Updating search results...

Science of Climate for High School

A collection of resources for high school students to learn about the life science aspects of the climate and climate change.

184 affiliated resources

Search Resources

View
Selected filters:
Attacks on a Protective Canopy
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

This is a photo essay linked to a New York Times story about climate-related stressors on forests -- including mountain pine beetles, forest fires, forest clearance, and ice storms -- and the importance of protecting forests as an important carbon sink.

Subject:
Applied Science
Biology
Career and Technical Education
Ecology
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Life Science
Physical Science
Material Type:
Diagram/Illustration
Reading
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Josh Haner
The New York Times
Date Added:
05/15/2012
Baking the Breadbasket: Persistent Drought in the Heartland
Read the Fine Print
Rating
0.0 stars

In this video, NOAA's Deke Arndt, Chief of the Climate Monitoring Branch at the National Climatic Data Center, recaps the temperature and precipitation data for the continental US in summer 2012. It describes how these conditions have led to drought and reduced crop yields.

Subject:
Agriculture
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Physical Science
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Deke Arndt
NOAA
Date Added:
09/24/2018
Beetle Outbreaks and Climate Change
Read the Fine Print
Rating
0.0 stars

This interactive shows the extent of the killing of lodgepole pine trees in western Canada. The spread of pine beetle throughout British Columbia has devastated the lodgepole pine forests there. This animation shows the spread of the beetle and the increasing numbers of trees affected from 1999-2008 and predicts the spread up until 2015.

Subject:
Life Science
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
American Museum of Natural History
Date Added:
10/27/2014
Bending the Curve: Mitigating Climate Change
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

The goal of this unit is for students to gain an awareness of several potential ways to mitigate climate change. Many climate solutions exist, are in use, and can be expanded in scale. Students will examine solutions from Bending the Curve, explore carbon sequestration by trees, coastal wetland restoration, and food waste reduction in more detail. They will propose three (3) realistic solutions that could happen at an individual, school, or community scale that would assist in mitigating climate change.

Subject:
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Environmental Science
Physical Science
Material Type:
Unit of Study
Provider:
U.C. San Diego
Provider Set:
Climate Champions
Date Added:
04/27/2022
Bering Sea Expedition
Unrestricted Use
CC BY
Rating
0.0 stars

Learners research the effects of melting sea ice in the Bering Sea Ecosystem. They create research proposals to earn a place on the scientific research vessel Healy and present their findings and proposals to a Research Board committee.

Subject:
Agriculture
Applied Science
Biology
Career and Technical Education
Ecology
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Life Science
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Alaska Sea Grant
Alaska Seas and Rivers Curriculum
Date Added:
06/19/2012
The Big Melt
Read the Fine Print
Rating
0.0 stars

This is a collection of five short videos that show how climate change is affecting fishing, native populations and access for the oil and gas industry in the Arctic. The videos include personal reflections by writers Andrew C. Revkin and Simon Romero, scientists, and residents about their experience of the impacts of the climate change in the Arctic.

Subject:
Applied Science
Career and Technical Education
Ecology
Economics
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Life Science
Oceanography
Physical Science
Social Science
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Andrew C Revkin
Simon Romero
The New York Times
Date Added:
09/24/2018
'The Blob' - The Story of the Pacific Heatwave
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

This video explores the affect on seabirds of a three year ocean warming event (2013-16) in the NW Pacific. With ocean warming, a massive die off occurred based on the decline of food resources.

Subject:
Applied Science
Biology
Career and Technical Education
Ecology
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Life Science
Physical Science
Material Type:
Diagram/Illustration
Reading
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Ascentios
Ben M. Collins
Date Added:
11/29/2020
C-ROADS: World Climate Simulator
Unrestricted Use
CC BY
Rating
0.0 stars

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.

Subject:
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Career and Technical Education
Ecology
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Life Science
Oceanography
Physical Science
Material Type:
Simulation
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Climate Interactive
Date Added:
06/19/2012
Calculation of your personal carbon footprint
Conditional Remix & Share Permitted
CC BY-NC-SA
Rating
0.0 stars

Prior to assigning this activity in lecture, students gather information about their personal energy consumption so that they can calculate their personal carbon footprint. Specifically they need to determine the gas mileage of their vehicle, the average number of miles they drive in a month, and bring to class an electric bill and a natural gas bill from their apartment. I provide the appropriate information for students living in dorms. Their task during the class period is to assemble this information and calculate how much carbon their activities are responsible for generating. Once this portion of the assignment is complete, they investigate options for reducing their carbon emissions and the costs of those options. The pros and cons of carbon-reduction strategies form the basis for the class discussion. Lastly, students are asked to brain storm a list of potential carbon sources that are not included in this simple exercise, such as the carbon required to make the things we buy (computers, edible dinosaurs, q-tips, etc.).

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Subject:
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Biology
Environmental Science
Life Science
Mathematics
Measurement and Data
Physical Science
Statistics and Probability
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:
Teach the Earth
Author:
Scott Giorgis
Date Added:
09/11/2020
The Carbon Cycle Game
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

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 describe and explain how the carbon cycle has changed in the last 250 years.

Subject:
Applied Science
Biology
Career and Technical Education
Chemistry
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Geology
Life Science
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Cheryl Manning
The National Association of Geoscience Teachers
Date Added:
06/27/2022
Carbon Cycle Role-Play
Read the Fine Print
Rating
0.0 stars

Students will learn that there is a finite amount of carbon on earth, which moves around in the environment, from one place to another. Activity is scaleable from elementary to high school with options to introduce advanced content. Wrap up includes role playing the carbon cycle with the addition of human influences (e.g. burning of fossil fuels). Activity can be done in classroom or outside, includes working in a group and role playing. Grades 3-12. This resources is part of the Our Changing Ocean and Estuaries Series

Subject:
Biology
Life Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
California Academy of Sciences
Author:
California Academy of Sciences
Date Added:
04/30/2012
The Carbon Cycle and its Role in Climate Change
Read the Fine Print
Rating
0.0 stars

In this activity, students use a physical model to learn the basics of photosynthesis and respiration within the carbon cycle.

Subject:
Biology
Career and Technical Education
Chemistry
Environmental Studies
Geology
Life Science
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
United States Global Research Program
Date Added:
11/07/2012
Carbon Dioxide, Shell Building, and Ocean Acidification
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

This interactive visualization explains the chemical relationship between carbon dioxide, shell building, and ocean acidification.

Subject:
Applied Science
Biology
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Life Science
Physical Science
Material Type:
Reading
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Date Added:
07/09/2021
Carbon Footprint Exercise
Conditional Remix & Share Permitted
CC BY-NC-SA
Rating
0.0 stars

Step 1. Students are asked to keep track of their energy use from a variety of sources (heating/cooling, electricity, transportation, secondary emissions, etc) during the 9 days of Thanksgiving break, when many of them are likely to travel. They use the total for the 9 days that they calculated using an online calculator to estimate their yearly footprint and compare it to US and world averages. For most of them, the amount of carbon emitted during those 9 days is quite large because of airplane travel or long-distance driving. However, using a week of break when many students will travel allows them to become aware of the significance of transportation in carbon emissions. We provided a table with electricity and heating/cooling bills for various residence halls for students who stay on campus during the break.

Step 2. Students complete an online survey where they are asked to enter the values that they have obtained for the various components of the calculator, perform some simple calculations and compare their annual footprint to the U.S. average. We used SurveyGizmo for the survey because it allows to download the data in a spreadsheet format and has some limited plotting features. The free version allows a maximum of 250 submissions, the Basic version ($19 per month, can be canceled at any time) has unlimited submissions.
Step 3. Students write an essay through BlackBoard/WebCT (Assignment). A few guiding questions are provided for this essay where students reflect on the results of their impact on the global carbon budget, what they found surprising, and if they plan to make any changes to their lifestyle to limit their impact. No length limit is set for the essay.

The guidelines and components of this assignment are available on a wiki page. The three steps can be implemented in BlackBoard/WebCT as a Lesson Plan with links to the online calculator (step 1), to the survey (step 2), and to the Assignment/essay (step 3).

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Subject:
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Biology
Environmental Science
Life Science
Physical Science
Political Science
Social Science
Material Type:
Lesson Plan
Provider:
Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College
Provider Set:
Teach the Earth
Author:
Cinzia Cervato
Date Added:
11/04/2021
Carbonated Communities
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

This series of two lessons uses cutting-edge scientific research on the effects of climate change on communities in the intertidal. Through a combination of a dynamic presentation and several videos, students are introduced to the effects of climate change on the ocean (ocean acidification and temperature increase) and what is known about how ocean organisms are affected. Then students read and interpret graphs and construct a scientific explanation based on data from this research.

Subject:
Applied Science
Career and Technical Education
Ecology
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Life Science
Oceanography
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Lacey Moore
Shape of Life, Sea Studios Foundation
Date Added:
03/02/2020
Changes in Hardiness Zones
Read the Fine Print
Rating
0.0 stars

This animation illustrates how the hardiness zones for plants have changed between 1990 and 2006 based data from 5,000 National Climatic Data Center cooperative stations across the continental United States.

Subject:
Agriculture
Applied Science
Biology
Career and Technical Education
Ecology
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Life Science
Physical Science
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Arbor Day Foundation
Date Added:
09/24/2018
Changing Planet: Adaptation of Butterflies
Read the Fine Print
Rating
0.0 stars

This video addresses the impact of climate change on several butterfly populations. Warming temperatures lead to shifts in location of populations of butterflies or die-offs of populations unable to adapt to changing conditions or shift to new locations.

Subject:
Applied Science
Biology
Career and Technical Education
Ecology
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Life Science
Physical Science
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
National Earth Science Teachers Association
Windows to the Universe/NBC Learn
Date Added:
09/24/2018
Changing Planet: Fading Corals
Read the Fine Print
Rating
0.0 stars

This video provides a comprehensive introduction to the role of coral reefs, the physiology of corals, and the impacts of ocean warming and acidification on coral survival. It highlights experts from the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences and the University of Miami.

Subject:
Applied Science
Biology
Career and Technical Education
Ecology
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Life Science
Physical Science
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
NBC Learn/Windows to the Universe
Date Added:
09/24/2018
Changing Planet: Infectious Diseases
Read the Fine Print
Rating
0.0 stars

This video illustrates conditions under which two infectious diseases - cholera and dengue fever - flourish, and how climate change is likely to exacerbate those conditions. Note: you may need to scroll down the Changing Planet video page to get to this video.

Subject:
Applied Science
Biology
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Life Science
Physical Science
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
NBC Learn
Windows to the Universe
Date Added:
09/24/2018
Changing Planet: Warming Lakes
Read the Fine Print
Rating
0.0 stars

The video addresses impact of warming temperatures on major lakes of the world with specific focus on Lake Superior and Lake Tanganyika. It discusses the science of water stratification and its impact on lake ecosystems and on human populations whose livelihoods depend on the lakes.

Subject:
Applied Science
Career and Technical Education
Ecology
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Geoscience
History
History, Law, Politics
Life Science
Physical Science
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
National Earth Science Teachers Association (NESTA)
Windows to the Universe/NBC Learn
Date Added:
10/27/2014