Class Agenda 9-26

1. Working toward essay assignment one and the peer review

Review essay assignment number one.

2. Making sure we can discuss the science of climate change

Review the evidence for climate change we're read so far. Let's review what's most useful from these readings by working with a group to find evidence we can use in our essay assignment. Each group will be assigned one of the four major readings we've had so far.

a. New York Times article: "New York is Lagging as Seas and Risks Rise, Critics Warn." (Group One)
b. The Global Warming Reader. "The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change."
c. The Global Warming Reader. "The 'Anthropocene.'"
d. The Global Warming Reader. "The Artificial Production of Carbon Dioxide and Its Influence on Temperature."

 The goal for each group will be to find the following information:

* three references for the scientific information for climate change (evidence/data, important terms, and sources)
* any information about the consequences or effects of climate change

Groups will also have to give their best guesses to this question:

What does this evidence mean for anyone living in New York City, and is the city doing enough to prepare for climate change?

(Please note that we will continue to review the evidence for climate change after this first essay comes due. We will compile on-going evidence for our end-of-the-semester projects.)

3.  Drafting your letter: in class writing

After working in groups, students will return to their desks to begin composing their letters to Mayor Bloomberg. They should reflect on what their group found and discussed. Then they should begin to draft their own version of the following few sentences below in bold:

Dear Mayor Bloomberg,

[Identify yourself, your class, and this assignment]
[Thank him for his time and attention: be polite]

Based on my reading from the recent New York Times article "New York Lagging As Seas and Risks Rise, Critics Warn," I believe that New York IS/IS NOT PREPARED FOR CLIMATE CHANGE BECAUSE [STATE YOUR OVERALL REASONS, IN YOUR OWN WORDS]. [EXPLAIN YOUR REASONS BY STATING THE MAIN SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE YOU'VE FOUND FOR CLIMATE CHANGE, CITING SOURCES.] [STATE HOW THIS EVIDENCE WILL AFFECT NEW YORK CITY]

[Explain to the Mayor what you will do for the rest of the essay.]

NOTE: The sentences you're writing in class are part of a DRAFT. They may or may not change as you create your PEER REVIEW draft for Monday. They may or may not change as you revise into your final draft.

4. Interpreting Visual Data - considering charts and graphs - explaining visual information - checking your sources

Non-scientific sources of information

(Source)

(Source)

(Source)
350.org

VIDEO (Link)
FACT SHEET (Link)


NOAA - information - scientific sources (National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration)

(Source)

(Source)



NASA - information- scientific sources (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

(Link)



Other Info Links

Oceans absorbing carbon dioxide (Link)
CO2 at Arctic pole (Link)