Abstract

Level: Grade 5 Lesson Duration: 2 periods (50 minutes each) Lesson Objectives: • Students will examine the heating issue in their primary building (urban heat island effect). • Students will investigate how rooftop gardens lower the maximum surface temperatures on roofs. • Students will use the information they learned to further investigate whether reducing the surface temperature of the roof results in lower temperatures in the primary building, and conserves energy. • Students will determine whether rooftop gardens can help keep buildings cool. Standards: AREO-3-LS4-4, K-ESS2-2, ESS2-2, ESS3-1 Summary of Tasks / Actions: Period 1 1. Warm-up (10 minutes) 1.1 Introduce students to the topic, refresh the class expectations and guidelines. Outline the activity and its major blocks (Defining the problem/ investigation/ problem solving, brainstorming/ planning, construction of model, test, presentation). Talk about the issues of climate change and the need to reduce carbon dioxide and conserve energy. Link this to how this effects the students and their community (e.g., our city if extremely hot in summer and our campus and building become uncomfortable resulting in increased energy use with AC units, built up cities have less gardens, or green spaces due to less space, etc.) 1.2 Have students move into their groups. 2. Groupwork: investigation, (20 minutes) 2.1. Students will use the available resources (computers, iPad's, and classroom library) to research the topic. 3. Brainstorming & Planning (20 minutes) 3.1. Students will plan how to construct their two model buildings, organise the plants to be used, and other important information found in their investigation time (with and without garden). Period 2 4. Construction (30 minutes) 4.1. Regrouping-the students will be regrouped to work on the model buildings with or without gardens. 4.2.The students will construct their models. 5. Test (10 minutes in class time but also outside class time for evening test). 5.1 The students measure how hot the inside of the buildings gets during the day and how they cool off when the Sun goes down. 6. Report (10 minutes) 6.1 The two groups of students will report their findings to the class to compare the results.