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Earth Sciences of Climate for Middle School

A collection of resources for middle school students to learn about the earth science aspects of the climate and climate change. Cover image credit Government of Canada.

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Ten Signs of a Warming World
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This is an interactive website that provides descriptive information and data related to ten key climate indicators. These climate indicators and related resources show global patterns and data that are intuitive and compelling teaching tools.

Subject:
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Geoscience
Oceanography
Physical Science
Material Type:
Simulation
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
(NOAA)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Date Added:
10/27/2014
There's a Thief in My Kitchen (energy efficiency of different lightbulbs)
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In this activity, students calculate the cost of the energy used to operate a common three-bulb light fixture, and compare the costs and amount of CO2 produced for similar incandescent and compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Subject:
Geoscience
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Connecticut Energy Education
Date Added:
10/27/2014
Thermal Expansion Model
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Educational Use
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This activity allows students to demonstrate the thermal expansion of water for themselves using water bottles and straws. The discussion allows them to explore the connection between this concept and sea level rise due to climate change.

Subject:
Applied Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Oceanography
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Interactive
Lesson
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
National Aeronautics Space Administration
Date Added:
07/31/2019
To Boldly Go...
Unrestricted Use
CC BY
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This web-based activity tackles the broad reasons for undertaking ocean exploration - studying the interconnected issues of climate change, ocean health, energy and human health. Students examine the types of technology ocean scientists use to collect important data.

Subject:
Applied Science
Career and Technical Education
Ecology
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Life Science
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Mel Goodwin
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Date Added:
06/19/2012
Transpiration and Climate Change (Water Cycle, Deforestation, and Climate Change #2)
Conditional Remix & Share Permitted
CC BY-NC
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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.

Subject:
Applied Science
Environmental Science
Material Type:
Lesson
Lesson Plan
Provider:
SubjectToClimate
Author:
Mallory Swafford
Date Added:
03/15/2023
Tree Rings: Counting the Years of Global Warming
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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.

Subject:
Applied Science
Biology
Career and Technical Education
Ecology
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Life Science
Physical Science
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Worksyn Productions
Date Added:
09/24/2018
Tuvalu - Islands on the frontline of climate change
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Educational Use
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This narrated slideshow describes the impact of sea level rise on Tuvalu, one of the low-lying island nations in the South Pacific. As the frequency and intensity of floods and cyclones increases, the island is shrinking and saltwater intrusion is affecting local food production on the plantations. As a result, many residents are moving off the island to New Zealand, where they face major cultural changes.

Subject:
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Oceanography
Physical Science
Material Type:
Diagram/Illustration
Reading
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Panos Pictures
panos Prictures
Date Added:
08/29/2012
Understanding Sea Level Using Real Data
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This module contains five activities, in increasing complexity, that focus on understanding how to interpret and manipulate sea level data, using real data from NOAA. Students first need to understand how to access and interpret sea surface height and tide data. To understand how to interpret these data, students will review and practice computing mean values. Along the way, they will learn how different factors, such as storms, affect tide levels and how to measure them. The goal is for students to become experienced with these kinds of data and the tools for accessing them so that, by the end of the module, they can continue to explore data sets driven by their own inquiry.

Subject:
Applied Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Oceanography
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Full Course
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
NOAA Data in the Classroom
Date Added:
09/24/2018
Understanding the Mountain Pine Beetle
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This lesson plan has students working in small groups to research the Mountain Pine Beetle in Colorado and other inter-mountain Western states. Students identify the factors that control pine beetle population and research how warmer winters and decreasing spring snowpack allow the population of pine beetles to expand.

Subject:
Geoscience
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Barbara Keith
Cheryl Manning
Jim Moulton
Learnmoreaboutclimate, University of Colorado, Boulder
Melissa Barker
Date Added:
10/27/2014
An Unpredictable Environment
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Educational Use
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In this video segment adapted from the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Inuit observers describe how their traditional understanding of weather patterns is being challenged by unpredictable weather behaviors.

Subject:
Applied Science
Ecology
Environmental Science
Forestry and Agriculture
Geoscience
Life Science
Physical Science
Space Science
Material Type:
Lecture
Provider:
PBS LearningMedia
Provider Set:
PBS Learning Media: Multimedia Resources for the Classroom and Professional Development
Author:
National Science Foundation
WGBH Educational Foundation
Date Added:
11/04/2008
Ups and Downs
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In this activity, students examine a pair of satellite images of the ocean and determine whether there is a relationship between the height of ocean waves and the sea level. Data from the two images are plotted side by side and students discuss the reasons for their findings. The resource includes the images and a student worksheet. Summary background information, data and images supporting the activity are available on the Earth Update data site. To complete the activity, students will need to access the Space Update multimedia collection, which is available for download and purchase for use in the classroom.

Subject:
Atmospheric Science
Geoscience
Oceanography
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Diagram/Illustration
Provider:
NASA
Provider Set:
NASA Wavelength
Date Added:
11/05/2014
Using NASA Earth-Observing Satellites to Help Improve Agriculture and Water Usage
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Educational Use
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In this resource, students learn about freshwater resources, how NASA uses satellites to measure precipitation, and how that data can be used in agricultural practices. Students use data from the NASA Global Precipitation Measurement satellite to explore precipitation patterns in two parts of the world and then make recommendations for how to reduce water use in agriculture and in their own lives.

Subject:
Agriculture
Applied Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Hydrology
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Date Added:
07/14/2022
Video Recordings of Lectures from the Ocean Acidification workshop: July 2012
Unrestricted Use
Public Domain
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This YouTube playlist contains the video recordings of the lectures presented by scientists at the Ocean Acidification workshop on July 11th, 2012. Playlist also contains a variety of other related videos that can be used as teaching tools and/or resources.

Subject:
Chemistry
Oceanography
Physical Science
Material Type:
Lecture
Provider:
Our Changing Oceans and Estuaries
Author:
Dr. Timoko Komada
Dr. William Cochlin
Date Added:
11/15/2012
Visualizing the Quantities of Climate Change
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Educational Use
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This visualization is a series of three short animations/videos that illustrate how the changing ice sheets result in sea level rise. It uses satellite data to show how Greenland and Antarctica are losing mass at a rate of 283 gigatons per year and 145 gigatons per year, respectively. Simulation shows visualization of one gigaton and how much this translates to sea level rise.

Subject:
Applied Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Oceanography
Physical Science
Material Type:
Diagram/Illustration
Reading
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Matt Conlen
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Global Climate Change Website
Date Added:
12/01/2020
Warmer Oceans Affect Food Web
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Educational Use
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In this video, students learn that the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in 1989 was not the sole cause of the decline of species in the local ecosystem. Rather, an explanation is posited for why some animal populations were already in decline when the spill occurred. Many of these animals share a common food: the sand lance, a fish whose populations have shrunk with the steady rise in ocean temperature that began in the late 1970s.

Subject:
Applied Science
Biology
Career and Technical Education
Ecology
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Life Science
Physical Science
Material Type:
Diagram/Illustration
Reading
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
KTOO
Teachers' Domain
WGBH Educational Foundation
Date Added:
05/15/2012
Warmer Water Kills Salmon Eggs
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In this video segment, adapted from a student video produced at Northwest Indian College in Bellingham Washington, Native American elders discuss the impact of climate change on salmon populations and the importance of restoring balance in the natural world.

Subject:
Biology
Career and Technical Education
Ecology
Environmental Studies
Life Science
Oceanography
Physical Science
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Teachers' Domain
WGBH
Date Added:
09/24/2018
A Warmer World for Arctic Animals
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This video documents the challenges that climate change presents for four specific Arctic predators: polar bears, Arctic foxes, beluga whales, and walruses.

Subject:
Applied Science
Biology
Career and Technical Education
Ecology
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Life Science
Physical Science
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
KQED
Teachers' Domain
Date Added:
09/24/2018
The Water Cycle and Climate Change (Water Cycle, Deforestation, and Climate Change #1)
Conditional Remix & Share Permitted
CC BY-NC
Rating
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In this lesson, students learn about the water cycle and how climate change impacts its patterns.

Step 1 - Inquire: Students contemplate their relationship with water and observe a demonstration to determine if shifting climates may affect the water cycle.

Step 2 - Investigate: Students explore an interactive diagram about the water cycle.

Step 3 - Inspire: Students watch a video and complete a series of questions in their student journals.

Subject:
Applied Science
Environmental Science
Material Type:
Lesson
Lesson Plan
Provider:
SubjectToClimate
Author:
Mallory Swafford
Date Added:
03/15/2023
Weather Girl Goes Rogue
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This humorous video suggests what might happen if a weather forecaster reported the weather in the context of climate change. There is a sharp contrast between the anchor focusing on short-term local concerns and the weather forecaster describing what is happening on a long-term global basis.

Subject:
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Geoscience
Physical Science
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Deep Rogue Ram
Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies
Date Added:
10/27/2014
West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide: Modeling our Future Climate
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In this video, students see how data from the ice core record is used to help scientists predict the future of our climate. Video features ice cores extracted from the WAIS Divide, a research station on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Subject:
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Oceanography
Physical Science
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
National Science Foundation
WAIS Divide Ice Core
Date Added:
09/24/2018