At a glance
Individual · three class periods of work time — Unit 2, Days 14, 15 and 16 — then handed in on Day 17 · Format: 4–6 pages or equivalent
The task
Choose one climate impact that affects a real community, and build a plan for responding to it.
What to include
- The impact. What is happening, where, and to whom? Use at least three sources, one of them a primary data source such as a government or research dataset.
- The mechanism. Explain the science. Connect it to Indicators of Climate Change and The Greenhouse Effect — I want the physical chain of cause and effect, not just “the climate is changing”.
- Who is affected, and unevenly. Include how the impact falls on communities in Canada, and address at least one First Nations, Métis, or Inuit community’s experience, using sources from that community wherever possible.
- Existing responses. What is already being tried? What is working?
- Practices that already work. Find a sustainable practice — one used by a community rather than sold to it, and at least one of them from a First Nations, Métis, or Inuit community. Say what it protects and why it works: the ecological reason, not “it is traditional”.
- Your plan. Three actions, each with: who does it, what it costs, what it would achieve, and how you would measure whether it worked.
The most common weakness
Plans that stop at “raise awareness”. Awareness of what, by whom, leading to which decision? Name the decision your plan is trying to change.
Assessment
| Criterion | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Understanding the science | Names the impact | Describes it | Explains the mechanism accurately | Explains it and its interactions with other systems |
| Use of evidence | Few sources, unexamined | Sources listed | Sources evaluated for reliability | Sources compared where they disagree |
| Communities | Mentioned generally | Described | Specific, sourced, respectful | Draws on community voices directly |
| Practices that work | Named | Described | Explained — what it protects, and how | Set against a technical fix, honestly compared |
| Plan | Vague actions | Actions with some detail | Costed, measurable actions | Actions with trade-offs assessed honestly |
The five rows above are the whole story of the mark. Run them over your own draft at the start of the last working period — Judging Your Own Work is how — and spend the rest of that period on the row you called weakest.
Hand in
- The plan itself
- Source list with a sentence on why each is trustworthy
- A short reflection: what surprised you?
Curriculum connection
B1.1
assess impacts of climate change on the sustainability of local and global ecosystems, describe local or global initiatives for combatting climate change, and identify solutions to address some of the impacts
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B1.2
assess impacts of climate change on communities in Canada, including First Nations, MĂ©tis, and Inuit communities
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B1.3
investigate and explain how sustainable practices used by various communities, including First Nations, MĂ©tis, and Inuit communities, reflect an understanding of the importance of the dynamic equilibrium of ecosystems
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A2.4
apply scientific literacy skills when investigating social and environmental issues that have personal, local, and/or global impacts
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B2.1
investigate interactions between the biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere, and explain why these interactions are important for ecosystem sustainability
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B2.2
explain how naturally occurring phenomena, including the cycling of matter and the flow of energy, contribute to the dynamic equilibrium within and between ecosystems
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