Animal Adaptations and Climate Change

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Originally appears in the Fall 2019 issue.

By Kirsten Bartlett

Inspiring learners to find the connection between daily classroom activities and real-world events is a monumental undertaking. One of today’s most pressing real-world problems is climate change, which is one of the largest threats to global ecosystems,^1-2 partly due to its impact on natural selection. Given its severity and the fact that it is occurring at an alarming rate,³ climate change education is necessary at the high school level, and teachers are encouraged to include it in their curricula. For US-based teachers, this has become widespread due, in part, to the large-scale adoption of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)⁴ to help foster future generations of scientifically literate individuals.⁵

A common way to connect learners to real-world phenomena is through Problem Based Learning (PBL). PBL is categorized as constructivism teaching philosophy, and all learning activities or tasks must be authentically designed, anchored to a larger real-world problem (phenomenon), and supportive of learners by encouraging reflective thinking and enabling them to develop ownership of the problem.⁶ The driver of PBL is the asking and investigating of real-world questions, a concept which dates back to John Dewey,⁷ who promoted teaching about topics relevant to students’ lives.⁸

The following set of lessons supports the constructivism teaching philosophy, PBL learning, and NGSS through a kinesthetic activity that connects classroom activities to relevant issues facing global ecosystems. Its overall goal is to increase students’ scientific literacy, specifically their understanding of microevolution, natural selection, and how climate change impacts animal adaptations globally.