Will human existence define an epoch? Many scientists think we are in a new epoch, the anthropocene, defined by humans and our impact on the environment. An online interactive demonstrates the immense impact humans have had on every part of the environment. Supported by graphs and peer-reviewed research, each impact stands alone or in combination to increase understanding.

Concepts

human impact on the environment, extinction, climate change, ecosystems, pollution, the earth's atmosphere, global warming, global environment, biodiversity

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Discuss what evidence of humans might be found thousands of years after we are gone
• Challenge scholars to think of things they can start doing now to reduce the negative human impact on the environment

Classroom Considerations

• Relies on prior knowledge of extinction, evolution, fossil record, ecosystems, natural selection, adaptation, making observations, modeling systems, testing hypotheses, making predictions, arithmetic, calculations, data in graphs and charts, linear, and non-linear relationships

Pros

• Provides many discussion topics for each habitat and impact
• Includes extension ideas

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.9-10.2 SL.11-12.2 RST.9-10.4 RST.11-12.4