Lesson video

Hi everyone.

My name is Miss Dhillon and last lesson, we were exploring the question what is the reason for the seasons? Can you remember the two reasons for the seasons? Think about it.

I'm going to give you a clue.

The sun and the Earth.

Well done, seasons happen because of the tilt of the Earth and because of the heat energy from the sun.

Great recall.

The question we're going to be exploring in today's lesson is why is the world's weather changing? Let's start by looking at the structure of the lesson.

We are going to begin by looking at the star words.

Then we are going to be understanding a little bit more about the atmosphere.

Then we're going to move on to understanding how climate has changed over time and finally, we're going to be discussing the issue of climate change.

But first, please make sure you are ready for the lesson by having a pen, pencil, paper or exercise book ready for the lesson.

On the screen, you can see the star words for today's lesson.

I will be explaining these star words in more detail throughout the lesson.

But let's start by saying them out loud, using my turn, your turn.

Atmosphere.

Pleistocene Epoch.

Mesozoic Era.

Climate change.

Greenhouse gases.

Deforestation.

Farming.

Fossil fuels.

Good job, team.

We're going to begin by looking at the atmosphere.

Circling the Earth, there is a very important layer called the atmosphere.

Earth's atmosphere is similar to a jacket but for our planet.

It surrounds our planet and helps us keep warm and makes it comfortable for us to live on planet Earth.

And it does this by trapping the heat from the sun and you can see this inside the circle with the arrows.

The atmosphere is made up of a lot of different gases and one of these is oxygen.

Oxygen is essential to life because we need to breathe it in to stay alive.

In the atmosphere, we also have an ozone layer.

My turn, your turn, ozone layer.

Good job, which is a natural layer of gas, which protects humans and other living things from harmful rays from the sun.

Finally, as we have mentioned in a previous lesson, it is in our atmosphere where all the weather happens.

Pause the video now to complete the task on the screen.

There are two sections, A and B.

Did you remember that correctly? Well done if you did.

You are clearly listening very carefully.

Now you know why the atmosphere is so, so important.

You are now going to make a prediction.

If the atmosphere becomes thicker by many more gases by being added to it, what will happen to the amount of heat being trapped by the atmosphere? Do you think more or less heat will be trapped by the atmosphere? I'm going to give you a second to make a prediction.

If you predicted that there will be more heat trapped in the atmosphere because of more gases being added to the atmosphere, then you are correct.

And we will be looking to understand why this happens in today's lesson.

The Earth's climate has changed a lot since the Earth was formed.

At different points, it has been hotter and colder than it is today.

The Earth's last Ice Age started about 2.

6 million years ago and it ended about 11,700 years ago.

This period of time is called the Pleistocene Epoch.

My turn, your turn.

Pleistocene Epoch.

Good job.

It was during this time that animals, such as mammoths, saber-toothed cats and giant ground sloths roamed North America, Asia and Europe.

You can now see these on the screen.

The climate during this time was much, much colder.

These animals are now extinct but were much bigger than any similar animals that we have on Earth today.

Pause the video now to complete the task on the screen.

Choose the correct word to complete the sentence.

Here is the answer.

The key message here is during the Pleistocene Epoch, the climate was much colder than it is today.

Now let's have a look at the Mesozoic Era, which started around 245 million years ago and ended 66 million years ago and it is when most of the dinosaurs lived.

During this time, the Earth's climate was warmer than it is today.

What was it, warmer or colder during the Mesozoic Era? Good job, it was warmer than it is today.

Pause the video now to complete the task on the screen.

Did you remember that correctly? Awesome job, high five.

Today the Earth's climate is changing and we often refer to it as climate change and is even sometimes called global warming.

This is because our planet is slowly and gradually heating up.

Whilst changes to the Earth's climate in the past have been caused by natural processes, most scientists and geographers believe that the current climate change is being caused by humans.

There are many ways in which humans are adding to more gases into the atmosphere, which is trapping more and more heat and so causing temperatures to rise.

Gases that are contributing to the warming up of the Earth are called greenhouse gases.

What are they called? Good job, greenhouse gases.

Over the past 150 years, industrialised countries have been burning large amounts of fossil fuels, such as oil and gas.

The gases released into the atmosphere during this process act like an invisible blanket, trapping all the heat from the sun and warming up the Earth.

Pause the video now to complete the task on the screen.

Use the keywords in bold to fill in the missing gaps.

Here are the answers.

Keep up the good work.

I know that you're working really hard.

The second human activity that can have an impact on the environment and cause climate change is farming.

Farming produces food that we eat, for example, meat, dairy and eggs.

However, farming practises for these foods produces large quantities of waste, and greenhouse gases, which contribute to climate change.

Believe it or not, cows' eating habits contribute towards climate change.

Just like us, when cows eat, methane, which is a type of green gas, builds up in their digestive system and is released in the form of a burp.

That might sound funny but when you imagine that there are about 1.

5 billion cows, releasing all that gas into the atmosphere, it sure adds up.

The third reason that can cause climate change is deforestation.

Forests absorb huge amounts of carbon dioxide, another greenhouse gas, from the air and releases it back as oxygen, which we breathe in.

The Amazon Rainforest is so large and efficient at doing this that it acts like our planet's air conditioner, limiting climate change.

Sadly, many rainforests are being cut down, which is known as deforestation.

My turn, your turn, deforestation.

And the reason these are being cut down is to make wood, palm oil and to clear way for farmland, roads, oil mines and dumps.

It is now time for you to complete a task.

Match the keywords to the correct picture.

Pause the video now to complete this activity.

Here are the answers.

Did you match them correctly? Well done, geographer.

You are doing really well learning all the new keywords.

Scientists estimate that since the Industrial Revolution, human activity has caused the Earth to warm by approximately one degree Celsius.

While that might not sound like much, it means big things for people and wildlife around the globe.

Unfortunately, rising temperatures doesn't just mean that we will get nicer weather.

If only.

The change in climate will actually make our weather more extreme and unpredictable.

Due to climate change, the weather is changing around the world.

Some places are becoming hotter and drier, which can lead to droughts where there is little rainfall and a shortage of water.

And in other places, there is more rain than usual, which can lead to flooding.

If this continues, a lot of animals and humans can find that they're not able to adapt to the changing climate.

Pause the video now to complete the task on the screen.

Remember, due to climate change, our weather is not going to get sunnier and better, it's actually going to get more extreme and unpredictable.

For the final task, I would like you to write a short paragraph, answering the question why is the world's weather changing? You can use the sentence stems in the box on the left-hand side and keywords in the box on the right-hand side to help you.

Please remember to write in full sentences.

I am expecting you to write a paragraph, so please take your time and try to include as many things on the screen as possible.

Did you manage to include as many keywords as possible? Well done if you did.

I would like you to take a moment to pause the video to read the model example and compare it to your own answer.

You can always add in the parts that you missed by editing your own answer.

I hope you enjoyed today's lesson as much as I did.

It is now time for you to complete the end of lesson quiz.

Bye, everyone.