This short animated video provides a general overview of the atmosphere, carbon dioxide, and the greenhouse effect.

This video describes the joint NASA-JAXA GPM (Global Precipitation Measurement) satellite mission and why it is necessary for monitoring precipitation around the Earth. It discusses the science around the hazards of extreme precipitation such as landslides and drought. It emphasizes the value of comprehensive datasets and their ability to help predict natural disasters.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The microbes found in topsoil are a vital part of the Earth’s ecology. While several recent studies have explored these microbiomes on a global scale, their data on sub-Saharan Africa was sparse, despite the looming threat of climate change to the region. To close this gap, researchers recently examined the microbial ecology of 810 sites across 9 sub-Saharan African countries. The topsoil microbiomes were shaped by a broad range of environmental factors, particularly pH, precipitation, and temperature, and each nation had a quantifiably distinct topsoil microbiome. Computer models based on the data also predicted how country-specific microbiomes might respond to climate change. In Kenya, for example, higher temperatures and lower rainfall could diminish microbial diversity, whereas in Benin, the predicted increase in precipitation is likely to boost fungal biodiversity..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This video shows some of the most dramatic fluctuations to our cryosphere in recent years, using visuals created with a variety of satellite-based data.

Homer, Alaska, has been taking action to reduce climate change for almost a decade. As the ten-year anniversary of their first plan looms on the horizon, the community is engaging in conversations about adaptation.

Using real data from NASA's GRACE satellites, students will track water mass changes in the U.S., data that measures changes in ice, surface and especially groundwater. The background information includes an animated video about where water exists and how it moves around Earth, as well as short video clips to introduce the GRACE mission and explain how satellites collect data. Students will estimate water resources using heat-map data, create a line graph for a specific location, then assess trends and discuss implications.

This activity illustrates the importance of water resources and how changes in climate are closely linked to changes in water resources. The activity could fit into many parts of a science curriculum, for example a unit on water could be connected to climate change.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Climate change is causing glaciers to melt at an unprecedented rate Although tracking this melting is essential to monitor changing sea levels and ocean conditions However, conducting research on glaciers can be extremely dangerous Huge icebergs can spontaneously break off, crashing into the surrounding water making glacier-front measurements risky But researchers have proposed a potential solution tuning into bubble noise Glacier ice contains thousands of tiny air bubbles As ice along the sea margin melts, the bubbles are released into the ocean Each released bubble produces a characteristic sound which can be recorded with underwater microphones The faster the ice melts, the greater the bubble noise By carefully analyzing the acoustic properties of this noise scientists can more safely track planetary changes O. Glowacki, et al. The Intensity, Directionality, and Statistics of Underwater Noise From Melting Icebergs..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Hurricane Sandy served as a wake-up call for many coastal communities along the East Coast: they learned that planning and preparation for future hazards and climate change impacts needs to take place before the next disaster. As this type of planning was new to many communities, they needed assistance in identifying the most beneficial data, tools, and resources that could inform their local planning and decision making.

SYNOPSIS: In this final lesson in the green spaces unit, students will use their knowledge to take action.

SCIENTIST NOTES: The lesson emphasizes ways to create awareness to localize green spaces in classroom or community. This technique is suitable for students to adopt. This lesson has no scientific misconceptions and is recommended for use in the classroom.

POSITIVES:
-Students have great agency and control over their projects.
-Students can have a direct and positive impact on their classroom space.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-This is lesson 6 of 6 in our 3rd-5th grade Green Spaces unit.
-Students should be familiar with green spaces by completing the previous lessons in this unit plan.
-Following up with all the students and their projects will most likely take a lot of time. For example, writing a short letter to the principal is very different from planning and executing a school garden. Make sure to provide reasonable guidelines for how much extra class time can be spent on the projects.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Students can pursue their projects individually or in groups.
-Weaker students may need more support than others, depending on which project they choose to pursue.
-Some students may have difficulty choosing a topic. Finding them a good partner or partners might help them fully engage in this project.

In this lesson, students collect outdoor observational data to create a song about climate change. Intermediate music students will not only earn a greater appreciation for Alaska, but also for nature. These activities help students to learn how to use sound and sight maps in order to identify aspects of our region in Southeast Alaska. In addition, students learn about the basic concepts of climate change in order to write creative lyrics for songs for the entire school. At the end of the unit, students perform their unique songs in a school wide assembly.

Although written for Alaska, the lesson could easily be adapted for many other locations.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students learn about transpiration and how transpiration plays a role in cooling cities that experience extreme heat due to climate change.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson succinctly explains the effect of climate change on the transpiration process. Transpiration helps to improve microclimate in urban cities and addresses the urban heat island effect. The lesson also draws attention for students to experiment the transpiration process, identify spatial distribution of redlining, evaluate tree equity in their community, and draft concept notes and proposals to seek supports to implement tree planting and restoration of green spaces. All materials have been well-sourced, and this lesson has passed our science credibility process.

POSITIVES:
-Students share diverse perspectives and ideas in journal prompts encouraging action.
-Students participate in multiple interactive and hands-on learning activities to engage in kinesthetic, auditory, and visual learning.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-This is lesson 2 of 4 in our 6th-8th grade Water Cycle, Deforestation, and Climate Change unit.
-Materials required for the lab include the following:
-Three small, thin-leafed plants
-Three small, broad-leafed plants
-Small watering can
-Scale
-Six plastic bags large enough to fit completely around each plant pot
-Masking tape
-Previous student knowledge of the water cycle and climate change will be beneficial for this unit.
-Prior to the lesson, the teacher should post different emotions around the room for the SEL activity during the video on heat islands.
-Teachers should familiarize themselves with the Tree Equity Score resource prior to teaching the lesson. Students might also benefit from definitions of certain terms used in the resource including temperature, canopy cover, and demographics.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Students can complete the demonstration in lab groups.
-Lab groups may be in mixed abilities to aid in understanding.
-Students may use the Emotions Board for vocabulary support as they complete the SEL activity in the Investigate section.
-Journal prompts can be used for a whole group discussion if desired.
-The class discussion in the Inquire section can be a writing assignment first to give students time to process and think about their responses.
-The Inspire section may be completed in groups or individually at the discretion of the teacher.

In this lesson, students learn about transpiration and how transpiration plays a role in cooling cities that experience extreme heat due to climate change.

Step 1 - Inquire: Students explore the idea of transpiration through a hands-on experiment.

Step 2 - Investigate: Students learn about trees' connection to urban heat island.

Step 3 - Inspire: Students create a proposal to improve tree equity in their neighborhoods.

Student teams use the engineering design process to create a useful product of their choice out of recyclable items and "trash." The class is given a "landfill" of reusable items, such as aluminum cans, cardboard, paper, juice boxes, chip bags, egg cartons, milk cartons, etc., and each group is allowed a limited amount of bonding materials, such as duct tape, hot glue and string. This activity addresses the importance of reuse and encourages students to look at ways they can reuse items they would otherwise throw away.

This Guide for Educators was developed by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative as an extension of our TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate) podcast, to make it easier for you to teach climate change, earth science, and energy topics in the classroom. It is an extension of the TILclimate episode "TIL about everyday travel."

This video describes the role that dendrochronology plays in understanding climate change, especially changes to high elevation environments at an upper tree line. Dendrochronologists from the Big Sky Institute sample living and dead trees, describe how correlations between trees are made, and explain how tree cores record climate changes.

This activity describes the flow of carbon in the environment and focuses on how much carbon is stored in trees. It goes on to have students analyze data and make calculations about the amount of carbon stored in a set of trees at three sites in a wooded area that were to be cut down to build a college dormitory.

This tribal climate tool provides maps, graphs and reports that summarize projected changes in climate for specific tribes in the Pacific Northwest and Great Basin.

Part 1

The SAGUARO Exploring GIS Investigations for Earth Science curriculum requries the use of ESRI's ArcView GIS software version 3.0 for Macintosh or 3.2 and higher for PC.
Use ArcGIS and data files from the SAGUARO Project's (http://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/help/projects/supported-data-types-and-items.htm) Exploring Tropical Cyclones investigations. After the students are introduced to the program they are asked to determine what criteria are required for the formation of tropical cyclones.
Exploring Tropical Cyclones Unit 1 has a great deal of data for the students to use. The data is presented as layers on a world map. Different features can be turned on and off at will, and layers can be brought in from other units if desired.

Features they can work with are:

August SST
February SST
tropical cyclone tracks
locations of tropical cyclone formation for Jun-Sep
locations of tropical cyclone formation for Dec-Mar

Part 2

Students are divided into small groups (3-4 students works well) where they compare their findings (including what evidence they used) with the findings of the other group members. Each group is then asked to determine the threshold temperature for tropical cyclone formation as well as to calculate the area of the ocean that has SST equal to or above this threshold temperature (you can have them calculate this for each season, or as a total area including both February and August data).

Part 3

Class discussion of what they have found so far. Introduce them to model predictions of SST for different atmospheric CO2 levels. Propose a 2 degree C increase in tropical SST and ask what they think that will mean. What other factors might influence the formation of tropical cyclones?

Part 4

Assign an article or two (ideally a published peer reviewed article - to introduce them to this type of scientific writing - that is if you can find one that you consider appropriate for your students) that introduces them to other factors required for tropical cyclone formation and predictions of how climate change might affect them. For example an article that discusses the role of wind speed near the surface of the ocean, or vertical wind shear, or one that shows that the threshold temperature is actually predicted to increase by the same magnitude as the SST increase.
Have them write a report that summaries the criteria for cyclogenesis as well as explaining how they would go about predicting where tropical cyclones will form as a result of an increased SST. They do not need to perform all of the tests they propose! They should state what sort of information they would like to obtain and why.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Tropical ecosystems can transition between forest and savanna but how these transitions are affected by changing rainfall patterns remains uncertain Climate changes interact with local grazing and wildfires to determine the growth of tropical trees and grasses A new study looks at how feedback between wildfires, herbivore grazing, and rainfall variability impacts the amount of tree cover in the tropics Researchers found that fires stabilize savannas under intermediate rainfall values while increasing rainfall variability boosted the potential for sudden transition between forest and savanna A similar phenomenon was found under drier rainfall conditions, but in this case herbivores kept grasslands open Forest-savanna transitions have important implications for ecosystem services and people How tropical forests and savannas will function in the future depends on interactions between rainfall, fires and herbivores Staal A., et al..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This activity has students examine the misconception that there is no scientific consensus on climate change. Students explore temperature data and report their conclusions to the class. Then students examine techniques of science denial and examine a claim about scientific consensus.