Global Warming is an interactive online lesson that will educate students about this highly debated environmental issue. Students will be given the chance to research global warming with global warming web sites linked to our lesson. Then students can put their knowledge to the test with either a classroom debate on global warming, or a written essay about the effects. 

The Global Warming lesson is designed for grades 9 through 12. 
It is designed to take 30 minutes to read through. Research using the lesson could take several hours.

The Global Warming lesson is designed to give students a working definition of global warming and some of the reasons why there are two divided sides that debate about it. The bulk of information about global warming is left for the students to discover. The lesson explains the arguments of both sides and gives suggestions on topics to research and find out more. 

To help the students, we have provided links to web sites from both sides of the global warming debate. Those pages have links from them to other global warming pages, and so on. There is a wealth of information about global warming on the Internet, and with a little work, students can find what they need. 

By making the students research global warming instead of just reading it from the lesson, students learn research skills, and are free to make up their own minds about global warming. The motivation for students to do the research is their assignment. 

The Assignment: 
There are two possible assignments for the Global Warming lesson. If you are having your whole class participate with the lesson, you can have a debate about global warming. Divide your class into two sides: believers in global warming, and the skeptics of global warming. Set rules for the debate, then give them time to research global warming using this lesson. 

The debate can take any format you feel appropriate for you class. Grading for the debate can be done by considering the amount of research they have done, or how well they communicate their arguments. An interesting thing to try with the class after the debate is to take a vote of how many people believe in global warming and how many have doubts about it. Asking students what they think and why may open up a new debate, or it may get a stalled debate moving again. 

If you are having individual students perform the Global Warming lesson, you can assign them a essay to do. The essay will be about global warming from the viewpoint of a different person. They can write their essay as an environmentalist who's a believer in global warming. Their essay can deal with environmental policies and ideas they have to stop global warming, and why they will be effective. 

Or your student can write as an industrialist who is skeptical about global warming. Their essay can be about new environmental laws to stop global warming. They can write about how their essay will affect their business, and what they think should be done instead. 

Talk to your student before they start their essay and find out what their viewpoint and argument will be, or if they have some different ideas about their essay. You can also assign a length or a specific format to the essay.

-- To teach students about global warming and the issues that surround it. 
-- To give students experience researching a topic. 
-- To give students experience debating and defending a topic. 
-- To challenge students to look at all the facts of an issue and make up their own minds.