Sinking Islands

Description

The low-lying Pacific nation of Kiribati could be the first country to disappear because of climate change. Rising sea levels due to climate change have already claimed two of the islands with the rest threatened. The President has recently revealed a new idea – to raise up the islands using rocks from the seabed, an ambitious plan that will take time. In this short activity, students plot a line graph by calculating uncertainties to find out just how long Kiribati has left. 

Blueprint curriculum link

• Atmosphere: Global warming
• Skill: Consider different perspectives

Activity contents

• Teachers guide
• PDF file

The activity is delivered as a zip file. After you checkout, you will be sent an email with the link to download it.    

Running Notes

Slide 2: Display the news story and click on the link to show the video clip. Ask students to imagine their feelings if they lived in Kiribati (pronounced Kiribas). Ask them to discuss reasons for sea level rises. Increasing temperatures cause sea level increases in two ways – land and sea ice melt, and oceans expand as they get warmer.  Note: water only expands when it is heated once it reaches a temperature beyond 4°C.

Slide 3: Introduce the President and his plan.

Slide 4: Set the task, and then ask pairs or individuals to complete the tasks on SS1. The key point here is about uncertainty, used in its scientific sense – you might need to check that all students understand the explanation about this term before starting the questions.

Slide 7; Check student’s answers using the completed graph. This shows that the earliest time for the sea level rise to reach 40 cm is 2058. Scientists cannot be sure about this, because it relies on predicted data – factors that affect sea level rise might change in the future. Ask the class: what pattern do they see in uncertainty as time goes on? Can they suggest why?

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