As you gear up for heading back to school, we’ve put together activities for your K-12 classrooms. In this high school science activity for grades 9-12, explore air pollution and greenhouse gases. We’ve got you covered with classroom strategies, activities, resources, and a graphic organizer.
Looking for different level and subject area back-to-school activities? Click the links below:
Elementary School Science and Social Studies: Back-to-School
Middle School Science: Exploring Cells
Middle School Social Studies: Ancient Rome
High School Social Studies: The Formation of NATO
In each activity, I share suggested resources from Britannica’s newest classroom tool, LaunchPacks: Science. You can get free 30-day access now by taking a Packs: Science free trial, or you can use the activity, questions, and free, downloadable graphic organizer with your own classroom resources.
Grades 9-12 Science Activity: Environment and Our Role
Overview: Students will identify author’s claims or argument in a text and evaluate the validity and relevance of supporting reasons and evidence.
Suggested Resources:
• LaunchPacks: Science Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases for Grades 9-12
• Graphic Organizer: Claim-Reason-Evidence
Strategy: Claim – Reason – Evidence
Activity: Using the content in the pack, students will fill in Graphic Organizer: Claim-Reason-Evidence. They will identify or create a claim from the information and write that claim in the appropriate graphic organizer section. Students should then identify reasons and evidence in the text to support the claim, filling in the graphic organizer with their findings.
Vocabulary Used in This Activity:
Claim: A claim is a statement that is arguable. Examples might be a solution to a problem, an opinion about a social issue, or something the author believes to be true. A claim often answers the question that starts with the word “what.” What do I think? What is the problem that needs to be solved?
Reason: A reason is a statement that supports the claim. Reasons often answer the question “why.” Why do you say that? If you can answer the question that begins with “why” with a statement that begins with “because,” you have a reason!
Evidence: Evidence supports the reason and gives proof to the claim. Evidence can include examples, case studies, testimonials, and statistics. Evidence often answers the question “how.” How do I know this is true?
Possible Extension:
“Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases in Action.” Students can document, either with photos or journal entries, examples of environmental abuses taking place in their community; for example, car and truck exhaust and factory smoke. Students can also reflect on how they can help decrease the amount that they contribute to air pollution and greenhouse gases every day.
