As a High School or introductory Undergraduate teacher, you can use this lesson plan to introduce climate change and its impacts in Cameroon.
This lesson plan provides an introduction to climate change, causes and impacts of climate change globally, climate change risk profile for Cameroon that includes climate impacts on major sectors of the country such as agriculture, water resources, human health, ecosystems, urban areas and energy.
Thus, the use of this lesson plan allows you to teach Climate Science and Climate Change in your classrooms.
Disclaimer: Political boundaries are for illustrative purposes only. They may not depict official boundaries and are not endorsed by project TROP ICSU.
The tools in this lesson plan will enable students to:
(Here is a step-by-step guide to using this lesson plan in the classroom/laboratory. We have suggested these steps as a possible plan of action. You may customize the lesson plan according to your preferences and requirements.)
Reading (15 min) and Video (5-15 min)
This reading titled, “The Causes of Climate Change” from the NASA Global Climate Change website, provides introductory information on climate change and global warming. It contains information on the scientific evidence of climate change, its causes and impacts.
Optional: This set of 7 short video micro-lectures (2-5 minutes in length)have been developed by the National Research Council, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. This can be used to provide additional information on climate change.
They include:
Reading 1 (World Bank)
Use this interactive website by the Climate Change Knowledge Portal of the World Bank to have your students understand the impacts of Climate Change in Cameroon. This resource includes the following:
Each section contains relevant climate change information including data, projections, and visualizations. The data is visualized through interactive graphs and users can select different indices, model projections, timescales, and sectors to better understand the impacts of climate change in Cameroon.
Reading 2 (USAID)
You may wish to have your students explore climate change and its risks in West Africa in more detail through a resource from climatelinks: A Global Knowledge Portal for Climate and Development Practitioners of the USAID.
This factsheet on climate risks in West Africa includes information on:
Classroom/Lab oratory Activity(15 min)
You may wish to conduct a {roleplay} activity in your classroom/laboratory to further engage your students in understanding the climate crisis in Afghanistan; specifically on the impact of climate change on food security and water security in Afghanistan.
After introducing the students to the topic, conduct the following activity:
2. Each team will then be given 5-10 minutes to discuss how the ‘Lake Chad Crisis’ impacts the organization they represent. Use the following questions to direct the flow of discussion within each team:
(Note: The intention of this activity is to help students empathize and understand the problems faced by each of the organizations. This should enable them to think of possible solutions for the ‘Lake Chad Crisis’)
3. Then ask each team to select a representative that will state their concerns to the other organizations. (Note: It is advised to start with the representative of ‘Farmer’, followed by a representative of ‘Herder’, then a representative of ‘Environmentalist’ and end with a representative of ‘Government’)
4. After each team has laid out their concerns a discussion of possible solutions can ensue, where each group tries to solve the problem of the other groups through the resources available to them. Use the following questions to aid the discussion:
(Example: The ‘Farmer’ may raise the issue of inadequate resources for agriculture and the ‘Herders’ can raise the issue of inadequate pasture and water. The ‘Farmers’ and ‘Herders’ are in a dispute due to shortage of the same resource essential for both farming and herding. Then the ‘Environmentalists’ can analyze the situation and act as a middle ground between the ‘Farmers & Herders’ and ‘Government’. The ‘Government’ can then suggest mitigation policies with the data from ‘Environmentalists’ and cooperation from the other two.)
5. Once the students have reached an agreement regarding some solutions to the crisis, the activity can be concluded with them sharing their experience and reflecting on the issue as a whole.
Use this Lesson Plan to help the students to understand and find answers to:
| 1 | Reading | West Africa Greenhouse Gas Emissions Fact Sheet: This fact sheet by Climatelinks: A Global Knowledge Portal for Climate and Development Practitioners of the USAID, gives information about change in GHG Emissions in West Africa (1990-2014), GHG Emissions Relative to GDP and Mitigation Targets. |
| 2 | Reading | Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, Cameroon: This report provided by UNFCCC is a submission of commitment towards mitigating Climate Change by Cameroon. |
| 1 | Reading “The Causes of Climate Change” | by the NASA Global Climate Change website |
| 2 | A set of videos; “Climate Change: Lines of Evidence” | Presented by National Research Council, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine |
| 3 | Reading “Climate Change Risk Profile for Cameroon” | By Climate Change Knowledge Portal of the World Bank |
| 4 | Reading “Climate Change Risk Profile for Cameroon” | By Climatelinks: A Global Knowledge Portal for Climate and Development Practitioners, USAID |
| 5 | Reading “The tale of a disappearing lake” | By United Nations Environment Programme |
| 6 | Video “Lake chad – How Africa plans to save the shrinking mega lake chad from climate change” | By The New Africa Channel (Youtube) |
| Additional Resources |
(Here is a step-by-step guide to using this lesson plan in the classroom/laboratory. We have suggested these steps as a possible plan of action. You may customize the lesson plan according to your preferences and requirements.)
Reading (15 min) and Video (5-15 min)
This reading titled, “The Causes of Climate Change” from the NASA Global Climate Change website, provides introductory information on climate change and global warming. It contains information on the scientific evidence of climate change, its causes and impacts.
Optional: This set of 7 short video micro-lectures (2-5 minutes in length)have been developed by the National Research Council, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. This can be used to provide additional information on climate change.
They include:
Reading 1 (World Bank)
Use this interactive website by the Climate Change Knowledge Portal of the World Bank to have your students understand the impacts of Climate Change in Cameroon. This resource includes the following:
Each section contains relevant climate change information including data, projections, and visualizations. The data is visualized through interactive graphs and users can select different indices, model projections, timescales, and sectors to better understand the impacts of climate change in Cameroon.
Reading 2 (USAID)
You may wish to have your students explore climate change and its risks in West Africa in more detail through a resource from climatelinks: A Global Knowledge Portal for Climate and Development Practitioners of the USAID.
This factsheet on climate risks in West Africa includes information on:
Classroom/Lab oratory Activity(15 min)
You may wish to conduct a {roleplay} activity in your classroom/laboratory to further engage your students in understanding the climate crisis in Cameroon; specifically on the impact of climate change on food security and water security in Cameroon.
After introducing the students to the topic, conduct the following activity:
2. Each team will then be given 5-10 minutes to discuss how the ‘Lake Chad Crisis’ impacts the organization they represent. Use the following questions to direct the flow of discussion within each team:
(Note: The intention of this activity is to help students empathize and understand the problems faced by each of the organizations. This should enable them to think of possible solutions for the ‘Lake Chad Crisis’)
3. Then ask each team to select a representative that will state their concerns to the other organizations. (Note: It is advised to start with the representative of ‘Farmer’, followed by a representative of ‘Herder’, then a representative of ‘Environmentalist’ and end with a representative of ‘Government’)
4. After each team has laid out their concerns a discussion of possible solutions can ensue, where each group tries to solve the problem of the other groups through the resources available to them. Use the following questions to aid the discussion:
(Example: The ‘Farmer’ may raise the issue of inadequate resources for agriculture and the ‘Herders’ can raise the issue of inadequate pasture and water. The ‘Farmers’ and ‘Herders’ are in a dispute due to shortage of the same resource essential for both farming and herding. Then the ‘Environmentalists’ can analyze the situation and act as a middle ground between the ‘Farmers & Herders’ and ‘Government’. The ‘Government’ can then suggest mitigation policies with the data from ‘Environmentalists’ and cooperation from the other two.)
5. Once the students have reached an agreement regarding some solutions to the crisis, the activity can be concluded with them sharing their experience and reflecting on the issue as a whole.
Use this lesson plan to help your students find answers to:
| 1 | Reading | West Africa Greenhouse Gas Emissions Fact Sheet: This fact sheet by Climatelinks: A Global Knowledge Portal for Climate and Development Practitioners of the USAID, gives information about change in GHG Emissions in West Africa (1990-2014), GHG Emissions Relative to GDP and Mitigation Targets. |
| 2 | Reading | Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, Cameroon: This report provided by UNFCCC is a submission of commitment towards mitigating Climate Change by Cameroon. |
| 1 | Reading “The Causes of Climate Change” | by the NASA Global Climate Change website |
| 2 | A set of videos; “Climate Change: Lines of Evidence” | Presented by National Research Council, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine |
| 3 | Reading “Climate Change Risk Profile for Cameroon” | By Climate Change Knowledge Portal of the World Bank |
| 4 | Reading “Climate Change Risk Profile for Cameroon” | By Climatelinks: A Global Knowledge Portal for Climate and Development Practitioners, USAID |
| 5 | Reading “The tale of a disappearing lake” | By United Nations Environment Programme |
| 6 | Video “Lake chad – How Africa plans to save the shrinking mega lake chad from climate change” | By The New Africa Channel (Youtube) |
| Additional Resources |
