1. What are some ways you could connect Earth systems and climate change topics to your current curriculum?
Currently, my 7th graders are studying the human respiratory system. Earth systems and climate change could be connected to this topic by having students make connections between the atmosphere and healthy lungs. Specifically, they could research the rate of code red/purple days in the DC metropolitan area and how global warming and CO2 emissions cause the bad air quality, which would lead to recognizing the carbon cycle.
2. What examples of climate change evidence do you think your students/visitors would respond to or be witnesses to in their own communities?
My students may be intrigued by the Regional report for the "Northeast" from Global Change (2014). This report predicts in 2014 the increased likelihood of flooding and the heavier downpour from rain storms. The predictions correlate to the heavy rain and flooding experienced in Maryland during May 2018, particularly the flooding in Ellicott City. Also, the graph for "Global Mean Temperatures" from Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions allows my students a clear, visual source of information to understand how temperatures have varied in a generation but still have steadily inclined from Global Warming.