Teaching Activities

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

Thermal Expansion Model part of CLEAN Collection

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/thermal-expa...

Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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 ...

Grade Level: College Upper (15-16), High School (9-12), Middle (6-8), College Lower (13-14)
Resource Type: Activities: Activities:Lab Activity
Subject: Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Impacts of climate change, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate, Geoscience:Oceanography, Atmospheric Science:Climate Change:Impacts of climate change, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology , Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Sea Level Change
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Living Landscapes: Assessing Climate Change Impacts on Fish part of CLEAN Collection

https://www.skclivinglandscapes.org/alaska_arctic/Labs_T...

Interactive map tool to assess how rising stream temperatures could affect native fish of the Northwest. Lesson concepts include the relationship between water temperatures, dissolved oxygen levels ...

Grade Level: High School (9-12), College Lower (13-14), College Upper (15-16)
Online Readiness: Online Ready
Resource Type: Activities: Activities
Subject: Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change:Impacts of climate change, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology , Biology, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Impacts of climate change, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate, Ecosystems
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Eyes on the Hydrosphere: Tracking Water Resources part of CLEAN Collection

https://serc.carleton.edu/getsi/teaching_materials/water...

Jonathan Harvey, Rebecca Walker
This module introduces students to the basics of the hydrologic cycle in a way that engages them with both societal challenges related to water and methods for measuring the water system. In the ...

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14), College Upper (15-16), High School (9-12)
Online Readiness: Online Ready
Resource Type: Activities: Activities
Subject: Geoscience:Hydrology, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Impacts of climate change, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology , Climate Change:Impacts of climate change, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change, Environmental Science:Water Quality and Quantity
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Understanding Climate Modeling part of CLEAN Collection

https://ncse.ngo/climate-models

National Center for Science Education
This lesson plan is the second in a series of 6 modules on climate change. This lesson plan defines common vocabulary such as model, trend, projection, prediction, weather, and climate. Students will ...

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

Lessons in Sea-Level Rise part of CLEAN Collection

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/the-science-...

Jet Propulsion laboratory
This activity allows students to examine graphs of sea level rise data as well as global temperature data. They calculate amounts and rates of sea level rise for various time periods and answer ...

Grade Level: High School (9-12), College Lower (13-14), Middle (6-8), College Upper (15-16)
Resource Type: Activities: Activities
Subject: Geoscience:Oceanography, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Impacts of climate change, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Sea Level Change, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology , Climate Change, Climate Change:Impacts of climate change, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Educator Guide: Lab 1- Launching an Expedition part of CLEAN Collection

https://serc.carleton.edu/trex/labs/lab1_launch.html

Nicole Davi, Pat Pringle, Frank Wattenberg
Students are charged with thinking about what it takes to 'do science'. They are introduced to the science of dendrochronology and learn how tree-ring science is executed.

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

Met 101: Basic Weather Processes part of CLEAN Collection

https://www.meted.ucar.edu/mobile/moddescription.php?id=...

The COMET Program
This activity is an overview of basic weather processes, starting with incoming solar radiation and how that establishes basic atmospheric processes.

Grade Level: High School (9-12), College Upper (15-16), College Lower (13-14)
Online Readiness: Online Adaptable
Resource Type: Activities: Activities
Subject: Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology :Solar radiation, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology , Geoscience:Oceanography:Ocean-Climate Interactions, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Meteorology:Atmospheric circulation, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology :Atmospheric and oceanic circulation
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Direct Air Capture and The Future of Climate Change part of CLEAN Collection

https://chemistryshorts.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/D...

Short Films About Chemistry
This activity engages students with the concept of Direct Air Capture. Students watch an engaging film, participate in a reading and writing activity, and then model carbon dioxide ...

Grade Level: High School (9-12), College Lower (13-14), College Upper (15-16)
Online Readiness: Designed for In-Person
Resource Type: Activities: Activities
Subject: Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change, Meteorology:Atmospheric structure and composition, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Mitigation of climate change, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary

Absorption by atmospheric gases of incoming and outgoing radiation part of CLEAN Collection

https://cleanet.org/clean/community/activities/c4.html

Sara Harris, University of British Columbia
In this activity, students use the absorption spectra of greenhouse gases to explore the nature of the greenhouse effect.

Grade Level: College Lower (13-14), College Upper (15-16), High School (9-12)
Resource Type: Activities: Activities
Subject: Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climate Change:Greenhouse effect, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology , Climate Change, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate:Climate Change:Greenhouse effect, Environmental Science:Global Change and Climate, Global Change and Climate:Climate Change, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Climatology :Global energy balance, Geoscience:Atmospheric Science:Meteorology:Atmospheric structure and composition
Activity Review: Peer Reviewed as Exemplary