Byrd Polar Research Center Climate Model Simulation

This set of animations and interactive simulations from the Byrd Polar Research Center at Ohio State University helps students develop an understanding of models used to understand the Earth system. Students consider the types of data that need to be included in a climate model, looking at inputs, outputs, and variables. The animations show how data is calculated for grid cells and assembled into a comprehensive model.

Material Type: Simulation

Authors: Byrd Polar Research Center, Ohio State University

C-ROADS: World Climate Simulator

C-ROADS is a simplified version of a climate simulator. Its primary purpose is to help users understand the long-term climate effects (CO2 concentrations, global temperature, sea level rise) of various customized actions to reduce fossil fuel CO2 emissions, reduce deforestation, and grow more trees. Students can ask multiple, customized what-if questions and understand why the system reacts as it does.

Material Type: Simulation

Author: Climate Interactive

Capturing Carbon

This PBS video shows how Klaus Lackner, a geophysicist at Columbia University, is trying to tackle the problem of rising atmospheric CO2 levels by using an idea inspired by his daughter's 8th-grade science fair project. The video examines the idea of pulling CO2 out of the atmosphere via a passive chemical process.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Nova Science Now

Car Quest

In this activity, students will determine the environmental effects of existing cars and a fleet consisting of their dream cars. They compute how many tons of heat-trapping gases are produced each year, how much it costs to fuel the cars, and related information. Then, students research and prepare a report about greener transportation choices.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Carbon Dioxide Exercise

In this activity, students work in groups, plotting carbon dioxide concentrations over time on overheads and estimating the rate of change over five years. Stacked together, the overheads for the whole class show an increase on carbon dioxide over five years and annual variation driven by photosynthesis. This exercise enables students to practice basic quantitative skills and understand how important sampling intervals can be when studying changes over time. A goal is to see how small sample size may give incomplete picture of data.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Randy Richardson, SERC - Starting Point Collection

Carbon Dioxide - Sources and Sinks

In this lab activity, students use a chemical indicator (bromothymol blue) to detect the presence of carbon dioxide in animal and plant respiration and in the burning of fossil fuels and its absence in the products of plant photosynthesis. After completing the five parts of this activity, students compare the colors of the chemical indicator in each part and interpret the results in terms of the qualitative importance of carbon sinks and sources.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Carbon Sequestration in Campus Trees

In this activity, students use a spreadsheet to calculate the net carbon sequestration in a set of trees; they will utilize an allometric approach based upon parameters measured on the individual trees. They determine the species of trees in the set, measure trunk diameter at a particular height, and use the spreadsheet to calculate carbon content of the tree using forestry research data.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Robert S. Cole, Spreadsheets Across the Curruculum; Washington Center; Science Education Resource Center (SERC)

Car of the Future

In this activity, student teams research and develop a proposal to decrease the carbon footprint of their city's/town's public transportation system and then prepare a report that explains why their transportation plan is the best for their community.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Jeff Lockwood, NOVA Teachers

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

This activity engages learners in exploring the impact of climate change on arctic sea ice in the Bering Sea. They graph and analyze sea ice extent data, conduct a lab on thermal expansion of water, and then observe how a scientist collects long-term data on a bird population.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Full Course

Authors: Alaska SeaGrant, Alaska Seas and Rivers Curriculum

Changes Ahoof: Could Climate Change Affect Arctic Caribou?

Students run a simplified computer model to explore how climate conditions can affect caribou, the most abundant grazing animal in the Arctic.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Changes in Our Local Environment

In this activity, students research changes to the environment in the Arctic/Bering Sea over time using oral and photographic histories. Developed for Alaska Native students, this activity can be customized for other regions.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Alaska Sea Grant, Alaska Seas and Rivers Curriculum

Changes in global average surface temperature, global average sea level, and northern hemisphere snow cover

Key figure from the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report that shows changes in global average surface temperature, global average sea level, and Northern Hemisphere snow cover from as far back as 1850.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) AR4 Synthesis Report

The Changing Geographic Distribution of Malaria with Global Climate Warming

This activity engages students in the analysis of climate data to first find areas in the southern United States that are now close to having conditions in which the malaria parasite and its mosquito hosts thrive and then attempt to forecast when areas might become climatically suitable.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Carleton College, Kendra Murray, Mary Savina, SERC Teaching Quantitative Skills in the Geosciences Collection

Changing Planet: Thawing Permafrost and Methane

This video examines the thawing of permafrost due to changes in climate and shows examples of the impacts that warming temperatures have on permafrost in the Arctic, including the release of the greenhouse gas methane. Dramatic results are shown, including sink holes forming on the landscape and beneath buildings, roads, and other infrastructure, causing some communities to relocate.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: NBC Learn, UCAR

Charting Temperature Changes

In this activity, students chart temperature changes over time in Antarctica's paleoclimate history by reading rock cores. Students use their data to create an interactive display illustrating how Antarctica's climate timeline can be interpreted from ANDRILL rock cores.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Antarctica's Climate Secrets: Project Andrill, LuAnn Dahlman

Clean Coal?

This video and accompanying essay examine ways to reduce the environmental impact of burning coal. Two technologies are discussed: turning solid coal into a clean-burning fuel gas (syngas), and capture and storage of CO2.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Teachers' Domain, WGBH - PBS

Climate Around the World

This activity introduces students to global climate patterns by having each student collect information about the climate in a particular region of the globe. After collecting information, students share data through posters in class and consider factors that lead to differences in climate in different parts of the world. Finally, students synthesize the information to see how climate varies around the world.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Cindy Shellito, SERC Cutting Edge

Climate Change and Arctic Ecosystems

In this activity, students learn about how climate change is affecting the Arctic ecosystem and then investigate how this change is impacting polar bear populations. Students analyze maps of Arctic sea ice, temperature graphs, and polar bear population data to answer questions about the impact of climate change on the Arctic ecosystem.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Project Activities for Conceptualizing Climate and Climate Change, Purdue University

Climate Change and Citizen Science

This animation describes how citizen observations can document the impact of climate change on plants and animals. It introduces the topic of phenology and data collection, the impact of climate change on phenology, and how individuals can become citizen scientists.

Material Type: Simulation

Climate Change and Disease

In this activity, students research the relationship between hosts, parasites, and vectors for common vector-borne diseases (VBDs) and evaluate how climate change could affect the spread of disease.

Material Type: Activity/Lab