V. Williams-Vann Special Education Teacher

Evander Childs High School

You’ve just come home from work, it’s been a long day you turn on the television and NEWSFLASH comes across the television; at the same time your telephone rings. On the line is an assistant from the White House. He wants to commission you and other environmental scientist to be on a special committee to investigate how global warming is affecting the environment. There is strong evidence that human activities have destroyed the chemical composition of the atmosphere. As a scientist, you have been called to work with scientific researchers worldwide in order to draft a proposal to investigate the effects of global warming. The proposal will be taken before Congress for discussion and approval.

You and your colleagues will use the websites provided in the Resources section and the six Public Policy Analyst worksheets to research the effects of global warming on the environment. You will use the information you have gathered to write a paper about global warming and to make an oral presentation on your findings.

1. Working in groups of four, you will complete the TIPS Public Policy Analyst worksheets. You may split up the work anyway you’d like. Just make sure that all the PPA worksheets are completed. Use the websites provided in the Resources section to help you gather your research information.

First, define the problem.

Second, gather evidence to support the existence of the problem.

Third, determine the causes of the problem.

Fourth, evaluate the existing policies.

Fifth, develop new public policies.

Sixth, decide which policy will provide the best solution to the problem.

You must print out each of the six worksheets and answer ALL questions as a group. When you hand in your final research paper, you must all hand in the completed worksheets. You will work on the handouts in class and complete the final paper after school.

2. Using the research information you have just gathered, as well as the original ideas you have just developed, you will write a research paper. The paper must be 3-4 pages long, double-spaced and grammatically correct. You must also have a works cited page, which does not count as one of the 4 pages. Be sure to cite your resources correctly.

(Remember, in your paper you need to identify the problem, gather evidence that the problem does exist, identify the cause of global warming, explain the policies that exist to deal with the problem, and finally, suggest new solutions to the problem.)

3. Each group will give a five-minute oral presentation on its findings and conclusions. The oral presentation should focus on your group’s suggested public policies and the solution you believe will best address the problem of global warming.

Check the evaluation rubric so that you

know how I will be grading you!!!!!!

Use the following websites to help you in your research:

Global Warming Kids Site

Human Impact on Global Warming

A Warming Century

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Academy of Science

Effect of global warming on Atmosphere-

Effect of global warming on weather conditions

Criteria	Excellent 3	Good 2	Poor 1	Pts
Gathering Information: PPA	Problem is identified and researched thoroughly. All steps of the PPA are addressed and the handouts are complete.	Problem is identified and researched. All six steps of the PPA are addressed. Most worksheets are completed correctly.	Problem is identified and partially researched. Some of the worksheets are incomplete.
Research Paper: Content	All of the required topics are addressed thoroughly in the paper. Content is accurate and ideas are supported well by research.	All of the required topics are addressed in the paper, however, some topics could have been researched more thoroughly. Content is accurate.	All of the topics are not addressed in the paper. More than two topics are not covered in enough detail. Content is inaccurate.
Oral Presentation	Each person participates in the presentation. Students speak clearly and address the question completely.	Each person participates, however the presentation is unclear at times. The question is answered completely.	One or two people present. The flow of the presentation is unclear. Questions are not answered completely.

Total Possible Points: 18 Total Points Earned:____

15-18pts = A 12-15pts = B 9-12pts = C

5-8pts = D Below 5pts = F

Science Standard 1: The central purpose of scientific inquiry is to develop explanations of natural phenomena in a continuing, creative process.

Science Standard 4, Key Idea 5: Plants and animals depend on each other and their physical environment

Science Standard 4, Key Idea 6: Human decisions and activities have had a profound impact on the physical and living environment.

English Language Arts Standard 1: As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas, discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

Having completed this WebQuest, you are now an expert on how global warming has an adverse effect on the environment. You understand how human activities are contributing to the destruction of the environment and the atmosphere. You have developed an original public policy to deal with this particular problem, and you are ready to continue thinking critically on other important scientific issues that affect our society.