Earth and Environmental Science · Week 14 · Climate and Extreme Heat
Urban Heat Islands
Measuring surface temperatures around campus and considering who lives and works in the hottest places.
- Students will
- Students analyze surface temperature data around campus, explain how land use and human activity create hotter places that affect some people more, and explain how the extreme heat hazard shapes when and where people can work outdoors.
- SEL skill
- Imagine what a person working in the hottest spot might need and suggest a caring change
- What it looks like
- Students take the perspective of people who live and work in the hottest places and describe what they might need.
- Content focus
- Urban Heat Islands
- Format
- Partner exchange
Social awareness
Social awareness is seeing a situation through someone else's eyes and showing empathy, especially for people whose lives differ from yours. More social awareness activities
What you get
A teacher guide with what to say, step by step, plus student pages and a supports page for students with diverse learning needs, including those with IEPs. Print or Project it, or assign it in Google Forms and Google Docs for Google Classroom. Your first 10 activities are free.
Standards
- HS-ESS3-1: High School Earth and Space Science performance expectation
- Science and engineering practice: SEP4 Analyzing and interpreting data
- Crosscutting concept: CCC3 Scale, proportion, and quantity
- CA Environmental Principles and Concepts: Principle II: People influence natural systems
- Literacy in science: WHST.11-12.7 Conduct short and sustained research projects to answer a question or solve a problem.
- Traditional course: Earth and Environmental Science
Fits these textbook chapters
- Prentice Hall Earth Science, Chapter 17: The Atmosphere: Structure and Temperature
- Prentice Hall Earth Science, Chapter 21: Climate
Textbook names are used only to help you find activities that fit what you teach. RoseThread Connect is not affiliated with these publishers.
More social awareness activities for Earth and Environmental Science
- Spheres That Interact Social awarenessAnalyzing data on feedbacks among Earth's spheres and seeing how one person's change ripples through a group.
- The Shrinking Salton Sea Social awarenessSimulating the Salton Sea water balance and listening to how shrinking shorelines affect nearby families and wildlife.
- Working in the Heat Social awarenessCommunicating the warning signs of heat illness for farmworkers and athletes and practicing noticing when someone needs help.
- Feeding the Nation from the Desert Social awarenessArguing how water and climate made the valley a winter vegetable center and honoring the farmworkers who make it happen.
Previous: Reading Climate Clues · Next: Working in the Heat
RoseThread Connect activities are drafted with the help of AI and shaped by educators. Students never have to share anything personal. Our five SEL skills are informed by CASEL's SEL Framework; RoseThread Learning is not affiliated with or endorsed by CASEL.