8th Grade Science Guide

8.4 Natural Resources 3 Dimensions & Progressions

Unit 4

STANDARD ● 8.4.4 Analyze and interpret data on the factors that change global temperatures and their effects on regional climates. Examples of factors could include agricultural activity, changes in solar radiation, fossil fuel use, and volcanic activity. Examples of data could include graphs of the atmospheric levels of gasses, seawater levels, ice cap coverage, human activities, and maps of global and regional temperatures. (MS-ESS3-5)

CONCEPTS

SKILLS

● Factors that change global temperatures

● Analyze data ● Interpret data

LEARNING PROGRESSIONS

● Earth’s atmosphere acts as a greenhouse, trapping in heat from the Sun’s energy to make life on Earth possible. ● Some human activities, like burning fossil fuels, lead to the release of additional greenhouse gasses ● Increases in human made greenhouse gasses lead to an increase in the overall greenhouse effect, causing global warming, and leading to climate change ● Humans are a major factor in the current rise in Earth’s mean surface temperature (global warming).

VOCABULARY

● Greenhouse gas ● Greenhouse effect

● Climate Change ● Global Warming

POSSIBLE PHENOMENA ● Satellite pictures reveal that 90% of the Aral Sea has dried up, forming a new desert between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in Central Asia. ● The Western U.S. is in the worst drought in over a thousand years. ● Bark-beetle infestations are happening more frequently, including in areas where woodlands have been weakened by increasing temperatures and drought. ● Google time lapse images show arctic ice coverage has declined in the past 35 years. ● Areas where cacao trees can survive has decreased by 10% in Peru over the last 30 years. END OF UNIT COMPETENCY WITH LANGUAGE SUPPORTS ● I can explain the factors that contribute to global temperature changes using data. ○ Language Supports: ■ Abstract nouns to introduce concepts (effect, relationship, systems, mitigate, decrease, increase)