Week 5: Deforestation

Week Five: Deforestation
Global Warming
Weeks 4, 5, and 6 make up a three-week cycle on deforestation. Currently, you are in the Event Study week of the cycle.

This week you should refer to the resources listed under Readings, References, & Recommendations and you need to complete the assignment listed under Event Study Assignment & Rubric. This week’s assignment focuses on …

Reading and learning more about factors influencing global warming
Serving as a "Sphere Expert" to your Event Team
Contributing your Sphere Group's knowledge on the interactions between the event, deforestation, and your sphere
Looking for possible interactions and interrelationships between the different spheres of the system
Writing causal chains to synthesize the interactions

Suggested Activities for Your Students

"Loss of Habitat on the Cutting Edge." Welcome to NASA's Earth Science Enterprise: Educational Activity Supplement. pp.86-91.

Time and Cycles: Lesson, Logs of Straws: Dendrochronology.
Use tree rings to study recent climate changes.

Ground Truth Studies Teacher Handbook: pp. 75-81

Ground Truth Studies Teacher Handbook: pp. 87-88

Event Study Assignment & Rubric
This week you and your Event Team will look at sphere to sphere interactions and will synthesize your interactions into causal chains.

You may want to review the deforestation event before you do the Event Study Assignment & Rubric.

Readings, References, & Recommendations

Read: The distinction between weather (local and short-term) and climate (long-term) is crucial. Hotter weather in the summer may be an indicator of cooler climate. For example, changes in air mass due to cooling climate may lead to warmer summers in certain parts of the country.

Read: "Processing Inputs and Feedbacks." Forecasting the Future. pp. 15-26.

Read: "Working Definitions." Ground Truth Studies Teacher Handbook. p. 11 and the first two paragraphs on p. 24.

Reference: In Ground Truth Studies Teacher Handbook, look at pp. 89-90 for consideration of a long-term project for students. How might one of these projects work for your area? Among other sources, the U.S. Soil and Conservation Service has older black and white aerial photos for many areas of the United States.

Recommended Web Sites:

NASA Fact Sheet: Global Warming

Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center. You will have access to data in the forms of data tables or graphs for use in the classroom.

NCDC: Global Warming