Sarah Slater 4/28/19

9th Grade Earth Science: Human Sustainability

1. Standards
A) Earth Science
HS-ESS3-1. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the
availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes
in climate have influenced human activity.
[Clarification Statement: Examples of the results of changes in climate
that can affect populations or drive mass migrations could include
changes to sea level, regional patterns of temperature and
precipitation, and the types of crops and livestock that can be raised.]
HS-ESS3-2. Evaluate competing design solutions for developing, managing,
and utilizing energy and mineral resources based on cost-benefit ratios.
[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the conservation, recycling,
and reuse of resources (such as minerals and metals) where possible,
and on minimizing impacts where it is not. Examples could include
developing best practices for agricultural soil use, mining (for coal, tar
sands, and oil shales), and pumping (for petroleum and natural gas).
Science knowledge indicates what can happen in natural systems—
not what should happen.]
HS-ESS3-3. Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships
among management of natural resources, the sustainability of human
populations, and biodiversity.
[Clarification Statement: Examples of factors that affect the
management of natural resources could include costs of resource
extraction and waste management, per-capita consumption, and the
development of new technologies. Examples of factors that affect
human sustainability could include agricultural efficiency, levels of
conservation, and urban planning.] [Assessment Boundary:
Assessment for computational simulations is limited to using
provided multi-parameter programs or constructing simplified
spreadsheet calculations.]

B) Technology
ISTE 1. Empowered Learner Students leverage technology to take an active
role in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning
goals, informed by the learning sciences.
1a. Students articulate and set personal learning goals, develop
strategies leveraging technology to achieve them and reflect on the
learning process itself to improve learning outcomes.
1b. Students build networks and customize their learning
environments in ways that support the learning process.
1c. Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and
improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety
of ways.
Sarah Slater 4/28/19

1d. Students understand the fundamental concepts of technology

operations, demonstrate the ability to choose, use and troubleshoot
current technologies and are able to transfer their knowledge to
explore emerging technologies.
ISTE 3. Knowledge Constructor Students critically curate a variety of
resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative
artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and
others.
3a. Students plan and employ effective research strategies to locate
information and other resources for their intellectual or creative
pursuits.
3b. Students evaluate the accuracy, perspective, credibility and
relevance of information, media, data or other resources.
3c. Students curate information from digital resources using a variety
of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that
demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.
3d. Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues
and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers
and solutions.

2. Lesson Objectives
A) Earth Science
A1. Students will be able to illustrate the relationship between the
management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations,
and biodiversity.
A2. Students will be able to explain how the changes to the environment
caused by climate change have impacted human activity.
A3. Students will be able to evaluate competing designs for resource
management based on cost-benefit comparisons.

B) Technology
B1. Students will be able to collect evidence from digital resources to
demonstrate a meaningful connection.
B2. Students will be able to build knowledge by actively exploring real-world
issues to pursue solutions to real-world problems.
B3. Students will be able to troubleshoot current technologies and transfer
their knowledge of technology operations to explore emerging technologies.

4. Introduction of Learning Activity

A) Earth Science
Students will go to the teacher’s website by typing in the address
(slatersarah.wordpress.com) that is posted on the board in front of the class
or by following the link emailed to them. The teacher will direct the class to
contribute to a Know-Want-Learn Google Doc linked via the teacher’s
website and emailed to the students. Students will write two things they
Sarah Slater 4/28/19

know about human impacts on climate change and two things they want to
know by the end of this unit.
B) Technology
Google Docs is a 2.0 word processor technology that is part of a free web-
based software suite provided by Google. Students are able to individually
contribute from their respective computers to one classroom document at
the same time.

5. Information
A) Earth Science
https://www.Slaterscience.wordpress.com (web-based)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ybCSaRa3K9gPEyLmIuPcqbYGdpsD
O_SkQAAs0lhNL0M/edit?usp=sharing (2.0 software/web)
www.footprintcalculator.org (web-based)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/hottopics/climatechange/climate_challenge/
(web-based)
http://sealevel.climatecentral.org/ (web-based)
https://climate.nasa.gov/climate_resources/25/interactive-climate-time-
machine/ (web-based)
Word Processor: Microsoft Word, Notebook, LibreOffice Writer, WordPad,
etc. (software)

6. Practice
A) Earth Science
Students will open with a Know-Want-Learned activity where they will
contribute information they previously learned and are interested in
discussing further. After students spend a few minutes sharing their
responses and looking through peer contributions the teacher will direct
students to follow the link provided on the Teacher Website to a Footprint
Calculator. Students will independently answer prompts on 13 interactive
pages to calculate their own ecological impact on the earth. Students will be
able to go back and adjust their answers to see the relationship between the
resources an individual uses and the impact it has on the environment. The
teacher will then direct students to follow the link provided to the BBC
Climate Challenge Simulator. Students will play the simulation game where
they each take on the role of European Union President and must evaluate
management solutions while weighing the costs and benefits of each policy.
With the remaining time students may choose to navigate to either the
Surging Seas interactive map or the NASA Time Machine interactive timeline
to practice their understanding of relationships between natural resources
and human activity.
B) Technology
The Footprint Calculator provided by Global Footprint Network uses
individualized responses to food, housing, and transportation resource
consumption questions to generate an ecological impact report in the form of
Sarah Slater 4/28/19

how many Earths would be required to sustain the same lifestyle were
everyone on the planet to live they same way.
The Climate Challenge Simulation provided by the BBC allows students to see
the impacts of their international policy decisions as they relate to the
environment, public opinion, national economy, and the consumption of
natural resources. Students are given the freedom to make their own
decisions about how conservative or liberal they wish to be with policies and
they interpret the outcome projected by the simulation.
Surging Seas, provided by Climate Central, is an interactive tool to visualize
the amounts of sea level rise over time on an adjustable map. Factsheets and
additional links are built in to provide further information on similar topics.
The NASA Climate Time Machine is an interactive tool that allows students to
see the effect climate change has had on sea ice, sea level, carbon emissions,
and average global temperature throughout recent history.

7. Knowledge of Results
The teacher will use a Know-Want-Learned activity as a formal formative
assessment of student understanding of the learning objectives in Earth
Science and Technology. The teacher will be available for one-on-one
conferences throughout the lesson, which will also act as an informal
formative assessment of content area and technology learning objectives.
The summative assessment for the lesson will come in the form of a Letter to
Your Legislator, where students will be required to use evidence to support
their position on the management of climate change as it relates to human
sustainability.

8. Review
The learning objectives for the Human Sustainability unit of Earth Science
are more abstract than many students are familiar with in a school setting. There is
not much content that can be clearly defined and memorized, but rather
relationships and predictions must be made based on multiple contributing factors.
Background knowledge of the topic may be politically influenced and/or scientific
concepts may be inaccurately represented. Students are not expected to support one
particular management plan. Instead they are expected to be able to accurately
interpret data provided to them and express logical conclusions using this evidence.
The Know-Want-Learned provides the teacher with misconceptions the class may
hold so that the science behind these views may be addressed. The digital resources
used throughout the lesson allow for multiple natural resource management
opinions to be held while viewing the same climate data. A student’s opinion of what
should be done in response to climate change is not what is being assessed, only
their ability to construct an explanation using evidence, evaluate solution designs,
and illustrate relationships between human activity and natural resources.

3. Methods of Assessment
A) Earth Science
Sarah Slater 4/28/19

Objective A1. Students will write two things they have learned about human
impacts on climate change in the Learned heading on the Know-Want-
Learned Google Doc started at the beginning of the lesson.
Objective A2. Students will write a personalized Letter to their Legislator
using evidence to support their claims, which will be emailed to the teacher.
Objective A3. Students will write a personalized Letter to their Legislator
using evidence to support their claims, which will be emailed to the teacher.
B) Technology
B1. Students will cite evidence collected from digital resources for their
Letter to Your Legislator and Know-Want-Learn Exit Slip formal assessments.
B2. Students will suggest real-word solutions backed by evidence in their
Letter to Your Legislator and Know-Want-Learn Exit Slip formal assessments.
B3. Students will transfer their knowledge of technology to explore other
technologies when collecting evidence to support their arguments for their
Letter to Your Legislator and Know-Want-Learn Exit Slip formal assessments.