Mini-Lesson

Global Warming

Grades 2-3

Objective: Students will learn about global warming.

1. Write the term "global warming" on the board or on chart paper. Ask: What do you know about global warming? Create a cluster map of students' responses. (An individual Cluster Map is available on the timeforkids.com archive.)

2. Read aloud the TIME For Kids article, The Heat is On! Tell students that this article will help them develop a greater understanding of global warming.

3. After reading, reassess the cluster map. Ask: Is there anything we need to add to the cluster map? Is there anything we need to change or take away? Update the map as necessary.

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

Have students complete the TIME For Kids worksheet What is Global Warming?.

Divide students into small groups. Have each group create a poster that suggests ways people can help reduce the amount of CO2 that is released into the environment.

RESOURCES:

Why Are the Ice Caps Melting?: The Dangers of Global Warming by Anne Rockwell; illus. by Paul Meisel (Collins, 2006).

The Down to Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon (Scholastic, 2007).

An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming by Al Gore (Viking, 2006). Adapted for young readers by Jane O'Connor.