The National Geographic is currently promoting their Cryosphere collection of resources. If you have chosen to complete a study of the Cryosphere as part of the Earth's Natural Systems topic you may find some of these resources useful.
Click the links below to access the resources. Included in the collection is:
There are also a range of linked articles and encyclopedia articles that you might find useful. Click to view the entire National Geographic Cryosphere resources.
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In 2023 I was privileged to attend the AdaptNSW Forum in Sydney. This presentation by Leith Sharp (Harvard University Office of Sustainability) powerfully demonstrates the interconnectedness of Earth’s natural systems. References are made to natural processes, ocean circulations, weather and climate systems, the global dust cycle, ecosystems, and biodiversity. What I love is the personal connection … a perspective we often forget when investigating and explaining natural systems. Lorraine Chaffer Watch, Listen, Apply 1. Show this video without stopping - ask students to watch and think. 2. Watch a second time. Students record key ideas. Follow with a class discussion. 3. Students work in pairs to represent the key ideas as a diagram. Pairs form larger groups to share and refine ideas and diagrams. Place on classroom walls for further peer review. Part 1 https://vimeo.com/913209972?ts=0&share=copy Password PowerfulGeography1 Differentiation
Extend student thinking to the Anthropocene and the current climate crisis facing Earth’s Natural Systems and humanity. This second part of Leith’s presentation includes the story of life on Earth as represented by one year. Leith challenges her audience to think about the time humans have spent on Earth, Indigenous cultures and periods of colonisation and industrialisation leaving the question about what changes need to happen now. 1. What is the key message presented in Part 2? 2. Propose relevant actions. Part 2 https://vimeo.com/914399801?share=copy Password PowerfulGeography1 Each year, strong winds transport more than a billion metric tonnes (1 gigaton) of mineral dust through the atmosphere. Dust interacts with every natural system on Earth, linking the lithosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere and oceans by transporting nutrients and sediment, and influencing the carbon, energy and hydrological cycles. The following videos can support teaching of GEOstory 1.4 Blown Away: The Story of Dust. Tracking dust from around the world This video explores monitoring of dust movement. What is dust and how does it affect society? This animated video explains the dust cycle and its impacts. How do massive dust storms form? Learn about how dust forms form with animate explanations. What causes dust storms? Animations and explanations to explain how dust storms form. Whales and other larger marine creatures return nutrients from the deep, where they feed, to the surface, where they excrete there waste when they return to the surface to breathe. Whale poo is rich in iron, nitrogen and other nutrients, which fertilise phytoplankton. This process is known as the "whale pump". GEOstory 1.3 Whales: Ecological Engineers examines the whale conveyor belt and the "whale pump". If you have chosen to explore this GEOstory with you class, you may find the videos embedded below useful. How whales change climate Explore how whales change climate, engineer the ecosystem, create conditions that spawn plankton, and keep our oceans healthy in this beautiful story by George Monbiot. How whales fight climate change This video explores how whales can have a positive impact on the fight against climate change by acting as a "blue carbon" solution.
Forests link all of Earth's natural systems and can be used to explain key concepts related to atmospheric, hydrological and oceanic processes, cycles and circulations, as well as ecological succession.
If you are thinking of completing a study of Forests as part of the Earth's Natural Systems topic, you might like to check out some of the infographics available from UN Biodiversity. A few of these posts have been embedded in the blog post below, but click the links to visit the original posts and look at some of the other great infographics for some other topics. Activities involving infographics are a great way to make complex information more accessible for less able students, and provide visual interest for high ability students. If you have used GEOstory 1.5 on Iceberg Alley, or are studying features of the cryosphere this little 7 minute video clip on the icebergs near Newfoundland will make for an interesting start of lesson activity. Add the url to your teaching program where GEOstory 1.5 is mentioned. Why Do Hundreds of Icebergs Keep Visiting This Town? We have created an Iceberg model for discussing and writing about natural events such as the yearly iceberg appearances in Newfoundland. This model and a student activity will be an addition to GEOstory 1.5 in the print edition of Powerful Geography 1. The Activity: Use the Iceberg Model to write a descriptive paragraph summarising the key geographical ideas represented in GEOstory 1.5.
Perhaps you might like to use this video for a Friday afternoon. Harvesting icebergs to make the world's purest water In Stage 6 you can go beyond simple illustration to develop a deeper understanding of concepts. This can be a differentiation activity. A good example is food pyramids. Typically, an energy pyramid is used to show the different trophic levels in an ecological system and the loss of energy from the primary productivity level (the producers) to the top tropic level (the tertiary consumers). This can be further investigated through a pyramid of numbers (species at each trophic level) and pyramid of biomass (total biomass at each level). The decrease from the base to the apex of each pyramid is linked to the loss of energy through ecological processes such as respiration and digestion at each level. The examples here are in the Forest Systems case study coverage of ecological systems. Interestingly in a mature forest of very large trees there are a smaller number of species supporting a larger number of primary consumers. When teaching ecological succession, it is important to relate the concept to different environments or ecosystems and to include, when possible, the changes in wildlife that accompany changes in vegetation over time. Visualise This 5 contains illustrations for ecological succession including a primary succession following glaciation (link this to land cover change) and a secondary succession following a tornado. In Boreal Forests you can examine a succession of plants and wildlife on a new sandbank that formed along a river running through an Alaskan forest. In year 11 you are preparing your students for the HSC examination. At Powerful Geography we believe that building conceptual understanding is very important for student success and visual representations can help with that.
It has been exciting for our authors to create new illustrations for concepts taught in Earth’s Natural Systems. In the Visualise This 5 and the Forest Systems case study there are several new diagrams to illustrate ecological succession. Using a variety of stimulus for each concept will help reinforce understanding and prepare students for ‘unseen’ stimulus in an examination … the type of question increasingly apparent in the HSC examination. |
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