Active learning ideas
Palaeoclimatology investigates the Earth's climate history, using geological 'proxies' to reconstruct temperatures and atmospheric compositions from millions of years ago. Students learn how ice cores, tree rings, and sedimentary rock sequences provide a record of past shifts, such as the 'Snowball Earth' or the Greenhouse world of the Cretaceous. This topic is essential for understanding the context of modern climate change, a key part of the AQA Geography and Eduqas Geology specifications.
Activity 01
Students rotate through stations representing different proxies: analysing 'ice core' models (using frozen layers with bubbles), measuring 'tree rings', and examining fossilised coral. They record what each proxy tells them about temperature and CO2 levels.
How do geologists reconstruct past climates?
Activity 02
Divide the class into two sides. One side presents evidence for natural drivers of climate change (volcanism, solar output, orbits), while the other presents data on modern human impact. The goal is to conclude how modern warming differs in speed and scale from historical shifts.
What caused the major ice ages in Earth's history?
Activity 03
Groups use physical models (balls and lamps) to simulate eccentricity, axial tilt, and precession. They must predict how changes in the Earth's orbit would lead to the growth or retreat of ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere.
How does historical climate change compare to modern anthropogenic warming?
A few notes on teaching this unit
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Climate change has only happened since the Industrial Revolution.
Earth's climate has always changed due to natural factors. Using a 'climate timeline' helps students see that while change is natural, the current *rate* of change is unprecedented in the geological record.
Ice cores only tell us about the weather in the past.
Ice cores trap ancient air bubbles, providing a direct sample of the atmosphere's chemical composition thousands of years ago. Hands-on 'ice core' simulations help students understand how we measure ancient CO2 levels.
Methods used in this brief
Deep Time and Stratigraphy
Understanding the principles of stratigraphy and radiometric dating to construct the geological timescale. Pupils will learn how geologists read the rock record like a history book.
8 methodologies
The Fossil Record and Evolution
Examining how fossils are formed and what they reveal about the history of life on Earth. Pupils will explore key transitional fossils and mass extinction events.
8 methodologies