Climate Literacy Catalog
This collection of web sites was developed in the Fall of 2008 by Mark S. McCaffrey of CIRES Education and Outreach as a "next step" toward a reviewed and annotated collection of "cream of the crop" high quality digital resources that support the Essential Principles of Climate Literacy. Building on experience gained through the development of the Climate Change Collection, the goal of this phase of the effort is to begin to assemble a catalog of online resources that in the near future will be reviewed i) for scientific accuracy and currency by science experts, ii) for ease of use and appropriateness in educational settings and iii) annotated with any suggestions, concerns or ideas for enrichment and extensions to the resource.
Climate Literacy Principles
- Life and Climate Are Linked 10 matches 1. Life on Earth has been shaped by, depends on, and affects climate
- The Nature of Science 11 matches 2. We increase our understanding of the climate system through observation and modeling
- Sun Drives Earth System 12 matches 3. The Sun is the primary source of energy for the climate system
- Complex Interactions 15 matches 4. Earth's weather and climate systems are the result of complex interactions
- Natural Variability and Change 27 matches 5. Earth's weather and climate vary over time and space
- Human Activities and Change 7 matches 6. Evidence indicates human activities are impacting the climate system
- Making Decisions 2 matches 7. Earth's climate system is influenced by complex human decisions involving economic costs and social values
Results 1 - 20 of 27 matches
Geo-Ecological Study of Historic and Prehistoric Land Use in the Hopi Buttes area, Navajo Nation, Arizona part of SERC Web Resource Collection
This project examines land use, climatic variability, and their related impacts on land-surface conditions in the ecologically sensitive Hopi Buttes region of the Navajo Nation. Research on separate ...
Modeling Earth's Temperature part of SERC Web Resource Collection
In this activity students use the STELLA program to create hierarchies of models of increasing complexity to understand the absorption of solar energy by the Earth and its radiation of that energy ...
Changing Paleoclimates and Mass Extinctions part of SERC Web Resource Collection
This article provides a model for climatic change and relates climatic cycles with major extinction events in the history of the Earth. It discusses the mechanisms behind modern climate zones ...
Seasons: Why It's Essential part of SERC Web Resource Collection
This lesson gives high school students a clear understanding of why the seasons occur and reinforces the ability to articulate this concept to others. Students review the basics of the seasons and ...
CO2 and You part of SERC Web Resource Collection
This lesson has students observe and quantify their household and vehicle energy consumption; explain the relationship between energy consumption, energy production, and its influences on the ...
Climate Variability part of SERC Web Resource Collection
In this activity students will simulate climate variability and come to understand that long-term climate averages are the result of significant annual climate variability. After this activity ...
Carbon Dioxide: The Heat is On part of SERC Web Resource Collection
In this activity, students will observe the effect of the gases resulting from a burned fossil fuel on the heat absorption of air and determine the ability of phytoplankton to remove greenhouse gases ...
Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2: A Record of Climate Change part of SERC Web Resource Collection
In this activity, students learn about efforts to study Earth's climatic history for the last 250,000 years by drilling into the Greenland Ice Sheet and examining ice cores. They will answer ...
Planet Under Pressure part of SERC Web Resource Collection
Planet Under Pressure is a six-part British Broadcasting Company (BBC) News Online series looking at some of the most pressing environmental issues facing the human race today. The series takes a ...
Modeling Your Water Balance part of SERC Web Resource Collection
This activity sheet (PDF download) allows students to create a physical model illustrating the soil water balance using glasses to represent the soil column. They use data from the GLOBE Data Server ...
Diurnal Temperature Changes and Water Vapor Content part of SERC Web Resource Collection
In this activity, students will examine data for air temperature and dewpoint temperature for two different days at the same station to understand how moisture in the air affects the diurnal ...
Water Vapor Circulation on Earth part of SERC Web Resource Collection
Water vapor plays an important role in the water cycle and in the distribution of heat around the planet. By observing the movement of water vapor, scientists can study global wind patterns and the ...
Earth in Motion: Seasons part of SERC Web Resource Collection
Earth's orbit around the Sun, together with the tilt of its axis, results in periodic climate changes around the globe known as seasons. Different locations experience different types of climate ...
Corriolis Model Instructions part of SERC Web Resource Collection
This VPython model of the coriolis force is interactive and allows users to change parameters, modeling the motion of a marble fired across a rotating turntable. The motion can be viewed as an ...
Examine infrared images that show variation in surface temperature part of SERC Web Resource Collection
Find a somewhat blurry Flash animation exhibiting five years worth of surface average temperatures. Note seasonal land/water temperature contrasts. The animation can be paused and rewound to ...
The Melting of the Grinnell Glacier, Glacier National Park part of SERC Web Resource Collection
In this activity, students investigate the retreat of Grinnel Glacier in Glacier National Park, Montana. Using a map, aerial photos, and temperature data, they will estimate and graph its rate of ...
Climate Status Investigations (CSI) part of SERC Web Resource Collection
The Keystone Center's curriculum website has over 65 lessons developed to introduce middle and high school teachers and their students to the topic of climate change and to provide new ways of ...
NSTA :: Climate Change From Pole to Pole: Biology Investigations part of SERC Web Resource Collection
This website provides information and the ability to purchase the NSTA book: Climate Change from Pole to Pole: Biology Investigations. The book contains six researched and field-tested activities, ...
Extinctions: Cycles Of Life and Death Through Time part of SERC Web Resource Collection
As part of the Hooper Virtual Paleontological Museum this site provides a detailed summary of extinction events throughout time, hypotheses for their causes and the long-term implications of such ...
Climate Timeline: And Beyond part of SERC Web Resource Collection
This site contains a diverse suite of information about paleoclimates and climate science. An interactive time scale is provided with links to discussions, summaries, references and numerous other ...
