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World Summit on Climate Change |
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In a Nutshell:
Working in small groups, students research the impact of climate
change on a particular country, and predict future impacts for
this country. They simulate an international summit on climate
change (taking place 20 years from now). The country representatives
attempt to reach an international agreement on how to reduce
GHGs. |
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Goal:
To help students understand the impact of the western world’s
GHG emissions on developing nations and the importance of being
a global citizen. |
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Background Learning:
Teachers and students should be familiar with the basic science
of climate change.
High school students should read:
During the lesson, students may also read:
Other backgrounders on impacts are also useful.
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Learning Outcomes:
Click on the icon for your territory to review the learning outcomes that are addressed by this lesson:
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Introduction to Lesson Plan:
This lesson involves students in three phases of activity: researching
and preparing as a group to present at a simulated climate change
conference; presenting and discussing at the simulated conference;
and reflecting on what the experience has taught them. Ideally,
the activity should be spread over three classroom periods, although
you may need to scale back, depending on time availability.
Period 1 – Group research and preparation
Period 2 – The international summit
Period 3 – Debriefing & reflection
For Period 1, it would be useful for students to have computer
access. Alternatively, you could assign some of the initial gathering
of research as homework.
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Activity:
- If the students are not already familiar with the basics
of climate change and its impacts, spend some time on the basics,
and also on the impacts as outlined in High
School Backgrounder #12: Global Impacts of Climate Change.
- Introduce the plan of the conference
to the students. Divide the class into groups (not more than
five students
per group) and assign each group a country. Some countries
that would be interesting to include are:
- Bangladesh
- Canada
- India
- United States
- Tuvalu, or other South Pacific island nation
- Indonesia
- Kuwait
- Tanzania
- China
- Venezuela
- Preparation: Distribute the Student
Handout: An International Agreement on Climate Change – Is
it possible? Read through the handout with the students,
clarifying what they
need to do to prepare for the summit. Allow
time for student research and preparation. Tell the students
that High School Backgrounder
#12: Global
impacts of Climate Change is also a good resource for this activity, and make copies
available. As you move
around the classroom, encourage the students
to take strong positions that will result in lively debate
and discussion.
(Note: This research phase could be expanded to include preparation
of an informational display on their country,
including pictures, country information, key points, etc.)
 The Summit: Arrange the classroom so that the speakers are
arranged in a large circle, with their support groups
clustered behind them. Encourage students
to stay in-role. (They may even want to wear clothing representative
of the
country.) You, as the teacher, are the
summit chair, moderating the summit. The summit progresses
through these stages:
- Presentation of Opening Position Statements – The
conference chair welcomes participants, and gives the speaker
for each country two to four minutes to introduce their country,
give some key facts relating to climate change impacts in
their country in 2025, and state what they hope to gain from
the summit meeting. Don’t move on to general discussion
until each person has been heard. Encourage the countries
to listen carefully to each other’s
position. During the next phase of
the summit, they may want to team
up with
other countries that are taking similar positions.
- Negotiation Break – The
chair calls a five-minute break, to allow the country
teams to negotiate with other
countries to enhance their position.
- Working Towards a Solution – The
chair facilitates a discussion as countries try to come
to an agreement on
how to slow the progress of climate
change. The speaker is the only one who can speak for
the country,
but other group
members may pass notes or whisper suggestions.
The class may not reach an agreement. (In fact, it may not
be realistic for them to reach agreement.)
The most important thing is that differing views are presented,
and that the
students realize how citizens from other
nations regard the issue of climate change. - Debrief: Using
the Teacher
Handout: Reflecting on the Summit, lead a class discussion
to explore what students experienced and learned from the
summit.
- Ask students to distill the key thoughts
and ideas learned from their research and participation
in the summit into
200-800 word report. (This may
be composed by the whole class, or assigned for homework.)
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Handouts:
Click on the icon for the complete set of handouts that support
this lesson:
Teacher Handout: Reflecting on the Summit
Student Handout: An International
Agreement on Climate Change – Is
it possible?
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Student Web-Exchange:
Students can post their country positions or personal reflections
on the web. Or you, as the teacher, may want to post a summary
of the proceedings, along with photos and possibly a selection
of student work. Please note that parental permission is required
before posting photos of students. Click on the icon for information
on how to post material. |
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Evaluation:
Evaluate students on:
- Participation in the summit
- Country opening positions, statements and arguments
- Reflective essays
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Enrichment Ideas:
Social Studies, Science, English Language Arts, Drama
Move on to Action: Students take some of the information from
their research or reflective essays to use as the basis of
letters
(to political representatives or the local newspaper), or skits
which they present to parents, the rest of the school, or a
broader audience (e.g., street theatre). For letter writing
tips and
addresses, see the lesson entitled Write On!
Predicting Two Futures: Students write worst-case and best-case
scenarios; set in any country they choose. The worst-case scenario
presents a vision of a world where little or no climate change
action has been taken: temperatures are hot, there is more precipitation,
species are extinct, etc. The best-case scenario presents a community
using alternative energies, major efficiencies, and new solutions.
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About the Author:
Yukon Conservation Society Curriculum Team – The team consists
of teachers, writers, environmental educators and curriculum
specialists. We worked with teachers across the north, helping
them to create lesson plans for the website, and gathering input
about website features, backgrounders and lesson plans that would
be useful in northern classrooms |
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