Sherry+Altman+and+Bonnie+Quackenbush

=Application Project Plan (APP) Planning Sheet=


 * Names:** Sherry Altman and Bonnie Quackenbush (George Junior Republic, Freeville)


 * Title:** Science fact and fiction in the movie "The Day after Tomorrow"


 * Target Audience:** High School: Earth Science students

**Curriculum Goals:** As part of their unit on climate, students will assess their understanding of high and low pressure systems by watching a short clip from the 2004 disaster film about global warming, "The Day after Tomorrow".

**Media Literacy Goals - Students will:**
 * understand that filmmakers make unintentional factual errors
 * identify intentions and goals of feature films in general
 * develop questions related to climate change events depicted in "The Day after Tomorrow"
 * question credibility and accuracy in other films with scientific content
 * become aware of how movies impact public opinion on important societal questions

**Other Goals:** -feel empowered to question media messages -understand that most media messages have a point of view or bias

**Proposed Activities:**

__Preparation__
 * 1) Several weeks before the unit on climate/weather, show **"The Day after Tomorrow"** to students in its entirety.
 * 2) Just prior to this class, teach unit on weather (maps, temperature, air pressure, wind, storms, etc.)

__Day of Lesson__

1) Present lecture on **Low and High Pressure Systems** (below)

Low Pressure Systems High Pressure Systems
 * -winds blow in and to the left
 * -all low pressure systems are lower pressure on the inside
 * -low pressure means air rises
 * -rising air cools and condensates, making clouds, precipitation
 * -names include: depression, tornado, cyclone, hurricane
 * -winds blow out and to the right
 * -high pressure is found in the middle of the high pressure system
 * -high pressure means air sinks
 * -sinking air hits the ground and spreads out or dissipates
 * -therefore, there are clear skies, no clouds, no rain

2) Show short clip from "**The Day after Tomorrow**" (the high pressure system illustration at 51:45-53:10. "Jack is on the phone/ice age" on movie).

3. As a group, students should be able to note invalid points (high pressure is a means to clear weather, not disastrous storms, as film shows).

(The rest of this lesson is modeled after Project Look Sharp's "Twister"/Tornadoes lesson plan.)

4. -Continue with a discussion about the purpose of this film, and whether it was successful. -Ask the students what they know about consequences of climate change. -Ask them to give examples of content they thought was inaccurate, or exaggerated. -Raise the question of where to go to find out the accuracy of science presented in a movie.

**Assessment/Evaluation (how will you know your APP works to meet your goals?):** Students will be quizzed shortly after that day to reestablish what they learned.

**Resources/Support that will help you in your development of the APP:** 1) DVD of "Day After Tomorrow" 2) On-line resources: IMDb, NASA facts, etc

**Difficulties/Obstacles to developing your APP:** ZIP, nada, nil....

**Planning Steps:** 1) Obtain DVD of "The Day after Tomorrow". 2) Obtain lecture notes on Pressure Systems