Unit Plan 30 (Grade 6 Science): Global Climate Change Factors
Students examine climate data, identify natural and human factors affecting global temperatures, and ask clarifying questions to deepen evidence-based climate understanding.
Focus: Ask questions to clarify evidence about factors (both natural and human-caused) that influence global temperatures over time, including greenhouse gases, land use changes, and natural variability.
Grade Level: 6
Subject Area: Science (Earth & Human Activity — Climate Change, Evidence & Questioning)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
In this unit, students build a foundational understanding of global climate change as patterns in temperature and other climate indicators over long periods of time. They examine graphs, maps, and short texts that show changes in global temperatures, atmospheric greenhouse gases, ice cover, and sea level. Rather than jumping straight to conclusions, students learn to ask focused scientific questions that clarify the evidence and factors involved—such as solar changes, volcanic activity, greenhouse gas emissions, and land use changes—in alignment with MS-ESS3-5.
Essential Questions
- What is the difference between weather and climate, and how do scientists know that global climate is changing?
- What factors can cause global temperatures to vary over time (both natural and human-caused)?
- How can graphs, maps, and other evidence help us understand climate change—and what questions should we ask to clarify that evidence?
- Why is it important to ask good scientific questions before making claims about the causes of climate change?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Distinguish between weather and climate and describe climate change as long-term patterns in temperature and other indicators.
- Interpret simplified graphs and visuals showing global temperature trends, greenhouse gas levels, and ice/sea level changes.
- Identify factors that can influence global temperatures, including solar energy changes, volcanic eruptions, greenhouse gas emissions, and land use changes.
- Ask scientific questions that clarify evidence and relationships among these factors and global temperature variations (aligned with MS-ESS3-5).
- Develop a Climate Questions Portfolio (or chart) that organizes clarifying questions linked to specific pieces of climate evidence and factors.
Standards Alignment — 6th Grade (NGSS-based custom)
- MS-ESS3-5 — Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century, including human activities.
- In this unit: students examine temperature and related climate data, identify possible factors, and generate clarifying questions that link evidence to those factors.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can explain in my own words how climate is different from weather.
- I can read graphs or visuals that show global temperature and related climate indicators.
- I can list several factors that may affect global temperatures, including natural and human-caused ones.
- I can ask specific, clear questions that help clarify how a factor (like greenhouse gases or volcanoes) is connected to changes in global temperature.
- I can organize my questions and evidence in a way that could guide future investigations about climate change.