SAS25 Global Climate Change - Discussion resources

The discussion plan I made below follows the weekly learning “Themes”, as outlined on http://climatechangecourse.org, the class website developed by Professor Arnold J. Bloom at UC Davis.

Examples of discussion visual aids (i.e. slide decks) I made are here!; shared with permission from the course instructor, based on the content offered in Winter Quarter 2020 at University of California, Davis.

Week	Discussion topic	Activity
1	- Course overview, discussion format - Resources - Grading criteria - Review session - Learning goals for each week	- Check equipment, make sure everyone has access to all resources - Introduction using 3 keywords - Ask everyone to review learning goals for each week - What do you want to learn from SAS25 - Intro to “Climate vs our life” - Q&A
2	- History of Earth’s climate - Proxy measures - Review Exercise 1 - Explain Essay grading criteria/preparation	- Discuss about Exercise 1 - Quick explanation on how to get the best possible grades for Essay 1 - Discuss about weather vs climate  - Discuss advantages and limitations of some proxy measures (isotopes, ice cores, tree rings, fossils/coral) - Ask students to introduce themselves and post their TOWN name on Discussion tool in Canvas (needed for data exchange in Essay 1)
3	- History of Earth’s climate (Proxy measures, conclusion) - Climate forcing factors - Review grading criteria (online) - Review Essay 1 (online) - Intro to Exercise 2 and GCM - Feedback for discussion format/content	- (Cont.) Wrap up discussion on proxy measures and the conclusions we got from them about the past climate - Discuss trends in climate data compiled from Essay 1 submissions DEMO- Don’t be fooled by the data! - Essay 1 general feedback + Grading criteria available in BOX - Review concepts of photosynthesis, CO2, temperature trends (Video- CO2 fluctuation in a year, Net primary productivity = CO2 uptake = photosynthesis - respiration) - Prepare to complete Exercise 2, by constructing a simple ‘model’ (flowchart) of relationships between key components (in this case, in the article of interest) - Ask students to provide feedback to the discussion (What students find most challenging and how Paul could help)
4	- Midterm essentials/prepare for midterm - Review Climate forcing factors  - Review GCM - Intro to Essay 2 and IPCC’s chapter 9 (Evaluation of climate models) - Distinguish between 1st and 2nd information source - Review Greenhouse Effect	- Updates from last week students’ feedback - Emphasize important info about midterm - Review Exercise 2 main concepts, including, GCM, model components, impact of vegetation on climate, scientific article layout - Explore Primary VS Secondary source for Essay 2 together to see how it can make writing Essay 2 and extracting info from scientific articles easier! How to Read efficiently –> See the video posted prior to the discussion - “Make a story Board” (Interactive team activity to review important concepts related to greenhouse effect) - Discuss about some important concepts/terms in Chapter 3 (Temperature, EM, Fates of radiation, visible light) -  Ask students to contribute to shared midterm study questions and glossary list on BOX
5	-  Review Midterm - Review Essay 2 - Climate model evaluation - Cloud and climate change - Intro to IPCC analysis/document (with focus on SPM) - Intro to Exercise 3 and Essay 3	- Discuss similarity/difference between 3 GCMs for Essay 2 - Watch TED ‘Cloudy climate change’ - Discuss the importance of cloud on climate predictions - Discuss how to evaluate climate models/validate climate model predictions “CMIP5”
6	-  Wrap up ‘causes/consequences of climate change’ -  How to deal with climate change skeptics?  - Review Greenhouse Effect, Predictions of future climates - Intro to responses to climate change, and Adaptation  - Intro to Summary for Policymakers (SPM) from IPCC - Intro to Essay 3 and presentation in week 7	- Ask how important is Climate Change compared to other issues?; Discuss with the class - Review key concepts - Go over public resources students can follow news about climate change - Discuss differences between Adaptation and Mitigation - Practice making a pitch to deliver key ideas concisely - Check understanding by responding to comments from climate change skeptics
7	- Panel meeting on ‘Climate change and biodiversity’ - Intro to week 8 ‘Power the future’ public hearing	- Each student pitches about the adopted species from Essay 3 - Discuss the overall consequences of climate change on biodiversity; what makes a species resilient/susceptible? - Ask students to review materials to prepare for week 8: Pick a role for a public hearing
8	- Public hearing on Energy on a public land in California - Intro to Essay 4 - Prepare for final - Intro to discussion week 9	- Discuss the needs and benefits of public hearings on civil engagement - Each student takes on a role and gives opinions on the topic - Ask students to help contribute to the shared document to prepare for the final - Ask student to prepare a 1-minute pitch about innovation/mitigation strategies for climate change
9	- Final essentials - Climate actions - Cost/benefit analysis - Review content after midterm - Intro to Exercise 5 - Intro to discussion week 10	- Ask students to share their pledges from Essay 4 with others - Pitches about innovation/mitigation strategies for climate change - Q&A for the content - Ask students to prepare play charade by picking one ‘global/international concern’ most relevant to the students’ interests
10	- Resources on global concern - Intro to Essay 5 - Course wrap up	- Each student presents their global concern - Discuss global risks and efforts to reduce the risk (e.g. SDGs) - How does each global concern relates to Climate Change? How do we prioritize our actions, as a policy maker and as a global citizen? Discuss our responsibility - Discuss what have we learned so far/key messages from the class - Explain grading criteria for Essay 5

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