Climate Change and the Future of Michigan Cherries
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Provided by: University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability|Published on: November 14, 2024
Lesson PlansScientist Reviewed
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Scientist Reviewed This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- In this 4-lesson unit, students will explore how climate change is impacting phenology, using Michigan cherry trees as an example.
- Students will analyze data for temperature and cherry bloom dates in Michigan, create a scientific model to help predict phenological changes, learn how farmers are adapting to changes, and participate in a citizen science project.
Subjects: Biology
Authors: University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability
Region: Michigan
Languages: English
Teaching Materials
Positives
- The resource includes worksheet answer keys, which are convenient for teachers who want to grade the worksheets or for students to self-check their work.
- The student worksheets will keep students engaged in the lesson as they record their notes.
- The Graph Choice Chart is a useful resource for selecting graphs outside of this project.
Prerequisites
- Students should be familiar with the scientific process, graphing data points, calculating slope, and drawing best-fit lines.
- Students should also understand climate change. The link to the suggested lesson in the resource is broken, but it can be found here. The link to Project Budburst is also broken but can be found here.
- For Lesson 1, the "Michigan Agriculture" video is unavailable. Teachers can use the content written in the lesson plan to replace the missing video.
- The second link in Lesson 2, for knowpapa, goes to an online gambling site and not a graphing tool. Teachers should not share this link with students.
- For Lesson 4, teachers will need to request access to the Phenological Report worksheets, instructions for creating an account on Project Budburst, and the information for the Wheels2Woods program.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Students who have never written a claim, evidence, and reasoning statement may benefit from teacher modeling or an outline to help them construct their statement.
- Teachers could have students add sticky notes to a large classroom KWL chart, keeping it up throughout the unit.
- To make community connections, teachers can invite local cherry farmers to speak about their experience with early blooming, early or late frosts, and their knowledge about phenology in general.
- Students can use an online field guide like this one to identify trees for their citizen science project.
This resource introduces students to climate change impacts on Michigan cherries, tasking them with crafting a model of cherry bloom date. All sources are clearly cited, and the resource includes primary data that students use to create their model. The focus is strongly on climate change and using observations to make predictions. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
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