This request came in from WUWT reader Michael, who’s concerned that “My daughter’s fifth grade class is currently being indoctrinated regarding “human caused” climate change.” and he wants to know what film might be a good response.
My daughter’s fifth grade class is currently being indoctrinated regarding “human caused” climate change. Her teacher sent home a note informing parents that she will be screening CNN’s Planet in Peril, which she described as “fairly objective”.
Is there a good film I could recommend the teacher to show to provide balance to my daughter’s class. Any other assistance with a response to her teacher would be most appreciated. Below is the email from my daughter’s teacher.
Thanks,
Michael
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Hello Parents,
I want to make you aware of a documentary we are watching in 5th grade. It is produced by CNN and is called “Planet in Peril.” This video is meant to introduce students to the idea that the earth is warming and that all effects of this warming has a ripple effect. In my view, it is fairly objective, and attempts to examine whether this problem is man-made or not.
My intent is to make students aware of the scientific research that is out there, and encourage them to do their own research on an aspect of this science that interests them.
Please communicate any concerns you have about this as soon as possible. I am happy to make any adaptations for your child tailored to your concerns.
Thank you,
Mrs. A
5th Grade General Studies
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My first thought would be this video from Dr. David Evans,
Another would be the 50 to 1 video:
I’m sure readers can suggest other videos.
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Great interactive globe – if only I had it as a kid 😉
http://earth.nullschool.net/
Here’s a thought. Gather all the problems with the “planet in peril” film and create your own video of your daughter articulating those problems. Creating a short video in this day and age is easy. Create a few charts with the problems and have your daughter explain them. It would be a great learning experience for her as well.
There was a video of a young boy explaining the problems with weather stations provided here a few years ago. If you can find that video it might be a good template.
If the classroom is in Canada ask the teacher to put the kids in groups of 3, have each group go to http://www.yourenvironment.ca, pick a major city and write a report on how temperatures have or haven’t changed in the past hundred years, and also how air pollution has or hasn’t changed. Then have every group present their report to the class. I think the contrast between the CNN horror show and the actual numbers will be as much a lesson for the teacher as for the students.
Just came across this video, by Stefan Molyneux, which addresses most of the talking points:
Jim G says:
May 12, 2014 at 4:53 pm
Pretty clever, huh? There’s a follow up to it, too.
Your band could have a lot of fun with costumes & props to go with the new lyrics.
I would recommend ‘The Cloud Mystery’:
Cool It! by Bjorn Lomborg. http://www.lomborg.com/cool_it_film
The professors at Caltech used to regularly dine at the residence halls – where most of the Caltech students live. Once, when Dr. Feynman was dining at one particular hall, he was asked to adjudicate an argument between 2 students who were both swimmers. One believed that shaving all the hair of the body would yield a faster time; the other said it was irrelevant.
Dr. Feynman’s response? Shave the hair off half the body. If the friction induced by the hair really was a significant factor, then the swimmer would end up going in circles.
This is the granddaddy of them all, made by Channel 4 in 1990. It aired in the US only once on the Discovery Channel before it was yanked. I happened to catch it and have been a denialist ever since.
Probably not the biggest budget, but possibly the funniest, the denier land video at http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/06/denier-land-how-deniers-view-global-warming/
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uif1NwcUgMU&w=640&h=390%5D
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They could also use TheWayBackMachine (http://archive.org/web/web.php) to see how the numbers representing those temperatures have been changed.
There’s a reason The Weather Channel in the US seems to have stopped (or should I say “paused”?) reporting the record highs and lows on their “Weather on the 8’s”.
Tough to sell “Climate Change” when most of the records were set decades ago.
Tony Lear (@Grimbeaconfire) says:
May 12, 2014 at 6:43 pm
The Dr Evans Video claims that there is 1.1 C of warming for each doubling of CO2 but nothing could be further from the truth because the heating effect is logarithmic and doubling over and over has LESS and less effect not more.
Now at 400ppm CO2 has very little more to add to the heat blanket no matter how many times it doubles from here.
One wonders if the primary aim of the video is to push that falsehood by misdirecting to feedbacks.
Sorry, you misunderstand. The doubling factor IS the logarithmic effect. The effect of each degree declines as you get higher. Your last 2 sentences are correct. The first two are confused.
Tab Numlock says:
May 13, 2014 at 1:36 pm
Wow. I had never seen that. Pretty prescient, despite showing the Arctic while talking about the Antarctic. We lose more real scientists who fought for science & against CACA every year, while the corrupted youth continue to spread their malevolent influence.
http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2003/newell
5th graders should not be in the mix on climate.
They should just be happy to be in the 5th grade. The rest is really not important at that point.
They are kids!
Michael
After watching the CNN film, ask your daughter to write down her questions (and her classmates). Post them here. We will try to answer them. That’s a good way to learn.