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Climate Science for Middle School

A collection of resources that teach about the scientific aspects of climate change, including both life and earth sciences. Image credit United Nations

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Too Much, Too Little
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This video describes the joint NASA-JAXA GPM (Global Precipitation Measurement) satellite mission and why it is necessary for monitoring precipitation around the Earth. It discusses the science around the hazards of extreme precipitation such as landslides and drought. It emphasizes the value of comprehensive datasets and their ability to help predict natural disasters.

Subject:
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
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:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Date Added:
06/25/2019
A Tour of the Cryosphere 2009
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This video shows some of the most dramatic fluctuations to our cryosphere in recent years, using visuals created with a variety of satellite-based data.

Subject:
Physical Science
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
NASA
NASAexplorer
Date Added:
09/24/2018
Tracking Water Using NASA Satellite Data
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Using real data from NASA's GRACE satellites, students will track water mass changes in the U.S., data that measures changes in ice, surface and especially groundwater. The background information includes an animated video about where water exists and how it moves around Earth, as well as short video clips to introduce the GRACE mission and explain how satellites collect data. Students will estimate water resources using heat-map data, create a line graph for a specific location, then assess trends and discuss implications.

This activity illustrates the importance of water resources and how changes in climate are closely linked to changes in water resources. The activity could fit into many parts of a science curriculum, for example a unit on water could be connected to climate change.

Subject:
Applied Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Hydrology
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Date Added:
06/25/2019
Translating Climate Change into Music
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In this lesson, students collect outdoor observational data to create a song about climate change. Intermediate music students will not only earn a greater appreciation for Alaska, but also for nature. These activities help students to learn how to use sound and sight maps in order to identify aspects of our region in Southeast Alaska. In addition, students learn about the basic concepts of climate change in order to write creative lyrics for songs for the entire school. At the end of the unit, students perform their unique songs in a school wide assembly.

Although written for Alaska, the lesson could easily be adapted for many other locations.

Subject:
Applied Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Angela Mazur
Polar Trec
Date Added:
06/18/2021
Transpiration and Climate Change (Water Cycle, Deforestation, and Climate Change #2)
Conditional Remix & Share Permitted
CC BY-NC
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In this lesson, students learn about transpiration and how transpiration plays a role in cooling cities that experience extreme heat due to climate change.

Step 1 - Inquire: Students explore the idea of transpiration through a hands-on experiment.

Step 2 - Investigate: Students learn about trees' connection to urban heat island.

Step 3 - Inspire: Students create a proposal to improve tree equity in their neighborhoods.

Subject:
Applied Science
Environmental Science
Material Type:
Lesson
Lesson Plan
Provider:
SubjectToClimate
Author:
Mallory Swafford
Date Added:
03/15/2023
Tree Rings: Counting the Years of Global Warming
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This video describes the role that dendrochronology plays in understanding climate change, especially changes to high elevation environments at an upper tree line. Dendrochronologists from the Big Sky Institute sample living and dead trees, describe how correlations between trees are made, and explain how tree cores record climate changes.

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:
Worksyn Productions
Date Added:
09/24/2018
Turning Misinformation into Educational Opportunity Climate Change: Lesson 5 Solutions to Climate Change
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Students analyze complex real-world problems by specifying qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants. This place-based activity discusses multiple strategies to reduce carbon emissions, and realistic paths to preventing climate change.

Subject:
Applied Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
National Center for Science Education
Date Added:
06/25/2019
Tuvalu - Islands on the frontline of climate change
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This narrated slideshow describes the impact of sea level rise on Tuvalu, one of the low-lying island nations in the South Pacific. As the frequency and intensity of floods and cyclones increases, the island is shrinking and saltwater intrusion is affecting local food production on the plantations. As a result, many residents are moving off the island to New Zealand, where they face major cultural changes.

Subject:
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Oceanography
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:
Panos Pictures
panos Prictures
Date Added:
08/29/2012
US Cropland Greenhouse Gas Calculator
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This visualization is a website with an interactive calculator that allows for estimation of greenhouse gas production from croplands in the United States.

Subject:
Atmospheric Science
Physical Science
Material Type:
Simulation
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station
Michigan State University
Date Added:
09/24/2018
U.S. Drought Monitor
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This is a real-time map of current drought conditions in the US, which can be zoomed to the state level, with access to many more resources at that level. Some of these include the National Drought Regional Summaries and animations of historical data.

Subject:
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:
Liz Love-Brotak
National Drought Mitigation Center
Richard Heim
Date Added:
09/24/2018
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Data
Unrestricted Use
Public Domain
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EPA has many data sources available, these cover topics including but not limited to air, climate change, health risks, pollutants and contaminants, waste, and water. The data are downloadable and available through the Environmental Dataset Gateway (EDG). The EDG is a source of Web-based geospatial information and information services. It enables data consumers to discover, view, and access geospatial resources made available by EPA's program offices, regions, and labs.

Subject:
Applied Science
Environmental Science
Material Type:
Data Set
Provider:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Date Added:
03/04/2016
Understanding Global Change Interactive
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Educational Use
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This interactive module allows students and educators to build models that explain how the Earth system works. The Click and Learn application can be used to show how Earth is affected by human activities and natural phenomena.

Subject:
Applied Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Physical Science
Material Type:
Reading
Simulation
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Jessica Bean
Mark Nielsen
University of California Berkeley Museum of Paleontology
Date Added:
03/04/2020
Understanding Sea Level Using Real Data
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This module contains five activities, in increasing complexity, that focus on understanding how to interpret and manipulate sea level data, using real data from NOAA. Students first need to understand how to access and interpret sea surface height and tide data. To understand how to interpret these data, students will review and practice computing mean values. Along the way, they will learn how different factors, such as storms, affect tide levels and how to measure them. The goal is for students to become experienced with these kinds of data and the tools for accessing them so that, by the end of the module, they can continue to explore data sets driven by their own inquiry.

Subject:
Applied Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Oceanography
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Full Course
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
NOAA Data in the Classroom
Date Added:
09/24/2018
Understanding the Mountain Pine Beetle
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This lesson plan has students working in small groups to research the Mountain Pine Beetle in Colorado and other inter-mountain Western states. Students identify the factors that control pine beetle population and research how warmer winters and decreasing spring snowpack allow the population of pine beetles to expand.

Subject:
Geoscience
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Barbara Keith
Cheryl Manning
Jim Moulton
Learnmoreaboutclimate, University of Colorado, Boulder
Melissa Barker
Date Added:
10/27/2014
An Unpredictable Environment
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In this video segment adapted from the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Inuit observers describe how their traditional understanding of weather patterns is being challenged by unpredictable weather behaviors.

Subject:
Applied Science
Ecology
Environmental Science
Forestry and Agriculture
Geoscience
Life Science
Physical Science
Space Science
Material Type:
Lecture
Provider:
PBS LearningMedia
Provider Set:
PBS Learning Media: Multimedia Resources for the Classroom and Professional Development
Author:
National Science Foundation
WGBH Educational Foundation
Date Added:
11/04/2008
Ups and Downs
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In this activity, students examine a pair of satellite images of the ocean and determine whether there is a relationship between the height of ocean waves and the sea level. Data from the two images are plotted side by side and students discuss the reasons for their findings. The resource includes the images and a student worksheet. Summary background information, data and images supporting the activity are available on the Earth Update data site. To complete the activity, students will need to access the Space Update multimedia collection, which is available for download and purchase for use in the classroom.

Subject:
Atmospheric Science
Geoscience
Oceanography
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Diagram/Illustration
Provider:
NASA
Provider Set:
NASA Wavelength
Date Added:
11/05/2014
Using NASA Earth-Observing Satellites to Help Improve Agriculture and Water Usage
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Educational Use
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In this resource, students learn about freshwater resources, how NASA uses satellites to measure precipitation, and how that data can be used in agricultural practices. Students use data from the NASA Global Precipitation Measurement satellite to explore precipitation patterns in two parts of the world and then make recommendations for how to reduce water use in agriculture and in their own lives.

Subject:
Agriculture
Applied Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Hydrology
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Date Added:
07/14/2022
Using the Very, Very Simple Climate Model in the Classroom
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This is a teaching activity in which students learn about the connection between CO2 emissions, CO2 concentration, and average global temperatures. Through a simple online model, students learn about the relationship between these and learn about climate modeling while predicting temperature change over the 21st century.

Subject:
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Career and Technical Education
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Lisa Gardiner
Randy Russell
Windows to the Universe
Date Added:
06/19/2012
Vanishing Island: Sea Level Rise
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This video features interviews with native people living on atoll islands in Micronesia, so viewers are able to understand the real, current threats that these people are facing due to climate change.

Subject:
Physical Science
Material Type:
Reading
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Jim Lyon
LYON
Massy Halbert
Mike Yasutake
Date Added:
09/24/2018
Video Recordings of Lectures from the Ocean Acidification workshop: July 2012
Unrestricted Use
Public Domain
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This YouTube playlist contains the video recordings of the lectures presented by scientists at the Ocean Acidification workshop on July 11th, 2012. Playlist also contains a variety of other related videos that can be used as teaching tools and/or resources.

Subject:
Chemistry
Oceanography
Physical Science
Material Type:
Lecture
Provider:
Our Changing Oceans and Estuaries
Author:
Dr. Timoko Komada
Dr. William Cochlin
Date Added:
11/15/2012