Our planet is becoming hot. In fact, Earth may be warming faster than ever before. This warming will challenge society throughout the 21st century. How do we cope with rising seas? How will we prepare for more intense hurricanes? How will we adapt to debilitating droughts and heat waves? Scientists are striving to improve predictions of how the environment will change and how it will impact humans. Earth in the Future: Predicting Climate Change and Its Impacts Over the Next Century is designed to provide the state of the art of climate science, the impact of warming on humans, as well as ways we can adapt. Every student will understand the challenges and opportunities of living in the 21st century.

Our planet is becoming hot. In fact, Earth may be warming faster than ever before. This warming will challenge society throughout the 21st century. How do we cope with rising seas? How will we prepare for more intense hurricanes? How will we adapt to debilitating droughts and heat waves? Scientists are striving to improve predictions of how the environment will change and how it will impact humans. Earth in the Future: Predicting Climate Change and Its Impacts Over the Next Century is designed to provide the state of the art of climate science, the impact of warming on humans, as well as ways we can adapt. Every student will understand the challenges and opportunities of living in the 21st century.

This article provides background information that will help teachers present the science associated with the study of climate, past, present and future. The magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle is structured around the recognized principles of climate literacy. The author explains the science concepts included in the principle related to climate study and research and also identifies additional sources of information.

In this activity, students are guided through graphs of surface air temperature anomaly data and Vostok ice core data to illustrate how scientists use these data to develop the basis for modeling how climate is likely to change in the future.

This list of carefully selected books for grades K-5 highlights nonfiction about climate proxies, those preserved physical characteristics, such as fossils, that scientists use to reconstruct past climates. Also highlighted are a few books that provide information about two past climatic events -- the last ice age and the Dust Bowl. In each issue of the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, the virtual bookshelf recommends books that accurately portray the theme drawn from the principles of climate sciences.

Hands-on laboratory activity that allows students to investigate the effects of distance and angle on the input of solar radiation at Earth's surface, the role played by albedo, the heat capacity of land and water, and how these cause the seasons. Students predict radiative heating based on simple geometry and experiment to test their hypotheses.

SYNOPSIS: This lesson is an exploration of climate change data, including greenhouse gases, global temperature, ice melt, and sea level rise.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson lets students explore almost real-time data on the ways human-caused global warming is disrupting different earth systems. All of the external links use the highest quality data available and are considered reputable sources. This lesson has passed our science quality assessment.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson is all about curiosity and exploration. Students make meaning from all of this data collectively. This should be a very social activity as students share noticings, wonderings, and realizations with each other.
-This can be a very hands-off lesson, as students guide their own learning and discussion.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-You must copy the Student Slideshow, share it with your students, and grant them editing rights. They will be writing in the slideshow during the lesson.
-The data from these sources is always being updated.
-There are other greenhouse gases that students will not explore. These are the fluorinated gases, "a family of man-made gases used in a range of industrial applications." (Source: EU Commission)

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Seeing the extent of these numbers might cause feelings of anxiety, sadness, anger, despair, or surprise in some students. Make sure to remind them that those feelings are normal and natural. Sharing those feelings with the class usually helps students feel better. Encourage students to share their honest reactions.
-This exploration and these discussions might naturally lead into the “What can we do about it?” discussion.
-These graphs are all unsustainable. It might be useful to use these graphs to better explain the concept of sustainability to the students.
-Students should feel free to conduct research on their own to better understand their resources. For example, students can research sources of atmospheric nitrous oxide.
-It is a good thing if students have more questions leaving this class than when they entered.

This highly informative site explores five different ecosystems and the public health issues that have arisen in each. Students can explore the different ways that ecosystem services that address air quality, heat hazard mitigation, recreation and physical activity, water hazard mitigation, and water quality impact many health conditions.

Students explore their own Ecological Footprint in the context of how many Earths it would take if everyone used the same amount of resources they did. They compare this to the Ecological Footprint of individuals in other parts of the world and to the Ecological footprint of a family member when they were the student's age.

Ecology For All! Is an ecology text designed in modules so that instructors can choose the pieces that make sense to assign in their context. This book has been in development for several years and is a collaborative effort of authors at Gettysburg College, Franklin & Marshall College, and University of Pittsburgh. The textbook covers a wide range of topics including Introduction to Ecology, Evolution, Adaptations to the Physical Environment, various ecological communities, Population Ecology, Behavioral Ecology, Species Interactions, Ecological Succession, Biogeochemical Cycles, Landscape Ecology, Biodiversity, Conservation Biology, and Human Impact on Global Climate among others. The authors have presented on it at the Ecological Society of America meeting and the book continues to evolve.

What are the two biggest threats facing future generations? The growing Federal debt, and climate change. The national debt will trash the economy, and global warming will trash the planet. But economics offers a solution to BOTH problems: a carbon tax. So why do economists cry themselves to sleep?

Short Description:
This online learning session will bring into focus the practice of restoration of ecosystems at the local and regional level in British Columbia through a series of presentations delivered by faculty from UVic’s School of Environmental Studies, First Nations speakers and Elders, and professionals whose work intersects with ecology in diverse ways.

Long Description:
How often have you heard in the past five years the expression “I have never seen a ….fire/flood/drought/rainstorm/insect infestation/sea level rise…of this magnitude, ever.”? The world’s climate is out of balance, and in this state, is driving ecosystem changes that few of us have seen in our lifetimes. What is the scale of these changes now and into the future? How will this affect the way you work and live? How can we adapt? The practice of ecological restoration can point the way to positive actions at the ground level.

This online learning session will bring into focus the practice of restoration of ecosystems at the local and regional level in British Columbia through a series of presentations delivered by faculty from UVic’s School of Environmental Studies, First Nations speakers and Elders, and professionals whose work intersects with ecology in diverse ways. We start by rooting our introduction in Indigenous perspectives on how the local ecosystems are changing. We discuss basic principles and practices of ecological restoration on the ground. We then explore the complexity of British Columbia’s biodiversity, basic drivers of change in ecosystems, and the challenges they present in different types of ecosystems. We look at how climate change models help us understand what the future scale of change might be, and we finish up by discussing how ecological restoration principles can apply to different disciplines.

This course is part of the Adaptation Learning Network led by the Resilience by Design Lab at Royal Roads University. The project is supported by the Climate Action Secretariat of the BC Ministry of Environment & Climate Change Strategy and Natural Resources Canada through its Building Regional Adaptation Capacity and Expertise (BRACE) program. The BRACE program works with Canadian provinces to support training activities that help build skills and expertise on climate adaptation and resilience.

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Students are charged with thinking about what it takes to 'do science'. They are introduced to the science of dendrochronology and learn how tree-ring science is executed.

The book "All We Can Save" is an anthology of writings by women at the forefront of the
climate movement who are harnessing truth, courage, and solutions to lead
humanity forward. This Creative Commons licensed collection of educator resources includes a discussion question bank, various assignments, summaries of each essay in the book, and other resources.

In this activity, students select an argument of a climate skeptic, research it, and write up a mock dialog that portrays a back-and-forth discussion between the skeptic and a non-skeptic, while presenting a scientific argument that counters the false claim.

This video illustrates how atmospheric particles, or aerosols (such as black carbon, sulfates, dust, fog), can affect the energy balance of Earth regionally, and the implications for surface temperature warming and cooling.

This set of five activities focuses on how climate change can affect agriculture, including crop production and ranching. The activities in this guide are appropriate for both formal and informal settings and all student handouts, instructor guides, and supporting files are included. The curriculum is designed for five days of activities that build on one another, but can also be used individually.

This video shows 15 years of data obtained via Polar-orbiting satellites that are able to detect subtle differences in ocean color, allowing scientists to see where there are higher concentrations of phytoplankton - a proxy for the concentration of chlorophyll in the ocean.

This video addresses the importance of efficiency in providing power to an increasingly large global population.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students learn the importance of migratory hummingbirds and how to help them face the impacts of climate change.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson teaches students all about hummingbirds. Hummingbirds are important pollinators, and climate change is hurting their habitat. This lesson passed the scientific review process.

Esta lección enseña a los estudiantes todo sobre los colibríes. Los colibríes son polinizadores importantes y el cambio climático está dañando su hábitat. Esta lección pasó el proceso de revisión científica.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson encourages students to look for hummingbirds in their local environment and feel connected to the natural world and their neighboring country, Mexico.
-The lesson exposes students to the diversity of Indigenous peoples in the Americas through Indigenous language names for hummingbirds in Mexico and the stories from three different Indigenous cultures.
-This lesson could connect with a Day of the Dead lesson by beginning with the video of the Aztec legend about the relationship between the cempasúchil flower and the hummingbird.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-The main species in this lesson, the ruby-throated hummingbird, is currently abundant. In fact, climate change may extend the range of this species farther north as the climate becomes hotter. Students have a high probability of encountering this hummingbird in New Jersey and thus appreciating its tenacity and beauty.
-Appreciating the local migratory hummingbird can help students understand the concept of interdependence within communities and across borders.
-Understanding interdependence and fomenting cross-cultural cooperation are important aspects of finding solutions to climate change.
-Other species of hummingbirds, as noted on the poster from CONABIO, are more acutely threatened by climate change. Students can discuss why. For example, the more a hummingbird depends on an endemic species of plant (a plant found only in its region) or a more specific microclimate, the more vulnerable it is to disruption from climate change.
-Teachers can use this resource from Rutgers to further their understanding of the ruby-throated hummingbird.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Teachers can use all the activities in the lesson or choose activities that are most apt for their class.
-Teachers should preview the videos that tell stories about hummingbirds from the Nasca culture and the Aztec culture. These stories include events that students may find sad or scary. For example, the Aztec story includes the death of a warrior whose soul becomes the hummingbird. Students can talk about how they and the characters feel at different moments.