Teaching Activities

Cheryl Manning
In this activity, students develop concept maps of the carbon cycle through a die-rolling game that simulates carbon reservoirs and fluxes. By the end of this activity, students should be able to ...

Grade Level: Middle (6-8), High School (9-12)
Online Readiness: Online Adaptable
Resource Type: Activities: Activities
Subject: Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change, Biology:Biogeochemistry, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology , Climate Change
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Scientific Consensus: A Tsunami of Evidence part of CLEAN Collection

https://ncse.ngo/scientific-consensus

This is the first lesson in a series of 6 lessons about climate change from the National Center for Science Education. The 'Tsunami of Evidence' module directly addresses common ...

Grade Level: Middle (6-8), College Upper (15-16), College Lower (13-14), High School (9-12)
Online Readiness: Online Adaptable, Online Ready
Resource Type: Activities: Activities
Subject: Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Greenhouse gas emissions, Natural causes, Impacts of climate change, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Anthropogenic causes, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change:Impacts of climate change, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology , Climate Change:Anthropogenic causes, Natural causes, Greenhouse gas emissions
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Back to the Future: Climate Edition part of CLEAN Collection

https://ncse.ngo/past-vs-present-climate-change

This activity engages students through an exploration using real data of paleoclimate proxies, such as ice cores, tree rings, and sedimentary analysis that provide evidence for past climates.

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14), College Upper (15-16), High School (9-12)
Online Readiness: Online Ready, Online Adaptable
Resource Type: Activities: Activities
Subject: Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Global change modeling, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Paleoclimate records, Natural causes, Anthropogenic causes, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change:Anthropogenic causes, Global change modeling, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change:Natural causes, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology :Orbital patterns, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change:Paleoclimate records, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

PPM: The Impact of Trace Elements in the Environment part of CLEAN Collection

https://climate.earthathome.org/parts-per-million/

Alexandra Moore
This resource from the Paleontological Research Institute includes a worksheet, videos, and hands on experiments to demonstrate how absorption, reflection, and transmission of light relates to the ...

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14), High School (9-12)
Online Readiness: Online Adaptable
Resource Type: Activities: Activities
Subject: Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology , Meteorology:Atmospheric structure and composition, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change:Anthropogenic causes, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change:Greenhouse gas emissions, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Anthropogenic causes, Greenhouse gas emissions, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Photosynthesis: Calculating Biomass and Carbon Storage in Trees part of CLEAN Collection

https://climate.earthathome.org/photosynthesis-calculati...

Alexandra Moore
In this lesson students measure the diameter of trees to determine the biomass of the tree and how much carbon the tree is taking up during photosynthesis.

Grade Level: High School (9-12), Middle (6-8)
Online Readiness: Online Adaptable
Resource Type: Activities: Activities
Subject: Biology:Biogeochemistry, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Climate feedbacks, Impacts of climate change, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change, Climate Change:Impacts of climate change, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology :Climate sensitivity and feedbacks, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology , Climate Change:Climate feedbacks, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate, Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Mitigation of climate change
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Data Puzzle: Tracing Carbon Through the Arctic Food Web part of CLEAN Collection

https://cires.colorado.edu/ceee/resources/data-puzzle-tr...

There are two types of Arctic algae (sea ice and ocean), and components of the Arctic food web are reliant on specific types. In this activity, students explore the food web relationships, and the ...

Grade Level: Middle (6-8), High School (9-12)
Online Readiness: Online Adaptable
Resource Type: Activities: Activities
Subject: Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change, Biology:Biogeochemistry, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change:Impacts of climate change, Environmental Science:Ecosystems, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology , Biology, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Impacts of climate change
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Climate Change in Your Own Backyard part of CLEAN Collection

https://ncse.ngo/local-climate-impacts

National Center for Science Education
In this lesson set, students begin unpacking the complex aspects of climate change by analyzing the global impacts of extreme weather events. After that, they narrow their focus through various ...

Grade Level: High School (9-12)
Online Readiness: Online Ready, Online Adaptable
Resource Type: Activities: Activities
Subject: Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change:Anthropogenic causes, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Anthropogenic causes, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Meteorology:Extreme weather, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology , Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate, Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Impacts of climate change, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change, Environmental Science:Ecosystems, Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Mitigation of climate change, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change:Impacts of climate change, Environmental Science:Natural Hazards:Extreme Weather, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology :Regional climates, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Climate Change Impacts part of CLEAN Collection

https://climate.mit.edu/til-about-climate-impacts-educat...

This comprehensive student and teacher guide from the MIT Climate Portal includes an introductory 10 minute podcast about water and climate change impacts, a water cycle class game, independent ...

Grade Level: Middle (6-8), College Lower (13-14), High School (9-12)
Online Readiness: Online Adaptable, Designed for In-Person
Resource Type: Activities: Activities
Subject: Environmental Science:Water Quality and Quantity, Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Impacts of climate change, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change, Climatology , Climate Change:Impacts of climate change, Geoscience:Hydrology, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Trees, Forests, and Climate Change part of CLEAN Collection

https://climate.mit.edu/til-about-planting-trees-educato...

In this activity, students will learn about and model the carbon cycle. Using data from Global Forest Watch, students investigate regional and global patterns of forest loss, gain, and carbon ...

Grade Level: High School (9-12)
Online Readiness: Online Adaptable
Resource Type: Activities: Activities
Subject: Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Anthropogenic causes, Environmental Science:Land Use and Planning, Forest Resources:Deforestation, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Global change modeling, Mitigation of climate change, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate, Global Change and Climate:Climate Change, Biology:Biogeochemistry, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Climate feedbacks, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change:Climate feedbacks, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology :Climate sensitivity and feedbacks, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change, Climate Change:Anthropogenic causes, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology , Climate Change:Global change modeling
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Data Puzzle: Megadrought in the Colorado River Basin part of CLEAN Collection

https://cires.colorado.edu/outreach/resources/data-puzzl...

Jonathan Griffith
Through this resource from the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), students will define, investigate, and answer questions about what caused the megadrought in the ...

Grade Level: Middle (6-8), High School (9-12)
Online Readiness: Online Ready, Online Adaptable
Resource Type: Activities: Activities
Subject: Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate, Natural Hazards:Extreme Weather, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology , Climate Change:Impacts of climate change, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Meteorology:Extreme weather, Environmental Science:Water Quality and Quantity, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change, Geoscience:Hydrology, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Impacts of climate change, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary