Propaganda and the Polar Ice Plight

Right before Christmas break, we were learning about the Greenhouse Effect in Science.  Global warming is a term that many of my students admitted that they heard about frequently, but they did not necessarily know what exactly it was.  After discussing climate change during our weather unit and learning how it is impacting our earth, the students were really excited to learn more about the whole idea of global warming.  Because it was a topic that so many of my students were intrigued by, I decided to develop a plan to integrate this science content into both math and writing.

The first activity that we did was to watch a video that I found on YouTube.  The students loved the fact that the video was narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, and many of the students stated in our post-discussion that the video really made them think about the human impact on climate change and the Greenhouse Effect.  Watch the video, and decide for yourself, how it makes you feel…

After we watched the video we talked about how it could be considered a piece of propaganda.  We discussed how propaganda is when someone tries to manipulate public opinion. After discussing how media that can reach a wide audience is usually used in order to publish propaganda, we talked about how the Coca Cola company was using their trademark polar bears in order to support saving the real polar bears that are being affected by melting polar ice.  When we had discussed how Coca Cola had used their popular name as a platform for change, I asked the students to think of other living things that have been impacted by global warming, and make their own soda can (just like the holiday Coca Cola can) that would benefit their cause.  They had to make their own “Pop Propaganda”.

After students had completed their propaganda writing project, I also had students work with data concerning melting polar ice in math class.  I divided the students into groups and each group had data that tracked the amount of polar ice in the Northern Hemisphere over the last 110 years.  One day, they had to complete a bar graph for their data, the next day they had to design a line graph, and the last day before Christmas break they had to construct a pictograph.

I was extremely impressed by the hard-work that the students put into all aspects of this learning experience.  While it does take a lot of work on my part, it is so rewarding when students are able to make connections through more than one content area! 

This is a slide from the PowerPoint that I showed to my class.

Yes, even Komodo Dragons are impacted by global warming.  Rising sea levels may lead to the covering of the islands they call home.

This student decided to focus on the bleaching of coral reefs.

Here's a photo of some of the graphs that my students made to represent polar ice amounts in the Spring, Fall, Winter, and Summer over the past 110 years.