A box model is used to simulate the build up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere during the industrial era and predict the future increase in atmospheric CO2 levels during the next century.

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Students act out 4 different molecules (nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapor) to discover which ones are greenhouse gases and which ones are not.

This activity allows students to explore sea level rise. The experiment allows them to test whether land ice and/or sea ice contribute to sea level rise as they melt.

This classroom resource is a combination of 3 visualizations and accompanying text that illustrate how 3 key natural phenomena - cyclical changes in solar energy output, major volcanic eruptions over the last century, and El Nino/Nina cycles - are insufficient to explain recent global warming.

Two short, narrated animations about carbon dioxide and Earth's temperature are presented on this webpage. The first animation shows the rise in atmospheric CO2 levels, human carbon emissions, and global temperature rise of the past 1,000 years; the second shows changes in the level of CO2 from 800,000 years ago to the present.

This is a series of graphical animations that compare the contribution of natural factors (including orbital changes, variability in the sun's temperature, volcanic action, deforestation, ozone pollution levels, and aerosols) to the contribution of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide, to increases in global atmospheric temperature... in a visual and concise way.

Students will work in small groups to compare the rate of icequake occurrence in Greenland to measured air temperature over time. This activity emphasizes the Earth systems concept by connecting seismic and atmospheric data sets from Greenland, and links climate change, glacial melting, and seismic activity.

This lesson introduces why certain cities in Colorado are getting hotter using a video by the Denver Post that describes the pattern.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students learn about climate change, choose one solution to climate change, and write a claim-evidence-reasoning paragraph explaining why they believe it is the best solution to climate change.

SCIENTIST NOTES: Although there is no silver bullet to addressing climate change, combining multiple solutions and prioritizing the best ones are important strategies to combat present and future climate risk. This lesson introduces students to explore the best solutions to address climate change. Data in the resources, accompanying materials, and videos are accurate. Accordingly, this lesson has passed our science review.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson is terrific for teaching paragraph structure.
-The color coding of the sentences in the paragraph is really helpful, especially for concrete thinkers.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-Project Drawdown is an excellent organization that quantifies solutions to climate change. This is great background reading before the lesson. If you sort the solutions by scenario 1 (2°C temperature rise by 2100, then reduced food waste is the #1 solution. If you sort the solutions by scenario 2 (1.5°C temperature rise by 2100), then onshore wind turbines are the #1 solution. These two solutions (food waste and renewable energy) are two of the four solutions presented in this lesson.
-Encourage the students to use as many hard facts as possible in their supporting sentences. These include dates, names, places, and specific events.
-You can use 2-3 videos of solutions to climate change if you do not want to use all of them.
-This lesson can be paired with the StC Lesson Plan What's the Worst Impact of Climate Change?

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Most students will benefit from color coding their sentences. Encourage them to keep their text highlighted as they write. They can even keep their paragraphs highlighted after they finish.
-Weaker students may write only five sentences. Stronger students may expand more in their supporting sentences.
-If students are struggling with their closing sentences, ask them to read their claim sentences aloud. Sometimes this helps guide their thinking.
-Stronger students who finish early can read their paragraphs to one another, discuss the writing process, and discuss the climate crisis.

In this lesson, students combine art and science to interpret and illustrate graphical art. They first learn about artists who develop images based on climate graphs and then create their own.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students learn about climate change, choose one impact of climate change, and write a claim-evidence-reasoning paragraph explaining why they believe it is the worst impact of climate change.

SCIENTIST NOTES: Understanding the key drivers of climate change and weather extremes, including the carbon cycle and processes and changes in the earth-atmosphere-ocean systems, have been discussed in this lesson. This is important for students to learn and prepare for future climate risk. This lesson has passed our science review process.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson is terrific for teaching paragraph structure.
-The color coding of the sentences in the paragraph is really helpful, especially for concrete thinkers.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-This lesson shows some of the impacts of climate change. Some of these might be difficult to hear. Students may feel anger, sadness, anxiety, or grief after hearing about some of these devastating impacts. Encourage them to share their emotions.
-This lesson will naturally lead into the discussion of solutions to the climate crisis. Lean into that discussion.
-There is, of course, no right answer to "What's the worst impact of climate change?" These impacts of climate change are all catastrophic in their own right.
-Encourage the students to use as many hard facts as possible in their supporting sentences. These include dates, names, places, and specific events.
-You can use 2-3 videos of impacts of climate change if you do not want to use all of them.
-This lesson can be paired with the StC Lesson Plan What's the Best Solution to Climate Change?
DIFFERENTIATION:
-Most students will benefit from color coding their sentences. Encourage them to keep their text highlighted as they write. They can even keep their paragraphs highlighted after they finish.
-Weaker students may write only five sentences. Stronger students may expand more in their supporting sentences.
-If students are struggling with their closing sentences, ask them to read their claim sentences aloud. Sometimes this helps guide their thinking.
-Stronger students who finish early can read their paragraphs to one another, discuss the writing process, and discuss the climate crisis.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students learn about climate change, choose one impact of climate change affecting New Jersey, and write a claim-evidence-reasoning paragraph explaining why they believe it is the worst impact of climate change in New Jersey.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson illustrates the impacts of climate change in New Jersey. Five video resources are presented that provide background information, answer skepticism, and explore four key implications of climate change in New Jersey. The four climate impact videos are well-sourced and address local concerns with scientists from Rutgers and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Students are tasked with deciding which is the worst impact of climate change and then writing a paragraph to support their claim. This lesson is recommended for teaching.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson is terrific for teaching paragraph structure.
-The color coding of the sentences in the paragraph is really helpful, especially for concrete thinkers.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-This lesson shows some of the impacts of climate change. Some of these might be difficult to hear. Students may feel anger, sadness, anxiety, or grief after hearing about some of these devastating impacts. Encourage them to share their emotions.
-There is, of course, no right answer to “What’s the worst impact of climate change?” These impacts of climate change are all catastrophic in their own right.
-Encourage the students to use as many hard facts as possible in their supporting sentences. These include dates, names, places, and specific events.
-You can use 2-3 videos of impacts of climate change if you do not want to use all of them.
-Make sure students know that there are many other impacts of climate change aside from the four impacts in the four videos. Other impacts of climate change include extreme weather events, mass extinction, climate migration, etc. The goal of this lesson is to choose one of those four impacts of climate change.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Most students will benefit from color coding their sentences. Encourage them to keep their text highlighted as they write. They can even keep their paragraphs highlighted after they finish.
-Weaker students may write only five sentences. Stronger students may expand more in their supporting sentences.
-If students are struggling with their closing sentences, ask them to read their claim sentences aloud. Sometimes this helps guide their thinking.
-Stronger students who finish early can read their paragraphs to one another, discuss the writing process, and discuss possible solutions to climate change.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students learn where food comes from and the importance of taking care of natural resources.

SCIENTIST NOTES: Soil, air, light, water, and other natural components aid plant growth. When they are perturbed or polluted, it influences plant growth and makes food unhealthy for human and animal consumption. This lesson underscores the correlation between natural resources and food production. It shows students what is required for agricultural production and how they can locate food sources in their local environment. The lesson also provides basic understanding on how the natural resources could be protected from harmful human activities. The materials embedded in the lesson were fact-checked, and this lesson has passed our credibility review process.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson is a great way for students to understand and appreciate the care that goes into growing food.
-Students will get to share their families' food traditions with others.
-Students will feel empowered to help protect natural resources.
-Students will share their new knowledge with others.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-You will need a fruit or vegetable for the beginning of the Inquire section.
-You will need to acquire a copy of Right This Very Minute by Lisl Detlefsen before class begins. You can check your local or school library for a copy of the book.
-You will need to enter an email address to access the PDF lesson plan of Who Polluted the River? the first time you use the Population Education website.
-You will need the following materials for the Who Polluted the River? activity:
-Clear gallon jar or bowl of water
-Small lidded containers
-Printed container labels (printable templates included)
-Printed character name tags (printable templates included)
-Slotted spoon
-Plastic toy fish
-Dry leaves
-Soil
-Baking soda
-Shreds of paper
-Fishing line or dental floss
-Instant coffee
-Water
-Vegetable oil
-Dishwashing soap
-Red and green food coloring

DIFFERENTIATION:
-You can break this lesson up and teach Inquire, Investigate, and Inspire on three separate days.
-The Student Document is provided in four levels.
-Fluent writers can write one or more paragraphs to accompany their informative piece.
-You can go over the Vocabulary Cards at the beginning of the lesson or print the Vocabulary Cards and make a word wall to reference throughout the lesson.

Hands-on outdoor lesson plan for students to understand the meaning and components of climate change, and engineer and model how greenhouse gasses cause heat trapping.

In this activity students work with real datasets to investigate a real situation regarding disappearing Arctic sea ice. The case study has students working side-by-side with a scientist from the National Snow and Ice Data Center and an Inuit community in Manitoba.

This activity engages students in a role play to negotiate an agreement between the United States and China about climate change policies. Students use given background material or can do their own additional research to present their assigned stakeholder's position in a simulated negotiation.

During this lesson, students explore the increase in summer temperatures and describe the pattern as it relates to Colorado using a video by the Denver Post.

This lesson has students investigate how albedo is contributing to temperature increasing in some places, like cities, are increasing at faster rates than elsewhere.

This lesson has students explore what land use changes are happening and how changes in surface color affects temperatures in cities.

This video reviews how increasing temperatures in the Arctic are affecting the path of the jet stream, the severity of storms, and the length of individual weather events (rain, storms, drought).