• Home
• Greenhouse Gases
• Ecosystems
• Water Cycle
• Renewable Energy

Please note, the PDF lesson plans linked to from this page are temporarily unavailable as of 4-18-13. We hope to restore them soon, thank you for your patience in the meantime.

In lessons 2a-2d below, students learn how changes in climate affect the distribution of organisms in ecosystems around the world. By the conclusion of these lessons, students will be able to describe how climate is currently changing and to provide examples of how these changes are altering life for both plants and animals. They will appreciate that when faced with ecosystem change, species must either adapt to the changes or move to more suitable habitats, or else they may face extinction.

Media Included in the Strand
A Warmer World for Arctic Animals
Forecasting Suitable Habitat for Redwoods from the Present to 2100
Resurveying California's Wildlife
The Intertidal Zone and Sea Level Rise
Disappearing Plants

Clue into Climate Student Workbook (PDF)
The Student Workbook can be used with any of the content strands for student engagement and reflection.

Strand 2 Educator Guide - Ecosystems (PDF)
Use this educator guide to teach this entire content strand as a unit.

Strand 2 Background Article - Ecosystems (PDF)
Look here for background information on ecosystems and how climate change affects the distribution of organisms.

Lesson 2a - The Changing Arctic Ecosystem (PDF)
The effects of climate change on ecosystems and the distribution of organisms within them are already evident in the Arctic. In this lesson, students will learn about the challenges that climate change presents for four specific Arctic predators. They will explore how such changes ripple throughout ecosystems, habitats, and food webs.

Jean-Michel Cousteau Ocean Adventures: A Warmer World for Arctic Animals
Video Transcript (PDF)

Lesson 2b: Adapting to Climate Change (PDF )
Plants and animals are adapted to live in habitats with specific environmental conditions; these adaptations might be physiological or behavioral or both. Climate change can cause conditions in a given area to change. In this lesson, students will become familiar with some adaptations and learn that plants and animals must be able to adapt or move in order to survive significant environmental changes.

Forecasting Suitable Habitat for Redwoods from the Present to 2100

 

Forecasting Suitable Habitat for North America's Wolverines from the Present to 2090 (PDF)

These resources were developed in partnership with the Center for Applied Biodiversity Informatics at the California Academy of Sciences.

Lesson 2c: Animals on the Move (PDF)
Species distribution is closely correlated with climate. Over the past 100 years, the natural ranges of many animals have shifted higher in elevation or northward to areas that provide preferred climate conditions. In this lesson, students will learn that scientific surveys are providing evidence that animal populations in Yosemite and along the California coast have shifted over time in response to rising temperatures.

Resurveying California's Wildlife
Video Transcript (PDF)

To see the full 10 minute version, visit Resurveying California's Wildlife 100 Years Later on QUEST.
Click here to download this video

The Intertidal Zone and Sea Level Rise
Video Transcript (PDF)

To see the full 23 minute version, visit Climate Watch: California at the Tipping Point on QUEST.
Click here to download this video

Lesson 2d: Plants in Peril (PDF)
Like animals, plants can respond to climate change by moving to cooler areas, whether northward or to a higher elevation. However, unlike animals, plants can move only over the course of multiple generations. The pace of climate change may be too fast for plants to shift their ranges. In this lesson, students will learn about the particular challenges that plants face in responding to global warming.

Disappearing Plants

From QUEST

Also on KQED.org this week ...