This article continues an examination of each of the seven essential principles of climate literacy on which the online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle is structured. Principle 2 covers the complex interactions among the components of the Earth system. The author discusses the scientific concepts underlying the interactions and expands the discussion with diagrams, photos, and online resources.

This video adapted from KTOO takes a look at Earth's warming and cooling cycles and the current atypical trend of warming that is impacting the glaciers in Alaska's Inside Passage.

Video presents a broad overview of what (NASA) satellites can tell us about how climate change is affecting oceans.

Instructions are provided for constructing a terrarium. The analogy between the terrarium and Earth is also provided. This activity is part of the Climate Kids website, a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.

In this video segment adapted from NOVA: Becoming Human, learn how the analysis of rock layers and ocean sediments supports the theory that rapid climate change may have jump-started human evolution two million years ago.

The purpose of this resource is to have students observe their lilac plants and identify the five phenophases (first leaf, full or 95% leafed, first bloom, full bloom and end of bloom) for each lilac plant. During the growing season, students will observe their lilac plants and identify the five phenophases (first leaf, full or 95% leafed, first bloom, full bloom and end of bloom) for each lilac plant.

This is an activity about identifying and classifying objects in space. Learners will complete a worksheet asking them to identify certain pictures as a planet, moon, or asteroid. This activity requires a computer with Internet access and access to the Solar System Update software, and is Solar System Activity 2 in a larger resource, Space Update.

Learn about cloud formations over the Sierra Nevada Mountains in this video from Nature.

This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service describes the different kinds of sediments that make up coastlines, with a focus on the variety in color, size, and sorting.

This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service describes the many forces that affect shorelines, including tides, weathering, erosion, and deposition.

Climographs, graphic plots of monthly temperature and precipitation, allow students to see how differences in insolation at various locations affect rates of heating and cooling. In this activity, students use climographs to plot locations using latitude and longitude, calculate annual temperature ranges, and relate unequal rates of heating and cooling to climate variations. They will also construct climographs for two locations in New York, analyze them, and answer questions about their observations.

This professional development article identifies resources that show young learners (K-grade 5) how scientists study Earth's climate and make predictions. The online lessons either allow students to collect and analyze data or learn about tools and technologies that make data collection possible. The lessons are aligned with national content standards for science education. The article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which examines the recognized essential principles of climate literacy and the climate sciences for elementary teachers and their students.

Students determine the ability of various lenses and mirrors to gather light in order to compare and calculate their light gathering power. This activity is part of Unit 3 in the Space Based Astronomy guide that contains background information, worksheets, assessments, extensions, and standards.

Make a whole rainbow by mixing red, green, and blue light. Change the wavelength of a monochromatic beam or filter white light. View the light as a solid beam, or see the individual photons.

This demonstration shows that similar-appearing lights can be distinctly different, suggesting that the light emitted is generated in different ways. It requires some advance preparation/setup by the teacher and three recommended sources of orange light, that can be purchased at a hardware or department store. Includes extensions and additional background information on light generation in a section on underlying principles. This resource is from PUMAS - Practical Uses of Math and Science - a collection of brief examples created by scientists and engineers showing how math and science topics taught in K-12 classes have real world applications.

In this activity, students will create their own travel brochure or poster inviting people to visit a place where they could see an aurora. It is recommended that the class complete Lesson 1 in this series - What I know about the Aurora - prior to this activity. Includes teacher notes and instructions, student workshops and an online, animated story, and related teacher resources on aurora. This is lesson four of a collection of five activities that can be used individually or as a sequence; concludes with a KWL (Know/Want-to-know/Learned) assessment activity.

Visualize how comets carrying chemicals necessary for life could have made their way to Earth billions of years ago in this video segment adapted from NOVA.

Amino acids, essential ingredients for life, may have been delivered to Earth by comets billions of years ago, as visualized in this video segment adapted from NOVA.

This article describes common misconceptions held by elementary students about the history of the polar regions, fossils, and geologic time. The article provides ideas for formative assessment, teaching strategies, and the National Science Education Standards.

This article discusses geologic misconceptions held by teachers and students and provides resources for formative assessment and teaching correct concepts.