Mini-Lesson

Objective: Students will learn about global warming.

1. Create a K-W-L chart about global warming on the board or on chart paper. Write the term "global warming" at the top of the chart. Ask students what they know about global warming. In the K column of the chart, list students' responses. Next, ask: "What do they want to know about global warming?" List students' responses to this question in the W column of the chart.

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

3. After reading, have students complete the chart by adding what they learned about global warming to the L column of the chart. (An individual K-W-L-H chart, which has a fourth column, "How I Can Learn More," is available on the timeforkids.com archive.)

Have students complete the TIME For Kids worksheet Understanding 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.

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.