United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Open Pedagogy Fellowship
Climate Change and Urban Heat Islands
M. J. Pereira, Pima Community College (Arizona)
C. Thuring, Kwantlen Polytechnic University (BC, Canada)
D. Bringeland, Thompson Rivers University (BC, Canada)
2022-2023
Introduction:
Welcome to your role in an international mission. This mission is dedicated to expanding
educational access and championing student empowerment through "open pedagogy." In this
approach, you, as a student, are at the heart of an engaging, collaborative learning environment,
with the freedom to access your educational journey. What is this mission's ultimate goal? To
heighten social justice in our community, promoting the free exchange of knowledge and work.
Under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework, this renewable
assignment paves your path to becoming an agent of change within your community. Prepare to
embark on this transformative journey.
For this work, we will integrate the disciplines of Astronomy/Physics, Horticulture, and
Leadership to achieve the primary goal of responding to SDG #13: Climate Action. We will focus
on the specific targets 13.3 and 13.1 within this SDG. This assignment also focuses on SDG #11:
Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG #10: Reduced Inequalities, and SDG #3: Good Health
and Well-Being.

Purpose:
Students will learn the causes of the urban heat island (UHI) effect and investigate how it affects
their local community. The public map they create will help motivate and prioritize interventions
that strengthen the resilience and adaptive capacity of their community to climate-related hazards
(SDG target 13.1)

Learning Objectives:
After completing this assignment, students will be able to:
1. Summarize the characteristics, causes, and impacts of Urban Heat Islands
2. Describe the connection between the changing climate and UHI effects
3. Compare and contrast reflectivity, absorption, heat capacity of different surfaces present in
the urban landscape
4. Explain how IR satellite images can be used to measure the UHI effect.
5. Use satellite imagery to identify hottest areas in their cities/neighborhoods
6. Combine heat maps, aerial imagery and social vulnerability indicators to prioritize
intervention sites
Instructions:
1.

a.

b.

c.
d.

2.

Introduction
Read/watch assigned readings/videos on the topics of:
i.
UHI and climate change
ii.
Thermal properties of different urban surfaces
iii. Satellite imagery and thermal mapping
Sit down and record a conversation with a family member or friend where you tell them
what you have learned about the UHI effect, the science behind it, its connection to
climate change, and its impacts. As you prepare for your chat, think about the key points
you need to get across. Please encourage them to ask questions and share their thoughts
and concerns too. Try to aim for 5-10 minutes. Share the recording with the class.
Listen to at least two of your peer's conversations, and provide feedback - what did they
do well? What did they miss? What could be clearer?
Take a formative test that will allow you to assess your own learning of topics covered in
part 1.

Map and data analysis
a. Use the best available thermal map for your region to find your community's hottest and
coolest areas How much hotter/cooler are they, than average?
b. Identify 2 especially hot and 2 especially cool areas to focus on, and use aerial imagery
(from google earth, e.g.) to find out what the surfaces on the ground look like.
c. Who lives there? Use demographic data and social vulnerability indices to understand
the people that populate the map
b. Consolidate all this information and write a summary or infographic for each of these 4
spots, using the template provided. In your summary tell us:
i.
How much hotter/cooler it is there than average

ii.

What's on the surface - include an image and a detailed verbal description. Things
to discuss: what types of surfaces are present, what types of dwellings, how dense
they are, what they are made of, how much vegetation is present, etc.
iii.
Who lives/works there and how they might be affected by the temperature
extreme.
c. Post your summaries to the shared map, pinned at each spot you picked.
3.

[Optional] Ground-truthing with on-the-ground temperature readings (see instructor tips
for implementation)

4.

Group Discussion and Reflection
a. Get together with your group, and share your map submissions with one another.
Discuss similarities and differences and things you notice about the data you've
collected. Do you see any patterns emerging? Any connections/correlations between
heat and other observables?
b. Then, together, write a reflection on the assignment. In your reflection:
i.
Summarize what you've learned
ii.
Prioritize intervention sites - pick the couple of spots you'd like to see cooled first.
iii.
Brainstorm possible cooling solutions/interventions - refer back to your reading
and the patterns you observed. What do cool spots have that hot spots don't? (we
will investigate one possible solution in assignment #2)
iv.
The shared map you've created is now a part of the creative commons, accessible
to all. Who do you think needs to see it? Who might it help? How can it help you
and your local community bring about change? (we will explore this question in
much more detail in assignment #3)

Format Requirements:
Recorded conversation: 5-10 minutes in length.
Map uploads: 4 pins minimum per student, following the template provided.

Assessment Criteria:
LOs 1-4 are important background knowledge and will be assessed using a formative quiz and a
recorded conversation where they explain what they've learned to a friend or family member.
Conversations will be evaluated by their peers, who will provide feedback. A formative quiz is
multiple choice and can be taken as many times as needed.

LOs 5-6: Map pinned summaries and group reflections are graded by rubrics that clearly define
expectations and are shared with students in advance.

Instructor Notes:
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1a) Materials at two different levels of detail should be included: one for general student
audiences and one for astrophysics students. Both will be available to interested faculty.
2a) Supporting material should be provided to instructors on the best sources for these
thermal maps or how to create their own from satellite infrared images if they are so
inclined.
3) This step is optional, depending on the available time in the course /modality. It is
helpful for students to directly experience these disparate environments, but not strictly
required. There are a few possible options for implementation:
Do it all on one day, all students simultaneously, spread throughout the community,
trying to cover the range of heat extremes. OR
Have students independently visit 2 of the sites they selected for temperature extremes.
OR
Class field trip to the community's hottest and coolest parts.

Climate Change and Urban Heat Islands is licensed by M. J. Pereira, Pima Community
College (Arizona); C. Thuring, Kwantlen Polytechnic University (BC, Canada); and D.
Bringeland, Thompson Rivers University (BC, Canada) under the Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA)