In this activity, students create graphs of real temperature data to investigate climate trends by analyzing the global temperature record from 1867 to the present. Long-term trends and shorter-term fluctuations are both evaluated. The data is examined for evidence of the impact of natural and anthropogenic climate forcing mechanisms on the global surface temperature variability. Students are prompted to determine the difficulties scientists face in using this data to make climate predictions.

This video segment adapted from NOVA/FRONTLINE examines the greenhouse effect, its role in keeping Earth habitable, and the industrial changes that have led to an increase in the planet's average temperature.

In this video segment adapted from Spanner Films, visit the Alaska Native village of Shishmaref, and learn how an entire town may be forced to relocate because of warmer temperatures, melting sea ice, and coastal erosion.

This video segment adapted from NOVA explores the effects of the Glen Canyon Dam on the beaches, wildlife, and vegetation of the Colorado River.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, a fossil found among the Grand Canyon's rock layers reveals the existence of a shallow sea that once covered most of western North America.

This video segment adapted from NOVA features the youngest rock formations in the Grand Canyon, lava dams, and how they are subject to the eroding power of water.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, watch residents of the Peruvian Andes build a suspension bridge made entirely of grass. The ancient Inca were a textile society and thus skilled in working with natural fibers including alpaca and cotton. Still, it might surprise people today that their solution to crossing the canyons and gorges of their mountainous empire featured another fibrous material: grass. When you consider how they built a simple suspension bridge, you'll realize that not only was this a practical solution, it was also a safe one. In this video segment adapted from NOVA, watch residents of the Peruvian Andes as they build a traditional and functioning grass bridge the likes of which enabled the ancient Inca people to flourish for several hundred years. Grades 3-12.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, a meteorologist explains how an unusual weather pattern led to one of the most devastating floods of this century.

In this video adapted from Bullfrog Films, GwichŰ__Ű__ŒŒÇin Chief Evon Peter of Arctic Village, Alaska, describes his people's connection to the caribou and their passion to protect Alaska Native land and traditions.

This video segment from Nature explains the geologic forces behind the creation of HawaiiŒë_í_Œ_ dramatic shoreline.

This video segment adapted from NOVA describes the emergence of life on the islands of Hawaii from a barren volcanic platform under the ocean waves to the rich explosion of life that covers the many climate zones of the islands today.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, dramatic footage of avalanches and animations of ice crystals illustrate how a layer of weakly-bonded snow can contribute to a devastating avalanche.

Students explore the greenhouse effect in this lesson using a computer simulation and develop a model for how it works.

This video segment adapted from KET's Where the River Bends demonstrates how climate change and glacier movement during the Ice Ages destroyed the old Teays River and created the Ohio River, Kentucky's northern border.

Learn how the Hawaiian Islands were formed by a geothermal hotspot and resulting volcanic activity in this video segment from Nature.

In this video segment adapted from the National Film Board of Canada, learn how the Inuit people have used their traditional knowledge to understand and adapt to changes in their Arctic environment, particularly when hunting and navigating the landscape.

The Icebergs Project is a National Science Foundation sponsored partnership between University of Oregon’s research team lead by Dr. David Sutherland and 7th grade teachers for Eugene School District 4J’s Arts and Technology Academy Middle School, along with support from University of Oregon’s STEM CORE, a STEM education center. Over the course of several years teachers and scientists co-planned, revised, and carried out a research-connected cross-disciplinary project-based unit culminating in an “Icebergs Field Day” involving all members of the PI’s research team. Ultimately two separate week-long units were designed, with only one implemented each year.

Learn where diamonds originate and how inclusions trapped within diamonds help geologists determine their age in this video segment from Nature.

In this video segment adapted from NASA, astronomer Michelle Thaller introduces the world of infrared light and demonstrates how infrared cameras allow us to see more than what the naked eye can perceive.