of traditional foods and medicines now compared to the past. Be sure to make connections as to how climate change has affected availability. Note: There are protocols for interviewing elders about foods and medicine.

About the Author:

Rantin’ Raven is an educational consulting company established by three elementary teachers from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. We are Catherine Hines, Ellen Johnson, and Lorrie Peterson, and together we have over 50 years of experience working with children. Our company has self-published material specifically geared for Math and Language Arts. We have also produced cross-curriculum units, educational kits, and programs for various organizations. We have made presentations and conducted workshops for Whitehorse schools, parent groups, and at the Yukon Teacher’s Association Conference.