Beat the Heat

Driving Question:  How can the Spokane community mitigate the adverse heat effects of climate change?

Big Ideas: Humanity is now actively experiencing and dealing with the effects of climate change. There are ways to mitigate the negative impact of these effects.

Goal: To identify climate and weather impacts faced by the Spokane community as well as resiliency actions designed to keep the community, its economy, and natural systems healthy and prosperous.

• Scientists have conclusively linked this change to human behaviors (see, “Physical Science”)
• The United Nation’s (UN) 2022 report on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability warns that climate change is causing dangerous disruption in nature and is affecting billions of people, stressing the urgency to act

While there is urgency to act at the national and international level, in this project we will focus on local actions that will help individuals, households, and the community. Specifically, the focus will be helping those who are negatively affected by extreme heat.

Benchmark 1 - Foundational Knowledge: Students will add to their foundation of climate change related knowledge with a particular focus on heat related concepts and effects.

Product: Notebook (emphasis on lateral reading & research, and the note taking process)

[Knowledge & Thinking] Rubric

Benchmark 2 - Data Mining & Analysis: Students will seek out, analyze, and present findings related to local heat data. Data categories include, but are not limited to, temperature, heat index, health effects, wildfires, and tree canopy. Students will also participate in the GU Climate Center’s collection of qualitative data via community surveys.

Product: Group presentation of data, analysis and findings. Completed GU Climate Center surveys (Note: Surveys will not count toward your grade for the project).

[Oral Communication, Collaboration]

Benchmark 3 - Solutions: Students will develop action oriented plans to mitigate the adverse heat effects of climate change in the Spokane community.

Product: A written piece intended for a specific stakeholder group, community decision maker, or community organization. Written pieces may be essays, articles, letters, or scripts (to be performed, e.g., shared via social media)

[Written Communication]

Final Product: Students will take action to help an individual mitigate climate change heat effects on themselves or their household.