Albedo and the Urban Heat Island Effect
Lesson Objectives:
At the end of the workshop, students will be able to:
Expand their vocabulary with three new terms: albedo, positive feedback loop, and the urban heat island effect (UHIE)
Explain how albedo values differ based on the nature of different surfaces
Make connections between albedo and climate change
Make connections between albedo and the urban island effect (UHIE)
Develop their engineering skills by constructing model cities with high albedo values
Identify changes they can make in their own communities to increase albedo
Essential Questions:
What does sustainability mean to you and to the planet?
How does albedo contribute to climate change?
How has Earth’s surface changed over time and how does this lead to the Urban Heat Island Effect?
What can be done in our own neighborhoods or when developing new towns to minimize UHIE?
Explore our resources
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Standards Alignments
Explore the ways our program aligns with CCSS + NGSS standards.
Vocabulary
Quiz your students on vocabulary used during our lesson!
Additional Resources
Explore relevant videos, podcasts, and short films here!
Chill City Activity
Play the Chill City game and make sustainable changes to a city in order to lower the temperature!
Chill City: Worksheet
Students will play the Chill City game and use this worksheet to guide them. Students will then reflect on their gameplay!
Infographic
Learn more about albedo with this infographic.
Lesson Reflection
Print and send home this reflection activity to show families what their student learned.
Background Information
albedo and climate change
The Earth's albedo is an important piece of how our climate changes both naturally and by human actions. Albedo is the percentage of sunlight and energy that is reflected off of Earth's surface. Earth has various natural surfaces that have different albedo percentages, for example, snow and ice are more reflective than a forest or grassy plain. This contributes to how our climate is naturally changing. Along with various natural surfaces, there are also many man-made surfaces that are also contributing to Earth's reflectivity. Gardens, highways, and pools are just a few examples of some surfaces humans create that affect albedo. When humans construct surfaces with low albedo (meaning the sunlight is mostly absorbed), heat gets trapped and warms our climate. Because of this, it is important that we try to designtowns and cities to be sustainable. A sustainable city has reflective surfaces that do not trap heat and instead keep the city cool.
sustainable design
Designing sustainable cities can help reduce the harmful impacts that humans are having on the environment. Sustainable city planning can also have a big impact on the people living in those cities. For example, a city with a high albedo, or more reflectivity, stays cooler which helps residents save money on cooling in the warmer months. Alternatively, a city with a low albedo, or lower reflectivity, requires residents to spend more on cooling their homes which in turn causes more electricity use and consequently more carbon emissions. Reducing the Urban Heat Island Effect will make cities more habitable for all people and will help regulate our global temperatures.