Climate Change and Your Watershed

Overview

Climate Change and Your Watershed engages students in science and social studies through guided investigations of anticipated impacts of climate change in Maine watersheds, and climate action projects that address climate change causes and effects on global and local scales. Students compare their observations of annual events such as ice out, wildlife migrations, and phase changes in plant and animal life cycles (the study of phenology) with Maine’s historical climate and biological data. They interview community members to find out ways their community depends on their local climate, and evaluate energy use in their homes and communities. Students reflect on the information they turned up in their investigations and then take action. Student action projects include working in their schools and communities to raise awareness of local impacts of global climate change; helping to develop and implement local plans for reductions in energy use; and participating in networks of citizens supporting climate science by collecting phenology data about plants and animals in their watershed.

Inquiry Level

This Watershed Experience for grades 5, 6, 7 & 8 students follows a Guided Inquiry Approach to instruction and learning. Teachers and students share responsibility for various components of their investigation and action projects. Teachers present students with their research question and methods. Students then assume significant ownership of their inquiry process, using teamwork and peer review to scaffold their learning experience. After guiding students through the process of reflecting on their investigations, identifying themes in their learning, and distilling themes into educational messages, teachers then let students drive the process of designing, creating, publishing, and doing.

Overview of Standards

Issue

Problem Statement

As a result of increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, Earth’s climate is changing. Scientists have shown that global climate change can be observed on local scales, such as in Maine watersheds. However, most citizens in Maine are not aware of the ways that climate change is already affecting their local environment, or ways they can address or adapt to some of the predicted impacts.

Background Information

Climate vs. weather

Have you ever looked out the window on a gray, chilly August day and grumbled, “Where is the sun? It’s supposed to be warm and sunny in August!” If so, you already know the difference between climate and weather.

• Weather is “what’s actually happening outside right now,” or at any particular moment in time. It is characterized by daily (or even hourly) measurements of air temperature, precipitation, cloud cover, humidity, and other variables.

• Climate is “what you expect to happen,” based on the long-term statistical average of weather conditions for any given location or region. Typically “normal” climate conditions are based on statistical averages calculated over a period of 30 years.

When you plan your Maine summer vacation for the first week of August with confidence that you will enjoy a week of warmth and sunshine, you are counting on your average late summer climate to fulfill your expectations. Unfortunately, the highly variable atmospheric conditions of the moment might instead bring you a dreary week of wind and rain. That is the unpredictable nature of the weather at work! However, chances are that if you planned your family vacation for the first week of August for 30 years in a row, you would experience the blissful week of warm, sunny weather you hope for more often than the rain you dread. That’s what average calculations of your climate can predict!

Meteorologists are those who study and forecast the weather, while climatologists study long-term averages and trends in weather for specific locations, or climate. Right now (2010), the 30-year period of time climatologists refer to as “normal” climate conditions for any particular variable is the period from 1971-2000. Climatologists in Maine have a record of meteorological variables that have been collected systematically for the past 130 years.

What causes climate change?

Global emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases have increased at unprecedented rates since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century. Greenhouse gases are released primarily through fossil fuel combustion (coal, oil, and gas), and the decay of organic materials. When they are emitted at rates far greater than the rate at which Earth’s plants can recycle them through photosynthesis (as has happened during the last 200 years), these gases collect in Earth’s atmosphere. They are called “greenhouse gases” because they trap heat reflected from the sun in the atmosphere, just as the glass roof and walls of a greenhouse trap heat inside. We rely on a certain amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to trap enough heat to keep our planet from freezing, but when concentrations get too high, they increase Earth’s temperature on a global scale. This increase in average global temperature has a wide range of impacts that affect different parts of Earth (and its human, plant, and animal communities) in different ways, and to different degrees.

Observing global change on a local scale

Scientists studying Maine watersheds are already starting to see evidence of the profound changes that climate researchers have been predicting as a result of global climate change. In fact, citizens who keep careful records of their yearly observations of wildlife, plants, and weather have started to see some of these changes, too. According to the 2009 University of Maine report, Maine’s Climate Future, predicted and observed changes in Maine include:

• Changes in biodiversity and species compositions in many different ecosystems
• Changes in the timing of annual wildlife migrations and plant and animal life cycles
• Increased susceptibility to nonnative species invasions
• Changes in the timing and intensity of precipitation and other seasonal weather patterns
• Increases in average seasonal temperatures
• Longer and more severe periods of drought

The changes are expected to accelerate rapidly over the next century, and many scientists have concluded that even with abrupt, coordinated reductions in fossil fuel emissions, climate change cannot be stopped, only slowed down. With these changes come numerous related impacts on human and ecological health, cultural traditions, industry, and local economies. Here are a few examples of predicted impacts that concern scientists in Maine:

Warmer winter temperatures mean unpredictable snow and ice conditions. Wintertime activities Mainers love best (skating, snowmobiling, ice fishing, skiing, sledding, and making snowmen) could become cherished memories, instead of activities to look forward to each year. This potential change is of particular concern to communities and industries that rely on winter recreational activities.

Co-dependent species may adapt to changing temperatures at different rates. Species, such as apple trees, that need insects to pollinate their flowers and create fruit, could be waiting with their flowers open for pollination weeks before their pollinators hatch or emerge from winter dormancy. By the time the insects are ready to do their important job (gathering their own food in the process), the flowers may have withered and died, resulting in starving pollinators and a terrible crop of apples.

Intense bursts of precipitation erode stream habitat and wash out roads. With warmer winter temperatures, precipitation is more likely to fall as rain rather than snow, and storm events throughout the year are expected to intensify. This causes high volumes of runoff that degrade habitat by scouring streambeds and depositing silt downstream. Swift-moving runoff can also flood or wash out roads and bridges, resulting in dangerous conditions and expensive repairs.

The problem is SO big! What good can we do?

Maine citizens (including students and teachers!) can respond to the global challenge of climate change by educating themselves about the problems we face, helping to raise awareness in others, taking measures to slow emissions of greenhouse gases in their homes and communities, and working with their communities to adapt to the anticipated impacts of climate change. The Student Action section below contains lessons and activities that will help you get started.

Additional resources

For additional background information on climate science, teaching resources, and information about the predicted and observed effects of climate change in Maine, please refer to the resources listed below.

Introduction

Through group discussion and hands-on activities, students define the terms climate, weather, and watershed, and acquaint themselves with the land area and geographic features of the watershed in which they live. Students learn (or review) Essential Principles of Climate Literacy for their grade level, explore some of the ways plant, animal, and human communities in their local watershed depend on a consistent climate, and discuss scientists’ predictions for how global climate has or will affect their local watershed.

Please note: activity descriptions and linked activity pages will be posted soon!

Activity Focus Questions:

1. What is climate? How is it different from weather?
2. What forces regulate our climate?
3. How does my local climate affect me? Do I have an effect on my local climate?
4. How do plants and animals in my watershed depend on my local climate?
5. What is climate change? Why is it happening?
6. What is a watershed? Where is my watershed? What/who does my watershed contain?
7. How are scientists trying to predict and understand impacts of global climate change in Maine?
8. What impacts of global climate change do scientists predict for my Maine watershed?

Investigation

The Climate Change and Your Watershed investigation has three components. They may be investigated in any order.

Please note: activity descriptions and linked activity pages will be posted soon!

Component I – What do the historical data say? What can we observe ourselves?

Students investigate their local watershed to determine whether or not predicted impacts of global climate change can be observed in their backyards. Students identify sites in their watershed with long-term sources of climate and biological data and compare recent data with historical records of precipitation, temperature, stream flow, spring runoff volumes, and the timing of annual events such as ice-out on lakes and rivers and plant and animal life cycles.

Students then sign up as participants in the U.S.A. National Phenology Network (USA-NPN) and use USNPN training materials to learn how to collect data on the timing of annual biological and seasonal events in their watersheds. Students choose a local plant or animal species that interests them (and for which a good record of historical data exists). Teams of students use USNPN protocols to identify and record the timing of their chosen species’ annual life cycle or seasonal changes (phenophases) on the USNPN website and compare their data to Maine’s historical records.

Component II – How does my community depend on a stable climate? What are our greatest vulnerabilities?

Students identify and interview community members with a variety of backgrounds and professions to find out ways their community depends on their local climate (using audio and video recordings, if possible), and how they perceive the challenges and opportunities that climate change presents.

Component III – How much fossil fuel energy are we using in our homes, schools, and communities now? What are our greatest opportunities to reduce our fossil fuel energy use in our homes, schools, and communities?

Students use web-based energy use calculators to calculate their personal and home energy use and identify the highest-impact ways they and their parents can reduce their personal energy use. Students then work with their teachers to identify school and community advisors who can help them outline possibilities for high-impact energy use reductions and plans for how students can help organize and participate in school-wide and community meetings on energy conservation and alternative energy planning.

Student Action

Students reflect on what they learned in each component of the Investigation and decide as a class how they would like to apply their studies in their schools or communities to address the local challenges of global climate change. Possible Student Action project topics are listed below.

Please note: additional project topics, activity descriptions and linked activity pages will be posted soon!

How can we address the local challenges of global climate change?

1. Connect with local networks of citizen volunteer monitors and/or staff from the Northeast Regional Phenology Network to identify local species or indicators for which there are gaps in phenology data that are important for understanding local impacts of climate change. Work with citizen volunteers to develop and implement a monitoring plan for these species using USNPN protocols, and use a blog to share your findings with your school and community.
2. Work with school administrators to develop a plan for reducing school-wide energy use, or attend meetings of your school’s energy conservation committee (if you already have one), and contribute your ideas to the discussion.
3. Contact your city/town officials and request time in one of their city/town council meetings to present your ideas for community-wide energy reductions (based on your Investigation). If the town/city already has an energy conservation committee or task force, attend one of their meetings and see whether there are opportunities for students to assist them with their work (or lead a project of your own related to their work).
4. Develop a “green club” if your school does not already have one (or attend meetings of the one that does) and share your knowledge of personal and home energy use calculators with the rest of the members of the group. Work with the group to set targets for energy conservation and develop a website or blog to share information and your accomplishments with the rest of your school.
5. Create a “watershed climate news” website or blog upon which to post links to climate-related data and articles that affect your local watershed or community. Ask your school to put a link to your website or blog on its home page.
6. Review your audio or videotapes of interviews with community members about their perceptions of the ways that climate change affects them now or will affect them in the future. With their permission, write a story for the town/city newspaper about the interviews. Include your own perspective on this question and quotations from the community members you interviewed.

NOAA and other resources

Climate Change Science, Policy, and Current Events

• University of Maine Climate Change Institute, Maine’s Climate Future Report
• Maine Sea Grant, University of Maine Climate Change Institute, and University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Maine Climate News
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Services
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Climate Change Pages
• United Nations Environment Program, Climate Change Pages

Teaching Resources Related to Climate Change

• NOAA Climate Services, Education Pages
• NOAA Education, Climate Change and Our Planet
• The Climate Literacy Network
• American Academy for the Advancement of Science, Project 2061, Communicating and Learning about Global Climate Change
• Climate Central
• COSEE Ocean Systems, Ocean Climate Interactive

Resources Related to Phenology Monitoring

• U.S.A. National Phenology Network
• Northeast Regional Phenology Network