Climate Change: Explore II

How will climate change in the future?

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change AR6 report (2021-2022) describes scenarios for climate change of the future. Introducing the role of the IPCC supports learners to understand how scientists and governments are working together to ensure actions are informed by scientific evidence. Guidance from the IPCC highlights the importance of reducing carbon dioxide and greenhouse emissions by 2050 to ensure that global warming does not exceed 1.5 degrees. This session introduces learners to understand how climate models are used to identify the relationship between human activity and changes to climate, and how these can be used to make predictions for the future.

This is recommended as session four in the KS3 Climate Change unit of learning, supporting an understanding of how climate could change in the future.

< 30 minutes
KS3

Preparation

Green Skills

  • Recording data
  • Data interpretation

Step by step

Quick Starter Activity

Met Office Climate Stripes collage DIY activity

Share the Climate Stripes developed by Climatology Professor Ed Hawkins from the University of Reading. This image, with the warmer and cooler years depicted in different colours, creates a clear picture of the long-term warming that is happening in the UK and beyond.

visualisation of global warming with blue to red stripes
© Ed Hawkins, climate scientist at University of Reading - Hawkins, Ed, 2018 visualisation update / Warming stripes for 1850-2018 using the WMO annual global temperature dataset. Climate Lab Book (4 December 2018). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

 

Met Office suggest conducting a Climate Stripes collage DIY activity. For a shorter activity learners could also use this to think about and discuss different ways we could show how the planet’s (or their local) temperature is changing over time.

Main Activity Suggestions

Suggestion 1 (Indoor)

Met Office: Interpreting Climate Models. A group challenge to explore the concept of climate change modelling and look at different scenarios for the future.

Suggestion 2 (Indoor)

Royal Meteorological Society: The Great Debate. This activity will support learners to understand why climate scepticism is an important topic to address in the classroom. Learners can use the materials to research different sides of an argument and if time allows, conduct a debate.
 

Top Tips

Data interpretation is one of the Nature Park’s key green skills. Supporting learners to understand how to interpret and use data to solve problems, and to communicate ideas, can support them with National Education Nature Park focused data interpretation. It can help learners to use data as evidence to communicate and advocate for the change they want to see.

Curriculum links