Activity to help students develop critical thinking
Grade 5
Introduction:
Prior to this activity students will have studied the history of climate
change starting with the days of the dinosaurs, progressing through the
industrial revolution and to the present day. They will also know the
main points of the Kyoto Protocol.
Since there is so much controversy presently about the ratification and
implementation of the Kyoto Protocol we are looking at several websites,
to investigate the reasons for concern and reluctance to adopt this method.
One of the websites to look at is: Global
Climate Coalition, an organization that has played a major role in
the US government’s rejection of the Kyoto Protocol and its present
adoption of their own climate change package.
Students are asked to evaluate this website using a worksheet adapted
from the "Critical Evaluation Survey : Middle School Level (PDF version)"
by Kathy
Schrock.
Objectives for this activity are:
By the end of this lesson students
will have increased their critical literacy skills by evaluating a website
using specific criteria to:
a) realize that not all people have the same understanding of the effects
of climate change and the means to alleviate its effects.
b) see how a website can be professionally maintained and appear accurate,
to pursuade the public to support their position.
c) become aware of how interest groups can affect national/international
policies.
Activity:
First, the class will review the major rulings of the Kyoto Protocol,
and the relationship between greenhouse gases and global warming.
Following this review, in pairs, they will log on to the website: Global
Climate Coalition at http://www.globalclimate.org, and, using a copy of
the worksheet, find answers from this
website to the questions given.
For those who finish early, they can go to the EcoKidsOnline
website and participate in activities there.
Follow up: When all groups have completed this critical evaluation
activity, we will have a group discussion over their findings.Hopefully
from this discussion, the objectives above will be met.
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