Climate Models: Their Strengths and How To Use Them
Articles/Websites
Grades9, 10, 11, 12Earth and Space Sciences, Computer Science
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Provided by Probable Futures
What it is
- In this article from Probable Futures, students will understand how climate models are used to predict future risks of climate change, depending on the degree of warming.
- Students will understand how different types of models are set up and what they can be used for.
Teaching tips
Positives
- This article includes interactive maps to see how different amounts of warming may affect the same geographic region.
- The article also links to helpful articles that can deepen students' understanding of the topic.
Prerequisites
- Students should be familiar with models as a general concept.
- Students may benefit from having an understanding of climate change, its causes, and its impacts.
- It may also benefit students to understand how climate change is measured by degrees of warming. This article can help explain the idea to students.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Teachers can use the final paragraph in the article to transition to a discussion or lesson on feedback loops and tipping points. Teachers can use this video to introduce feedback loops, and this one to introduce tipping points.
- Students can read this article before exploring some of the climate model maps from Probable Futures, such as this one for heat or this one for precipitation.
- After reading, students can discuss how climate models can be used to make decisions. After students discuss for a while, teachers can have them work with the En-ROADS simulator. This lesson can help students evaluate different solutions and their efficacy using the simulator.
- To make connections to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, teachers can highlight the obvious connection to Goal 13, Climate Action, but also have students discuss how climate models can be used to assess and make decisions that contribute to the other goals.
From the scientist review
This resource from Probable Futures explains how climate models work, what they're good at, and how to use them to better understand future climate risks. The article is clear and accessible, breaking down complex topics for a wide range of students. Created by a trusted science communication organization, it doesn't include original datasets but is grounded in credible science and expert perspectives. This resource would be a great addition to a classroom discussion about climate prediction and climate change.
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