As a Middle or High School Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, or Geography teacher, you can use this lesson plan to teach the Earth’s climate system and help your students understand different aspects of Earth’s climate using simulations. This lesson plan is based on the webbased tool ‘Earth-Like’ developed at the Earth- Life Science Institute, Japan.
This lesson plan introduces Earth’s climate system, an overview of the Earth-Like simulator, and provides a guided exercise that uses the simulator to help your students understand what are the main factors that determine the climate of planet Earth.
There are several factors that impact the surface temperature and the climate of the planet. These include the role of the sun and solar flux incident on the planet, the roles of the atmosphere and its greenhouse effect, the hydrosphere, the lithosphere, the biosphere, the cryosphere, the anthroposphere, and their interactions on a variety of spatial and temporal scales. This lesson plan demonstrates the use of the Earth-Like simulation to explain select aspects of the Earth’s climate system.
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. This lesson plan is particularly effective to use in a flipped classroom and as a blended learning educational resource.
The tools in this lesson plan will enable students to:
| Grade Level | High School, Middle School |
| Discipline | Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geography |
| Topic(s) in Discipline | Climate Change Overview, Planetary Climate, Earth’s Climate System, Earth’s Climate, Earth’s Layers, Atmosphere, Biosphere, Hydrosphere, Lithosphere, Cryosphere |
| Climate Topic | Introduction to Climate Change, Climate Literacy |
| Location | Global |
| Language(s) | English |
| Access | Online |
| Approximate Time Required | 50 mins |
| Share | |
| Resource Download |
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.
Video Lecture (15 min)
Introduce the Earth’s climate system to your students through the video lecture ‘Earth’s Climate System’ developed by the University of
British Columbia as part of the course titled ‘Climate Literacy: Navigating Climate Change Conversations’.
Emphasize the following topics from the video lecture: What determines the climate of planet Earth, specifically the significant role of the
sun and the solar energy flux received on the planet, and the roles of the atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and cryosphere
Classroom/Laboratory Activity (25 min)
Introduce your students to the Earth-Like simulator developed at the Earth-Life Science Institute, Japan. This simulator was developed as a project from the ELSI Origins Network Planetary Diversity Workshop.
The Earth-Like is a simulator allows you to render new planets and examine the average surface temperature and the climate of the planet
by varying the most significant contributors to the Earth’s climate system. The simulator has two options: A classic toolkit and an advanced
toolkit. The simulator includes the following:
Classic Toolkit
Advanced Toolkit
Your students can choose either toolkit to evaluate the roles of each of the factors listed above in determining the climate of the planet. The
simulator can be used by changing values of these factors and rendering a new planet. The results are given in terms of the average surface
of temperature of the new planet and is compared with that of our current day Earth.
The Earth-Like website also includes a brief description of climate science and specifically the role of land fraction cover with an emphasis on
the weathering reaction, rate of volcanic degassing, solar insolation levels, the planetary thermostat and the carbon cycle. A description of
the model and the mathematics behind it is also provided.
Give your students an assignment and ask them to answer the following questions. At the end of each question, emphasize to your students
how varying each factor changes the average surface temperature of the planet. This will allow them to better understand the role of these
factors in determining planet Earth’s climate. The solutions to the assignment are provided as a separate downloadable document.
Use this lesson plan to help your students find answers to:
| 1 | Video Lecture; ‘Earth’s Climate System’ | Developed by the University of British Columbia as part of the course titled ‘Climate Literacy: Navigating Climate Change Conversations’. |
| 2 | Simulator; ‘Earth-Like’ | Developed at the Earth-Life Science Institute, Japan |
| Grade Level | High School, Middle School |
| Discipline | Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geography |
| Topic(s) in Discipline | Earth’s Climate System, Climate Change |
| Climate Topic | Planetary Climate |
| Location | Global |
| Language(s) | English |
| Access | Online |
| Approximate Time Required | 50 mins |
| Share | |
| Resource Download |
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.
Video Lecture (15 min)
Introduce the Earth’s climate system to your students through the video lecture ‘Earth’s Climate System’ developed by the University of British Columbia as part of the course titled ‘Climate Literacy: Navigating Climate Change Conversations’.
Emphasize the following topics from the video lecture: What determines the climate of planet Earth, specifically the significant role of the sun and the solar energy flux received on the planet, and the roles of the atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and cryosphere
Classroom/Laboratory Activity (25 min)
Introduce your students to the Earth-Like simulator developed at the Earth-Life Science Institute, Japan. This simulator was developed as a project from the ELSI Origins Network Planetary Diversity Workshop.
The Earth-Like is a simulator allows you to render new planets and examine the average surface temperature and the climate of the planet by varying the most significant contributors to the Earth’s climate system. The simulator has two options: A classic toolkit and an advanced toolkit. The simulator includes the following:
Classic Toolkit
Advanced Toolkit
Your students can choose either toolkit to evaluate the roles of each of the factors listed above in determining the climate of the planet. The simulator can be used by changing values of these factors and rendering a new planet. The results are given in terms of the average surface of temperature of the new planet and is compared with that of our current day Earth.
The Earth-Like website also includes a brief description of climate science and specifically the role of land fraction cover with an emphasis on the weathering reaction, rate of volcanic degassing, solar insolation levels, the planetary thermostat and the carbon cycle. A description of the model and the mathematics behind it is also provided.
Give your students an assignment and ask them to answer the following questions. At the end of each question, emphasize to your students how varying each factor changes the average surface temperature of the planet. This will allow them to better understand the role of these factors in determining planet Earth’s climate. The solutions to the assignment are provided as a separate downloadable document.
Use this lesson plan to help your students find answers to:
| 1 | Video Lecture; ‘Earth’s Climate System’ | Developed by the University of British Columbia as part of the course titled ‘Climate Literacy: Navigating Climate Change Conversations’. |
| 2 | Simulator; ‘Earth-Like’ | Developed at the Earth-Life Science Institute, Japan |
