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.
This video documents how scientists, using marine algae, can study climate change …
This video documents how scientists, using marine algae, can study climate change in the past to help understand potential effects of climate change in the future.
This animated slideshow introduces biodiesel as a fuel alternative. With concern about …
This animated slideshow introduces biodiesel as a fuel alternative. With concern about the use of petroleum-based fuels at an all-time high, biodiesel is experiencing a popularity surge. And algaeâotherwise known to some as pond scumâ are grabbing headlines as the next potential biodiesel superstar. But how and why do algae make oil? And why do they make so much of it? In this audio slide show, U.C. Berkeley's Kris Niyogi describes the process and its potential.
This video montage of spectacular NASA satellite images set to music shows …
This video montage of spectacular NASA satellite images set to music shows different types of ice and ice features as well as descriptions of satellite-based measurements of ice cover. Text captioning describes how global ice cover is changing, and how this is measured.
This fuel cell animation demonstrates how a fuel cell uses hydrogen to …
This fuel cell animation demonstrates how a fuel cell uses hydrogen to produce electricity, with only water and heat as byproducts. The animation consists of four parts - an introduction, fuel cell components, chemical process, and fuel cell stack.
In this activity, students consider the impact and sustainability of use of …
In this activity, students consider the impact and sustainability of use of different classes of biofuels on the economy, the environment, and society. Students also learn about bioelectricity and how converting biomass to electricity may be the more efficient way to fuel cars in the 21st century.
Students observe cloud type and coverage, as well as other weather conditions …
Students observe cloud type and coverage, as well as other weather conditions over a five-day period and correlate these observations. Students make and test predictions using these observations.
Students observe, sketch, and describe clouds on their own before learning to …
Students observe, sketch, and describe clouds on their own before learning to identify cloud types by comparing photos of different clouds to their sketches.
In this interactive simulation, students can explore global CO2 emissions displayed by …
In this interactive simulation, students can explore global CO2 emissions displayed by different continents/countries and plotted based on the GDP. A map view is also accessible.
The lesson plan describes activities focusing on the big question, does eating …
The lesson plan describes activities focusing on the big question, does eating locally grown food help reduce your carbon footprint? Many elements are interconnected and function together to create the natural and productive living system that is your garden. At the end of the activity guide there are additional lesson plans, activity guides, and videos that can help you bring together soil, water, habitat, food, and community to explore your dynamic garden ecosystems.
Many elements are interconnected and function together to create the natural and …
Many elements are interconnected and function together to create the natural and productive living system that is your garden. The purpose of this activity guide is to teach students the ecological functions found in any natural system and model how these functions are performed by a natural area like a garden.
This is an activity that uses basic algebra to assess the costs …
This is an activity that uses basic algebra to assess the costs and savings of electric vehicles. It uses math to measure the trade-offs of buying electric versus gas-powered car models.
A board game which engages students as they grapple with the complexities …
A board game which engages students as they grapple with the complexities of society's challenges. It encourages students to cultivate a deep and layered understanding of these challenges and current societal options for producing energy.
In this activity, students learn about the energy sources used by their …
In this activity, students learn about the energy sources used by their local utility provider to generate electricity, and work in small groups to evaluate the sustainability of either a renewable or non-renewable energy source used to generate electricity.
This video describes how geothermal heat resources in California have been tapped …
This video describes how geothermal heat resources in California have been tapped to supply 850 MW of electricity. Images and animations show how the area known as The Geysers has been developed to capture steam, produced from trapped rainwater and heated by the earth. Major challenges include finding suitable geothermal resources to develop, and ensuring that underground water is replenished.
This lab, created by Salish Kootenai College faculty, steps undergraduate students through …
This lab, created by Salish Kootenai College faculty, steps undergraduate students through ordering, accessing, and graphing local precipitation and temperature data.
This is a simulation to explore how climate change will affect a …
This is a simulation to explore how climate change will affect a specific region in the coming decades. Graphs and maps in The Climate Explorer help students understand past, present, and future climate projections for their location.
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