Richmond's Urban Heat Island
Summary
Students will be asked questions regarding the causes and impacts of the UHI. They will also be asked to apply this knowledge to two real-world settings and analyze data collected at both locations.
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Context
Audience
Introductory physical geography course Designed for a geophysics course
Skills and concepts that students must have mastered
Basic knowledge of the UHI
MS Excel
Google Earth
MS Excel
Google Earth
How the activity is situated in the course
After discussing the UHI in class, I spend a day in the computer lab working on this assignment with my students.
Goals
Content/concepts goals for this activity
Evaluating how land use/land cover impacts local climate. Realizing the impact that elevated temperatures have on human, economic, and biotic systems.
Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
Students will have to apply knowledge about the UHI to real world settings. They will analyse data and think about how to display them. They will evaluate methods to convey scientific knowledge to non-science professionals.
Other skills goals for this activity
searching the WWW, using MS excel, creating graphs, using Google Earth
Description of the activity/assignment
Students will need to learn about urban heat islands before they will have all of the information necessary to complete this lab. Instructors may wish to accomplish this via lecture and/or assigned readings and discussion. You may wish to start with the following: Yow, D.M. 2007, "Urban Heat Islands: Observations, Impacts, and Adaptation," Geography Compass. Volume 2, October 2007, 1227-1251.
Also, if your students have no prior experience with MS excel, guiding them through a quick tutorial is advisable.
The first thing students will do in the exercise is report on some important causes of the UHI. Then, they will examine two real-world sites via photographs and Google Earth to discuss how each location's land use/land cover may affect local temperatures. Next, students will analyze data acquired at each site using MS excel. After that, students will be asked to think about potential impacts of the UHI. The exercise ends with a critical thinking exercise asking students to devise and evaluate strategies to communicate scientific knowledge to non-science professionals.
Has minimal/no quantitative component. Uses geophysics to solve problems in other fields.
Also, if your students have no prior experience with MS excel, guiding them through a quick tutorial is advisable.
The first thing students will do in the exercise is report on some important causes of the UHI. Then, they will examine two real-world sites via photographs and Google Earth to discuss how each location's land use/land cover may affect local temperatures. Next, students will analyze data acquired at each site using MS excel. After that, students will be asked to think about potential impacts of the UHI. The exercise ends with a critical thinking exercise asking students to devise and evaluate strategies to communicate scientific knowledge to non-science professionals.
Has minimal/no quantitative component. Uses geophysics to solve problems in other fields.
Determining whether students have met the goals
Suggested points for each section of the exercise are provided.
More information about assessment tools and techniques.Teaching materials and tips
- Activity Description/Assignment (Microsoft Word 480kB Mar7 08)
- Solution Set (Microsoft Word 491kB Mar7 08)
Share your modifications and improvements to this activity through the Community Contribution Tool »
Other Materials
- Data set (Excel 25kB Mar7 08)
Supporting references/URLs
Yow, D.M. 2007, "Urban Heat Islands: Observations, Impacts, and Adaptation," Geography Compass. Volume 2, October 2007, 1227-1251.
http://people.eku.edu/yowd//uhisite/city.htm
http://people.eku.edu/yowd//uhisite/farm.htm
http://people.eku.edu/yowd//uhisite/city.htm
http://people.eku.edu/yowd//uhisite/farm.htm