Welcome to our new Climate Change Teacher's Guide. In it, you will find:

• A general introduction to climate change
  • the science of climate
  • an overview of national potential impacts
• What's the scoop for your province or territory?
  • an overview of potential regional impacts
  • some general curriculum links for teaching climate change for each province and territory
• An interactive lesson plan for high school students, using the NRCan Posters on Climate Change. (In it, you'll find linkages for the Pan Canadian Science Curriculum grade 10 learning outcomes.)
• A list of references including useful links on the Internet, and additional educational and informational material available to teachers across Canada

Preface

Starting in 1999, the Climate Change Action Fund (CCAF) sponsored the development of a series of regional posters on the general science and regional impacts of climate change. Led, or co-led, by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), the development of these posters was done in close collaboration with provincial and territorial counterparts and stakeholders. NRCan is grateful to its partners who are listed at the back of this guide.

This guide is intended to accompany the poster series, and material found in this guide comes directly from the posters.

Introduction to teacher's guide

Kyoto. We've all heard that word, and it reminds us as Canadians that we are committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It also reminds us that the growing threat of climate change is real and will affect all of us in many different ways.

The Government of Canada Climate Change Action Fund (CCAF) sponsored the development of a series of posters that introduce climate change in terms of the science and specific issues that affect the entire country, as well as regional issues for a specific province or territory.

Climate change is a tremendously important issue that can be explored through a variety of science and social science learning opportunities. It can be easily identified and delivered within the context of provincial and territorial curricula, and is certainly something that allows learners to learn about and stay on the cutting-edge science on a current issue.

We are well aware of teachers' challenges as they search for materials to suit their ever-changing curriculum demands. To ask you to address issues that do not reflect that curriculum is unacceptable. This guide is based on material from the series of posters and will outline a lesson that is directly linked to the Pan Canadian Science curriculum so there will be no question as to the use and value of the posters and the guide. All attempts to consider provincial or territorial curricula learning outcomes have been made. The guide offers some general climate change information as well as the lesson plan and a variety of extensions and other ideas to make use of the poster in your class.

The lesson is targeted at the grade 10 level. However, as a teacher you can see that it is easily adapted to a variety of grade levels. We encourage you to tailor the lesson to suit your students' needs and interests.

Words of importance or significance have been bolded.

More detailed information can be found on the posters themselves, on the Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation website, Environment Canada's climate change website.

Good luck as you begin to explore the world of climate change in Canada

An introduction to climate and climate change

The Science of Climate Change
The first thing to understand is that some level of change in climate is natural and has been experienced several times over the course of history. The greenhouse effect is also a natural phenomenon and is what keeps Earth habitable - without it, the temperature of this planet would probably hover about 33°C colder than it is now.

Earth's climate is naturally variable. Warming and cooling trends are part of normal climatic cycles. Climatic conditions vary within a single year, from one year to the next, over decades, centuries, and millennia. Historically there have been many changes in climate, with repeated fluctuations between colder and warmer conditions - the ice ages, for example.

In simple terms, Earth's climate is controlled and balanced by a number of variables, the sun, atmosphere, oceans, water, and land. The "greenhouse effect" refers to the heat-trapping quality of the atmosphere and is created by greenhouse gases (GHGs). These gases, which include water vapour (H₂0), carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O), are part of a complex natural system that influences our climate. The natural greenhouse effect is what keeps Earth hospitable to life - without it, Earth would be 33°C colder than it is now. Within this system, other elements, such as trees and oceans, play an important role by absorbing and storing atmospheric CO₂.

Human activities, particularly those that consume energy derived from the combustion of fossil fuels, are large sources of the greenhouse gases (GHGs). Once in the atmosphere, these gases trap energy emitted by the Earth and reduce the loss of heat to space. The increasing emissions of GHGs are threatening to raise temperatures and change the planet's climate. This 'enhanced' greenhouse effect, commonly referred to as 'climate change' or 'global warming', has the potential to warm the planet at a rate never before experienced in human history.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change defines climate change as "a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods."

In other words, climate change is an overall change in weather patterns as a result of what we, as humans, do. We drive cars, burn wood, cut trees, build roads - all these activities create increases in greenhouse gases and affect climate change.