Climate Change Education Across the Curricula, Across the Globe

Climate Change Education Across the Curricula

Lesson Plan: Climate Change Impacts in South Africa

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As a High School or Undergraduate Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, or Geography teacher, you can use this lesson plan to teach your students about climate change and global warming and specifically the impacts of climate change in South Africa.

This lesson plan provides an introduction to climate change, causes and impacts of climate change globally, climate change risk profile for South Africa that includes climate impacts on major sectors of the country such as agriculture, water resources, human health, ecosystems, energy, infrastructure, and disasters. This lesson plan also includes the current and future health risks in South Africa due to climate change.

Thus, the use of this lesson plan allows you to teach Climate Science and Climate Change in your Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, and Geography classrooms.

Questions

Use this lesson plan to help your students find answers to:

  1. What is climate change? What are the causes of global warming?
  2. What are the global impacts of climate change?
  3. What are the impacts of climate change in South Africa?
  4. How will increased temperatures impact South Africa?
  5. How will changing weather patterns including changes in precipitation, storms, droughts impact South Africa in the future?
  6. What are the current and future health risks due to climate change?
  7. What risks does climate change pose to human health in South Africa with respect to malaria, dengue fever, and undernutrition?

About Lesson Plan

Grade Level High school
Discipline Earth Sciences

Environmental Sciences

Geography
Topic(s) in Discipline Climate Change, Global Warming

Climate Change Risk Profile of South Africa

Health Impacts of Climate Change
Climate Topic Introduction to Climate Change

Climate Variability Record

Climate and Health
Location Global
Language(s) English
Access Online
Approximate
Time Required		 60 – 75 min

Contents

Reading (15 min) and Video Micro-Lectures

(5-15 min)

 A reading from the NASA Global Climate Change website that includes contains information about what is the scientific evidence for climate change, causes and impacts of climate change.

This can be accessed here.

Optional:  A set of 7 of short video micro-lectures (2-5 minutes in length) on climate change and global warming developed by the National Research Council, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

This can be accessed here.
Readings

(30 min)

 A set of two readings by Climatelinks: A Global Knowledge Portal for Climate and Development Practitioners, USAID, to explain climate change in South Africa.

This can be accessed at:

Reading 1 ; Reading 2
Reading

(15 min)

 A reading by the World Health Organization on how climate change can impact human health in South Africa.

This can be accessed here.
1 Introduction to the Climate Change Introduce to your students what is climate change and global warming using a reading from the NASA Global Climate Change website. This resource contains information about what is the scientific evidence for climate change, causes and impacts of climate change.

This resource can be accessed here.

 Optional: You may choose to provide your students with further information about global climate change using a set of video micro-lectures. This set of 7 of 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.

They include:

  1.        What is Climate? Climate Change, Lines of Evidence Chapter 1
  2.        Is Earth Warming? Climate Change, Lines of Evidence Chapter 2
  3.        Greenhouse Gases. Climate Change, Lines of Evidence Chapter 3
  4.        Increased Emissions. Climate Change, Lines of Evidence Chapter 4
  5.        How Much Warming? Climate Change, Lines of Evidence Chapter 5
  6.        Solar Influence. Climate Change, Lines of Evidence Chapter 6
  7.        Natural Cycles. Climate Change, Lines of Evidence Chapter 7

This video playlist can be accessed here.
2 Readings; Climate Change in South Africa Use a set of two readings by Climatelinks: A Global Knowledge Portal for Climate and Development Practitioners, USAID, to explain climate change in South Africa to your students.

A.     First, use the factsheet Climate Change Risk Profile: Southern Africa which is a factsheet on climate change risk profiles for the southern part of the African continent. This factsheet (9 pages) includes the climate summary, historical and future climate, impacts on major sectors such as agriculture, water resources, human health, ecosystems, energy, infrastructure, and disasters, for Southern Africa including the country of South Africa.

 

This resource can be accessed here.

 

B.     Next, use the factsheet Climate Change Information Factsheet: South Africa to emphasize the climate impacts and vulnerabilities for South Africa. This factsheet (4 pages) includes current and future temperature projections, precipitation and flooding, drought, sea level rise and storm surge, and winds and storms.

This resource can be accessed here.
3 Reading: Climate Change and Human Health Impacts in South Africa Use a reading by the World Health Organization (WHO) to stress to your students how climate change can impact human health in South Africa. This factsheet (8 pages) titled Climate Change and Health: Country Profile: South Africa includes information on climate hazard projections for South Africa and current and future health risks of climate change in South Africa. You could use this factsheet to help your students better understand what risks does climate change pose to human health in South Africa with respect to malaria, dengue fever, and undernutrition.

This resource can be accessed here.

 

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