Carbon Through Time: Legacy of Energy vs. Environment part of Integrate:Program Design:InTeGrate Program Models:University of Northern Colorado:Activities
Students collect and analyze geological and biological materials for carbon content in order to investigate carbon through time. Implications for energy production now and in the future are explored in the context of carbon cycling in the oceans, the atmosphere, and the geosphere.

Using the pH Scale and Carbonic Acid Formation to Understand the Effect of Ocean Acidification on Organisms with Calcium Carbonate Shells. part of Integrate:Workshops and Webinars:Teaching about Risk and Resilience:Activities
In this lab activity students use the pH scale and the reaction of carbon dioxide with water to understand ocean acidification and make predictions regarding the effect of ocean acidification on marine organisms by experimentally determining the effect of pH of calcite dissolution.

The Earth System during Interglacials part of Activities
Students use a simplified climate model to understand how Earth's climate responds to greenhouse gas and orbital forcing with an emphasis on the last interglacial period. Students use the changes in climate to ...

Visual Story-Telling Project for Grades 6-12 part of Climate Education in an Age of Media:Use Student Media Production:Activities
Students will learn how to use a sequence of images to illustrate the difference between sequestering and emitting carbon.

Beetles, Mammals, and Plants: Is Climate Driving Range Shifts Since the Last Glacial Maximum part of Neotoma:Teaching Activities
In this exercise, students will use the Neotoma database and ArcGIS Online to create a distribution map of modern collection localities of beetle taxa associated with an assemblage of fossil beetles from the Conklin Quarry site in eastern Iowa. a data rich exercise to help students discover how organisms move in response to climate change

Species distributions in response to environmental gradients in the Upper Midwest of the United States - an example using the Neotoma database part of Neotoma:Teaching Activities
Pollen and ostracode records are used here to examine the migration of a major ecotone (transition zone between two biomes) in the Northern Midwest known as the prairie-forest border. Using the Neotoma database, we can explore the modern geographic distribution of prairie and forest vegetation (represented by pollen data) and of saline and freshwater lakes (represented by ostracodes, microscopic aquatic crustaceans) and then track the shifting boundary of the prairie forest border over the most recent 12,000 years using a lake sediment core.

What are the ecological consequences of trophic downgrading in mixed/short grass prairies in North America? part of Neotoma:Teaching Activities
North American ecosystems have fundamentally changed over the late Pleistocene and Holocene; from a system dominated by mammoths, to bison, to domestic livestock. Given the very different body size and herd formation of these 'ecosystem engineers', it is likely that animals influence soil structure, water tables, vegetation and other animals in the ecosystems. What has been the ecological influence of the continued 'downsizing' of the largest animals in the ecosystem?

Advanced exploration of the ecological consequences of trophic downgrading in mixed/short grass prairies in North America part of Neotoma:Teaching Activities
North American ecosystems have fundamentally changed over the late Pleistocene and Holocene; from a system dominated by mammoths, to bison, to domestic livestock. Given the very different body size and herd formation of these 'ecosystem engineers', it is likely that animals influence soil structure, water tables, vegetation and other animals in the ecosystems. What has been the ecological influence of the continued 'downsizing' of the largest animals in the ecosystem?

Mapping a Local Dune Field and Estimating Paleowind Speed and Direction part of NAGT:Our Work:Past Projects:Teaching in the Field:Field Trip Collection
Donald T. Rodbell, Union College Intended Audience: Undergraduate geomorphology course. Location: Pinebush dune field, eastern New York State (approximately 20 minutes from Union College campus). Summary: We visit ...

One day it is too hot and other days it is too cold. Do we need to replace the HVAC system? part of SISL:2012 Sustainability in Math Workshop:Activities
This project will allow students to create a mathematical model to help in making decision about replacing HVAC units on a large scale.

Lab 6: Future of the Cryosphere part of EarthLabs for Educators:Climate and the Cryosphere
The lab activity described here was developed by Erin Bardar and Sarah Hill of TERC and Betsy Youngman for the EarthLabs project. Summary and Learning Objectives In this culminating activity, students will ...

Lab 7: Future of the Cryosphere part of EarthLabs for Educators:Climate and the Cryosphere
The lab activity described here was developed by Erin Bardar of TERC for the EarthLabs project. Investigation Summary and Learning Objectives In this culminating activity, students contemplate what the future ...

Lab 2: Earth's Frozen Oceans part of EarthLabs for Educators:Climate and the Cryosphere
The lab activity described here was developed by Erin Bardar of TERC for the EarthLabs project. Summary and Learning Objectives In Part A, students will learn about how sea ice forms and influences ocean currents ...

Lab 3: Land Ice part of EarthLabs for Educators:Climate and the Cryosphere
The lab activity described here was developed by Erin Bardar of TERC for the EarthLabs project. Summary and Learning Objectives In the first part of this lab, students will learn about how glaciers form and the ...

Introducing the economic concept of 'tragedy of the commons' using global warming part of Integrate:Program Design:InTeGrate Program Models:Gustavus Adolphus:Teaching Activities
This one-day module for an introductory economics class uses global warming as an example of 'the tragedy of the commons' principle.

Natural Hazards & Climate Change Risks part of Service Learning:Activities
× Students characterize how climate change impacts natural hazards and pose research-based solutions to the county Emergency Management Agency. Presentations require the use of local data, created figures, ...

Global Warming in 5 Steps part of Oceanography:Activities
Scientists say the planet is warming because of human activities, namely the greenhouse effect from carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere when burning fossil fuels. But, how do we know? How do scientists know? ...

Effectively engaging with climate skeptics part of Oceanography:Activities
One of my persistent challenges as a climate scientist involves friendly conversations with my extended (climate skeptic) family over the Thanksgiving table, as I try to inform and guide their perceptions about ...

Atmospheric Carbon: Can We Offset the Increase? part of Oceanography:Activities
This activity lets students discover first hand how the big issues in climate change -- here, the increase in atmospheric CO2 and the utility of carbon offsets -- can be understood through measurement, application ...

A Monarchy Deposed: The Demise of the Monarch Butterfly part of SISL:2012 Sustainability in Math Workshop:Activities
Monarch butterflies (scientific name: Danaus plexippus) migrate annually to forests in central Mexico from Canada and California. Those surviving the 1200 - 2800 mile migration overwinter in Mexico. In this activity, students will learn about the conservation biology of monarch butterflies, threats to their survival, the implications of their potential extinction, and ways to protect the species.