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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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Climate Kids: How Do We Know the Climate Is Changing?
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This question is addressed through a series of questions and answers, each providing related introductory information such as how climate change is studied, the history of Earth’s climate, and the effects of climate change on Earth’s geology and biology. The Climate Kids website is a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.

Subject:
Atmospheric Science
Chemistry
Ecology
Forestry and Agriculture
Geoscience
History
History, Law, Politics
Life Science
Physical Science
Material Type:
Lecture
Provider:
NASA
Provider Set:
NASA Wavelength
Date Added:
11/05/2014
Climate Kids: It's Cold! Is Global Warming Over?
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The movement of Arctic air, known as the Arctic oscillation, can and will cause periodic extreme winter weather outside the Arctic region - the harsh winter experienced in many parts of the U.S. in 2010 is a recent example. This article explains the connection between the two events. This article is part of the Climate Kids website, a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.

Subject:
Atmospheric Science
Geoscience
History
History, Law, Politics
Physical Science
Physics
Material Type:
Lecture
Provider:
NASA
Provider Set:
NASA Wavelength
Date Added:
11/05/2014
Climate Kids: What is Global Climate Change?
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A question and answer format is used to differentiate between weather and climate, and to provide a brief overview of global warming. This lesson is part of the Climate Kids website, a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.

Subject:
Atmospheric Science
Ecology
Forestry and Agriculture
Geoscience
History
History, Law, Politics
Life Science
Physical Science
Material Type:
Lecture
Provider:
NASA
Provider Set:
NASA Wavelength
Date Added:
11/05/2014
Climate Kids: What is the Greenhouse Effect?
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The greenhouse effect is explained in this series of related questions and answers. This lesson is part of the Climate Kids website, a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.

Subject:
Atmospheric Science
Ecology
Forestry and Agriculture
Geoscience
History
History, Law, Politics
Life Science
Physical Science
Material Type:
Lecture
Provider:
NASA
Provider Set:
NASA Wavelength
Date Added:
11/05/2014
The Climate Reanalyzer
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This interactive visualization is a suite of weather and climate datasets as well as tools with which to manipulate and display them visually.

Subject:
Applied Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Geoscience
History
History, Law, Politics
Physical Science
Material Type:
Simulation
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Climate Change Institute, University of Maine at Orono
Climate Reanalyzer
Date Added:
10/27/2014
Climate Science in a Nutshell: Climate Change Around the World?
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This video is part of the Climate Science in a Nutshell video series. This short video looks at the effects of climate change happening right now around the globe, including: more extreme weather events, droughts, forest fires, land use changes, altered ranges of disease-carrying insects, and the loss of some agricultural products. It concludes with a discussion of the differences between weather, climate variability, and climate change.

Subject:
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Physical Science
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Planet Nutshell
Utah Education Network
Date Added:
09/24/2018
Climate Simulator
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This is a simulation that illustrates how temperature will be affected by global CO2 emission trajectories. It addresses the issue that even if global emissions begin to decrease, the atmospheric concentration of CO2 will continue to increase, resulting in increased global temperatures.

Subject:
Geoscience
History
History, Law, Politics
Physical Science
Material Type:
Simulation
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Cai Ellis
Duncan Clark
Mairead O'Connor
Richard Bangay
Rosie Roche
The Guardian
Date Added:
10/27/2014
Climate Time Machine
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Educational Use
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This series of four animations shows how some of the key indicators of climate change (average global temperature, sea level, sea ice extent, carbon emissions) have changed in Earth's recent history.

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:
NASA
Date Added:
05/13/2015
Climate Wisconsin: Stories From a State of Change
Unrestricted Use
CC BY
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This video provides background information and teaching tips about the history and relevance of phenology and seasonal observations of plants and animals within the context of rural Wisconsin.

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:
Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts
Date Added:
06/19/2012
Climate change: How do we know?
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This static graph of changes in CO2 concentrations goes back 400,000 years, showing the dramatic spike in recent years.

Subject:
Atmospheric Science
Physical Science
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
NASA
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Date Added:
10/27/2014
Colorado and a Warming Planet
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Educational Use
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This video highlights a variety of climate change research initiatives from scientists at the University of Colorado, Boulder. It describes the changing dynamics of Antarctic ice sheets and the impacts of reduced Arctic sea ice. The video illustrates the excitement of this research through interviews and video clips of scientists in the field.

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:
Learn More About Climate
University of Colorado at Boulder
Date Added:
05/08/2013
Colorado's Forests and the Pine Beetle Epidemic
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Educational Use
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This video features CU Boulder Professor Jeff Mitton and his research team, who study the effects of mountain pine beetle infestations on the forest ecology in the Rocky Mountains. They explain the pine beetle life cycle and how they attack trees. An outlook into the future is also provided.

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:
Office of University Outreach at the University of Colorado Boulder
Date Added:
08/29/2012
Comparison of the Effects of Increased CO2 in the Air to Seawater and Distilled Water
Unrestricted Use
CC BY
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This well-designed experiment compares CO2 impacts on salt water and fresh water. In a short demonstration, students examine how distilled water (i.e., pure water without any dissolved ions or compounds) and seawater are affected differently by increasing carbon dioxide in the air.

Subject:
Applied Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Oceanography
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Simulation
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Annika Sabrowski
CarboSchools.org
Patrick Silva
S. Soria-Dengg
Date Added:
06/19/2012
Contribution of the Cryosphere to Changes in Sea Level
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Educational Use
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This web page from the National Snow and Ice Data Center contains two related visualizations and supporting information about them. The first visualization gives an estimate of the percent contribution to sea level change since the 1990s from three contributors - small glaciers and ice caps, the Greenland Ice Sheet and the Antarctic Ice Sheet. The second visualization shows the cumulative contribution to sea level from small glaciers and ice caps plotted with the annual global surface air temperature anomaly.

Subject:
Applied Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Oceanography
Physical Science
Material Type:
Reading
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
M.F. Meier
Mark Dyurgerov
National Snow and Ice Data Center
Date Added:
08/29/2012
Cool Cores Capture Climate Change
Unrestricted Use
CC BY
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This Earth Exploration Toolbook chapter is a detailed computer-based exploration in which students learn how various climatic conditions impact the formations of sediment layers on the ocean floor. They analyze sediment core data from the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica for evidence of climate changes over time. In addition, they interact with various tools and animations throughout the activity, in particular the Paleontological Stratigraphic Interval Construction and Analysis Tool (PSICAT) that is used to construct a climate change model of a sediment core from core images.

Subject:
Archaeology
Oceanography
Physical Geography
Physical Science
Social Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Earth Exploration Toolbook/TERC
Jean Pennycook
Date Added:
06/19/2012
Coral Reefs in Hot Water
Unrestricted Use
CC BY
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Coral Reefs in Hot Water is a short video displaying computerized data collected on the number of reefs impacted by coral bleaching around the world.

Subject:
Applied Science
Biology
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
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:
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
Date Added:
06/19/2012
Decoding Antarctica's Climate History - Antarctica's Climate Secrets
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Educational Use
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This 10 minute video builds connections between topics that are important in climate science such as: the impact of variations in Earth's orbit and wobble on it's axis on climate; how the cores being sampled fit into the bigger climate picture; connecting greenhouse gases to melting ice and sea level changes; the sensitivity of the ice melt / sea level rise relationship; and computer model simulations showing connections between ice sheets and sea level.
The companion website provides resources, an extensive list of activities, teacher guides, posters, and more.

Subject:
Applied Science
Archaeology
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Oceanography
Physical Geography
Physical Science
Social Science
Material Type:
Diagram/Illustration
Reading
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Nebraska Educational Telecommunications
Date Added:
06/25/2019
Deforestation and Climate Change (Water Cycle, Deforestation, and Climate Change #3)
Conditional Remix & Share Permitted
CC BY-NC
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In this lesson, students learn how climate change and deforestation are linked to the water cycle.

Step 1 - Inquire: Students view an Indigenous perspective on deforestation and learn how climate change can lead to deforested areas.

Step 2 - Investigate: Students complete a hands-on activity to investigate the effects of deforestation on erosion and watch a video on deforestation and climate change.

Step 3 - Inspire: Students create a cause and effect diagram about erosion and the water cycle.

Subject:
Applied Science
Environmental Science
Material Type:
Lesson
Lesson Plan
Provider:
SubjectToClimate
Author:
Mallory Swafford
Date Added:
03/15/2023
Does Climate Change Cause Extreme Weather?
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This video provides a good introduction to the field of attribution science. Beginning with an introduction to weather and climate, it describes how severe weather might be linked to climate change and the science behind attribution studies. It gives a good explanation behind how scientists use climate models to study whether severe weather events were influenced by climate change. It also discusses the question, "does climate change cause extreme weather?" and provides an introduction to the concepts of probability, causation, and correlation in regards to attribution science (how much climate change influenced an event verses normal variations in weather).

Subject:
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Physical Science
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Above the Noise
KQED
Date Added:
09/24/2018