“ For Every Action There Is A Reaction” Environment and the Global Community Grade 9 Social Studies

Inquiry Questions  Does globalization influence our environment?  Is the title quote true when it comes to the environment?  Does your behavior affect us globally? How?

Environmental Issues  Brainstorm Possibilities: *Diaper disposal in landfills, waste watch, littering, pollution of air and water, pipelines, fracking, energy sources, electricity, North Pacific Gyre, deforestation, building of highways, climate change, global warming, resource depletion, habitat destruction

Outcome Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between environmental issues in Atlantic Canada and global environmental issues.

What is environment?  -The surroundings of things; conditions around something  -a particular place in which something lives or exists  -Can be general or specific  Physical environment: includes things that can be touched that affect our state of being, can be manmade.  Natural environment: includes elements of the natural world, not manmade. This may include oceans, forests, trees, plants, air, etc.

Environment Issues  Brainstorm as many environmental issues as you can in groups.

Perspectives on Environment  Watch “An Inconvenient Truth”  What factors does Al Gore believe influence the environment? (Economic, political, social)  Documentary Graphic Organizer Documentary Graphic Organizer

Key Terms:  Climate: the average temperature conditions, precipitation, humidity, pressure, and wind.  Precipitation: any form of water particles that come from the air such as snow, rain, sleet, etc.  Weather: atmospheric conditions over a short period of time-usually dependent on climate.

 Climate Change is the overall change in the Earth’s climate all around the world. The process of global warming has an effect on air masses, ocean currents and temperatures, affecting the climate all around the world.

Climate Change vs Global Warming  Global Warming is the effect that greenhouse gases have on the temperature of the earth. Rising levels of greenhouse gases (mostly carbon dioxide) are trapped in the atmosphere causing the average temperature of the earth to increase.

A Reality Check Demonstration  “The World As An Apple” “The World As An Apple”

Understanding our Resources  Using the circle provided, draw the appropriate lines to represent the division of the Earth’s resources.

1) Divide the circle into 4 (four) equal quarters.

2) Colour or shade ¾ to represent the ocean.

3) Divide the remaining ¼ into two equal halves (creating 2/8 of the whole circle). Colour or shade 1/8 to represent the land that is inhospitable for people to inhabit such as deserts, flood plains, and steep mountains.

4) Divide the remaining 1/8 into 4 sections (4/32 of the whole circle). Colour or shade 3 of these sections to represent areas with climates that are too cold or land that is too rocky or steep to produce food.

 5) Draw a thin line on the rounded edge of the remaining 1/32 of the circle. This represents the surface of the earth’s crust on which all of humanity depends for food. It is less than 5 feet of topsoil and can produce only a fixed amount of food. Overuse of this land and erosion caused by natural events sometimes linked to climate change, causes a loss of 24 BILLION tons of this topsoil per year. It takes 100 years for one inch of topsoil to form.

What can we do?  Things we can do: plant and protect trees along streams and waterways to prevent erosion. Compost organic materials Buy local or grow your own produce in an effort to support and promote sustainable farming.

Domestic/Global Criteria  Word Wall- local, domestic, magnitude, criteria  Class Activity- Develop a list of criteria to determine if issues are global or domestic  What makes an issue global?

Domestic/ Global Criteria  Criteria to consider: -# of people affected -# of countries/regions affected -magnitude of consequences -time required to solve the issue -length of time the affects exist

Drawing Conclusions  Most environmental issues affect the global world in one way or the other. We all share this planet. For every action we take for or against the environment, there will be a reaction somehow globally.

Outcome Assessment  “For Every Action There is Reaction” “For Every Action There is Reaction”

Outcome Analyze factors that contribute to environmental issues

Our Region  Atlantic Canada is considered its own region because its four provinces share similar physical and social environments. The area is all under one time zone and is surrounded by a common body of water, the Atlantic Ocean.

Physical Environment  Includes:  Physical features of a certain area, such as trees, bodies of water, physical landscape (desert, mountains, plains, etc), the flora and fauna of the area (plants and animals)

Social Environment  Social environment is influenced by many things, including:  Language and forms of communication  Culture (food, beliefs, employment, laws, music, traditions, religion) It basically refers to the environment created by social interaction between humans.

What are some other similarities?  What are some similarities in the physical environments of each of the four Atlantic provinces?  What are some similarities in the social environment of the four Atlantic Provinces?

Your Task 1) On a piece of looseleaf or on the back of the white piece of paper, imagine that you are an archaeologist way way way in the future. The world as we know it has ended. What caused this to happen? Tell the story. Describe what is left or what has evolved. What is the new social and physical environment of Atlantic Canada. 2) Second, on your piece of paper, draw a layered diagram of what an archaeologist would find in the ground to represent what the physical and social environment were like today. What animals would be here, where would the people be? What kinds of artifacts would they find. You can break it into different layers representing the 20 th century. You can use your phones to research 20 th century inventions.

Understanding Our Local Environment  Atlantic Canada’s Physical Environment:  Glaciers are large masses of ice that have formed from the long term accumulation of snow. There is so much snow that it compacts and creates ice that does not melt in the summers. Glaciers typically form near the north and south poles but some smaller ones form at the tops of very high mountains. As temperatures rise, glaciers can begin to break apart and move. 

 Fiords are long narrow inlets of the sea surrounded by steep mountains.  They were all river valleys at one time. During the last ice age, glaciers dug into the river valleys making them deeper. The melting ice turned the area that was once a river into an inlet. Labrador has fiords along its coast.

 Atlantic Canada has more than inland lakes, rivers and ponds.  Rivers are long and narrow and flow in a channel from high to low lands. They eventually empty into another body of water such as a lake or the ocean.  Lakes are bodies of water completely surrounded by land.  Ponds are similar to lakes only much smaller. They are considered still water.  The type of water form in an area depends on the type of rock that lies beneath the surface.

Igneous bedrock is made from magma after volcanic activity has occurred. Sedimentary bedrock is made from the build- up of many layers of rock particles. -Lakes and ponds are more common in areas with igneous bedrock such as Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and in Nova Scotia's Eastern shore, southwest region and northern Cape Breton. -Rivers and streams are more common in areas with sedimentary bedrock like Prince Edward Island.

 -Wetlands are areas that are waterlogged. They are not solid ground or open water. (Like stew rather than soup)  -Bogs are made mostly of “peat” which is decomposing plants. Moss, black spruce and low shrubs grow here.  -Fens- are similar to bogs in vegetation, but they are fed by streams and the water level tends to be higher  -Swamps- water collects in pools in areas with mature trees to shelter them.  -Marshes- are areas covered in water all year round or during wet seasons like spring and fall. They are covered in grass and rushes, cattails and water lilies. Small channels carry the water away very slowly.

 -Gulf is a large area of the sea or ocean that is enclosed partially by land.  -Ocean is a major body of salt water.

Why are these bodies of water important?  List and briefly describe 5 significant rivers in Atlantic Canada. How long are they? What are their sources? What wildlife depend on them? What communities depend on them?  List and briefly describe 3 lakes in Atlantic Canada. How big are they? What wildlife depends on them? What communities depend on them?  Describe one fiord in Atlantic Canada.

Contributing Factors  What are the factors that contribute to environmental issues?  What affect does humanity have on these bodies of water?  What will happen to our environment if our bodies of water are not protected?

Perspective Why is knowing the perspective of someone important to understanding their ideas?

What is the perspective and main idea?

Why do we continue to harm our planet?  What are natural resources? Natural resources are any materials that are found in nature that can be used by humanity for survival or to make a profit. For example: Soil can be used to make crops which can be eater or sold. Water can be used to drink, but is also where fish and shellfish, some mammals and seaweed are produced which can be harvested and sold.

Sustainability  renewable resource- is a resource that can replace itself or be replaced within a relatively short period of geological time (50 years or less) Examples: corn, water, wind, fish, cattle, flowers  non-renewable resource- resources that cannot be replace. They take millions of years to be produced. This includes things like oil, minerals, gems, metals.  Sustainability- To sustain means that something has the physical or mental ability to support something else. In terms of the earth and humanity, sustainability refers to the earth’s ability to sustain human life.