CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
CLEAN: The Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network supports educators in building climate literacy as outlined in the U.S. Climate Change Science Program framework, “Essential Principles of Climate Literacy” by providing a collection of educational resources that facilitate learning about climate issues. The CLEAN collection is a free online database of ~1,000 free, peer-reviewed, and ready-to-use educational resources for teaching elementary, middle, high school, and undergraduate students about climate and energy. The collection contains activities, demonstrations, experiments, visualizations, and videos—everything you need to create data-rich and authentic lessons on climate and energy. Climate and energy topics include the climate system, causes of climate change, measuring and modeling climate, impacts of climate change, human responses and solutions to climate change, energy use, mental health, environmental justice, and many more. Resources are rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and pedagogic relevancy, making the CLEAN collection of high enough quality to steward the NOAA Teaching Climate database.
These five short videos are an introduction to the pros and cons …
These five short videos are an introduction to the pros and cons of energy issues, including cost, choices, efficiency, environmental impact, and scale. The videos are segments of a feature documentary entitled, Switch: Discover the Future of Energy.
This online activity challenges students to design a renewable energy system for …
This online activity challenges students to design a renewable energy system for one of five different cities, each with different energy resource potential and budgets. Students can test their designs using real-time weather data in each city.
This activity challenges students to try and meet the world's projected energy …
This activity challenges students to try and meet the world's projected energy demand over the next century, decade by decade, by manipulating a menu of available energy sources in the online Energy lab simulator all while keeping atmospheric CO2 under a target 550ppm.
This video is a segment from the Switch Energy Project focusing on …
This video is a segment from the Switch Energy Project focusing on energy security. Switch Energy Project is a multi-pronged effort designed to build a balanced national understanding of energy.
This video provides an introduction to benefits and limitations of many sources …
This video provides an introduction to benefits and limitations of many sources of energy including fossil fuels, nuclear, hydro, wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. It also discusses hydrogen and hybrid cars.
This visualization includes a series of flow charts showing the relative size …
This visualization includes a series of flow charts showing the relative size of primary energy resources and end uses in the United States for the years 2008-2012.
In this activity learners work in pairs or small groups to evaluate …
In this activity learners work in pairs or small groups to evaluate energy use in their school and make recommendations for improved efficiency. Students create and use an energy audit tool to collect data and present recommendations to their class. Further communication at the school and district level is encouraged.
An activity focusing on black carbon. This activity explores the impacts of …
An activity focusing on black carbon. This activity explores the impacts of the use of black carbon generating wood, dung, and charcoal for fuel in developing countries.
In this activity, students compare countries and nation states with high- and …
In this activity, students compare countries and nation states with high- and low-energy consumption rates within a specific region of the world. Students are encouraged to draw linkages between a country's energy culture and its position in multilateral climate negotiations.
This activity introduces students to different forms of energy, energy transformations, energy …
This activity introduces students to different forms of energy, energy transformations, energy storage, and the flow of energy through systems. Students learn that most energy can be traced back to nuclear fusion on the sun.
This long classroom activity introduces students to a climate modeling software. Students …
This long classroom activity introduces students to a climate modeling software. Students visualize how temperature and snow coverage might change over the next 100 years. They run a 'climate simulation' to establish a baseline for comparison, do a 'experimental' simulation and compare the results. Students will then choose a region of their own interest to explore and compare the results with those documented in the IPCC impact reports. Students will gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the process and power of climate modeling.
These flow charts show carbon dioxide emissions for each state, the District …
These flow charts show carbon dioxide emissions for each state, the District of Columbia and the entire United States. Emissions are distinguished by energy source and end use.
This Energy Flow Charts website is a set of energy Sankey diagrams …
This Energy Flow Charts website is a set of energy Sankey diagrams or flow charts for 136 countries constructed from data maintained by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and reflects the energy use patterns for 2007.
Sankey (or Spaghetti) diagrams parse out the energy flow by state, based …
Sankey (or Spaghetti) diagrams parse out the energy flow by state, based on 2008 data from the Dept. of Energy. These diagrams can help bring a local perspective to energy consumption. The estimates include rejected or lost energy but don't necessarily include losses at the ultimate user end that are due to lack of insulation.
This is a static visualization, referenced from a UNEP rapid response assessment …
This is a static visualization, referenced from a UNEP rapid response assessment report entitled In Dead Water, depicting the estimated contributions to sea-level rise from 1993 - 2003.
This is a semester-long jigsaw project in which students work in teams …
This is a semester-long jigsaw project in which students work in teams to explore the effects of energy resource development on local water resources, economics, and society. Students are presented with a contemporary energy resource development issue being debated in their community. They research the water, geological, economic, and social impact of the project, and then either defend or support the development proposal.
In this activity, students make a model sea floor sediment core using …
In this activity, students make a model sea floor sediment core using two types of buttons to represent fossil diatoms. They then compare the numbers of diatom fossils in the sediment at different depths to determine whether the seas were free of ice while the diatoms were alive.
In this video scientists discuss possible rates of sea level rise, storms …
In this video scientists discuss possible rates of sea level rise, storms and resulting damage, rising temperatures and melting ice, and their collective effects on ecosystems.
In this lesson, students complete a Myers-Briggs Type Inventory of their personality …
In this lesson, students complete a Myers-Briggs Type Inventory of their personality type as an introductory step to understanding what green jobs might suit their personal styles. From the information on this online tool, they look at different green jobs to explore possible careers.
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