Analyzing the Urban Heat Island Effect in NYC
Lesson Plans
Grades6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12Physics, Earth and Space Sciences, Civics
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Provided by New York DEP
What it is
- In this lesson, students learn about urban tree cover and the urban heat island effect by analyzing temperature and vegetation maps of New York City.
- Students use what they have learned to create a land use plan that reduces the urban heat island effect in the community.
Teaching tips
Positives
- This lesson highlights an impact of climate change that is specifically relevant to New York City students.
- Teachers have flexibility in the scale and depth of the project and have many extension options.
- The project includes both individual work and group collaboration.
Additional Prerequisites
- The New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC) link is broken but isn't necessary for the lesson.
- Students need computers with internet access.
- The lesson does not include a portion to explain the science behind albedo and the urban heat island effect in detail. Teachers must do additional prep work to provide students with background information and create accompanying materials like slides and worksheets.
- Students should be familiar with climate change, the water cycle, and the absorption and reflection of light.
- Before showing students the temperature and vegetation maps to younger students, consider working as a class to locate your school and other landmarks, such as Central Park, on a political map.
Differentiation
- This lesson is designed for New York City students, but teachers can modify it for use in other urban classrooms by using regional temperature and vegetation maps.
- Students can complete projects by hand using posters and markers or digitally using Google Slides, Canva, or other platforms.
- Teachers can expand the project by having groups of students create a design plan for an entire city, complete additional research to support their choices, and present their plans to the class.
- Middle school students will likely need some added structure and support to complete the project successfully.
- Teachers can make cross-curricular connections with geography and social studies courses by discussing the differences in temperature and vegetation between different areas of the city and the cultural, political, or economic factors that could be contributing to these differences.
- When learning the information from Cool Neighborhoods NYC, teachers of older students can create groups and have each group read about a different strategy and report to the rest of the class. For the same information, teachers of younger students may need to provide a summary of the contents, as the included report is quite rigorous.
From the scientist review
This activity introduces the urban heat island effect and explains why it happens. The activity discusses how climate change will affect heat islands and strategies to mitigate the heat island effect. The resource highlights some unfamiliar vocabulary in the lesson that is necessary to understand heat islands. The science presented is accurate, and this resource is recommended for teaching.
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