Mass Extinction

• This video briefly examines mass extinctions throughout Earth's history and what is pushing the world towards another mass extinction.
• Students will learn about the Ice Age and Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction, what percentage of life on Earth was lost during these extinction events, and how human activity is leading the planet towards another mass extinction.

Positives

• Some students may enjoy this video's sense of humor.
• This video ends with a positive call for action.
  

Additional Prerequisites

• Students should understand how human greenhouse gas emissions contribute to climate change.
• Some students may need the terms nutrients, algae, methane, asteroid, and irreversible defined before watching the video.
• Students with anxiety may become distressed after watching the video. For these students, focus on the action message and solutions to slow climate change.

Differentiation

• This video can help students formulate an argument for how human activity impacts the earth's systems.
• For a language arts course, students can interpret the information in this video alongside other forms of media that deal with similar topics.
• After watching the video, the teacher can lead a classroom discussion on what humans can do to stop climate change.
• ELL students whose primary language is Spanish will benefit from the Spanish subtitles.

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.