Topic: Actions against the increased greenhouse effect

Target group

Second grade student of high school

Core curriculum

(geography, secondary school)

General requirements

I. Geographical knowledge.

6. Understanding the principles of rational management of natural resources and preservation of cultural heritage.

Specific requirements

XIII. Man and the geographical environment - conflicts of interest: the impact of human activities on the atmosphere on the example of smog, hydrological investments on the geographical environment, agriculture, mining and tourism on the geographical environment, transport to living conditions and degradation of the natural environment, urban and rural development on the cultural landscape, conflict human interests - environment, revitalization processes and pro‑ecological activities.

Pupil:

10) assumes an attitude of co‑responsibility for the state of the Earth's natural environment.

General aim of education

The student acquires knowledge and skills about the topics discussed in the classes

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• discuss the selected example of preventive measures to reduce the greenhouse effect;

• you will tell activities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, possible to use on a daily basis;

• provide solutions to prevent unwanted climate change;

• You will explain why it is worth applying the principles that reduce greenhouse gases in everyday life.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• programmed

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers;

• multimedia resources contained in the lesson „Preventive actions” in the e‑manual.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Volunteers get acquainted with the content of the abstract and prepare a knowledge quiz for their colleagues.

Introduction

• The students, selected by the teacher, refer the lesson they read at home before the classes.

• The teacher initiates a conversation introducing the topic.

  • What do you know about ...?

  • Have you ever met ...?

• The teacher plays the recording of the abstract. Every now and then he stops it, asking the students to tell in their own words what they have just heard.This way, students practice listening comprehension.

Realization

• The teacher discusses preventive actions aimed at reducing the greenhouse effect, carried out at international level and problems affecting the effectiveness of these activities. Then, the question is whether, given the lack of interest in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by the largest issuers, we should still try to produce them less and less. Students present their arguments.

• The teacher divides students into groups (about 4‑5 people in a group). Each group has the task of preparing an educational action plan for the action chosen by the group to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

• Each group plays a scene during which the students encourage other people to take part in the planned action, inform about its goals and course.

• Work in groups. Students using source materials such as the geography book, the e‑textbook, the historical atlas and the internet, work on a drawn thematic area. Students share tasks within the group. Representatives of each group discuss the elaborated information. After each presentation, willing students complete the mind map on the board, which is a common note from the lesson for the whole class.

• Students, working individually or in pairs, carry out interactive exercises to check and consolidate knowledge learned during the lesson. Selected people discuss the correct solutions for interactive exercises. The teacher completes or corrects the statements of the proteges.

Summary

• The teacher asks: If there was going to be a test on the material we have covered today, what questions do you think would you have to answer? If the students do not manage to name all the most important questions, the teacher may complement their suggestions.

Homework

• Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Actions against the increased greenhouse effect

Measures against the increased greenhouse effect are being taken at several levels.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established back in 1988 at the initiative of two UN agencies: The World Meteorological Organisation, and the UN Environment Programme. This team gathers scientific information on the contemporary climate change developed based on research carried out by scientists and volunteers from all over the world. These efforts result in extensive reports published every few years.

The Kyoto Protocol is the conventional name of the international treaty whose purpose is to combat global warming. Although signed in 1997, it entered into force in 2005 and expired in 2012. In the same year, however, its extension to 2020 was signed. The signatory have countries agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
The protocol is being criticized for ineffectiveness. The largest emitter, the United States, has not ratified the protocol, and others, such as China and India, have even increased their emissions. Despite this, the protocol remains the only one of its kind on a global scale.

In many countries, educational campaigns are carried out to make the society aware of the need to act to prevent the growth of global warming. Changes introduced by one person or household have a negligible impact, but on a national scale they will be significant if they last for many years.

We are not sure whether the climate changes observed on Earth are a result of natural causes or human activity. In the geological past, long before humans appeared, there were periods with much higher and much lower air temperatures than today. Human activity undoubtedly contributes to an increase in the emissions of ${\text{CO}}_{\text{2}}$ and other greenhouse gases, but we do not know how much they affect the climate. There are scientific data suggesting that another glaciation is approaching, and the increase in air temperature currently observed may only be a short‑term warming before a great and long‑lasting cooling.