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Life Science of Climate for Middle School

A collection of resources for middle school students to learn about the life science aspects of the climate and climate change. Cover image credit United Nations

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Can wildlife adapt to climate change? - Erin Eastwood
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Educational Use
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This video focuses on animals that have quickly evolved in order to meet their needs from the impacts of climate change.

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:
Erin Eastwood
TEDEd
Date Added:
08/01/2022
The Carbon Cycle Game
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Educational Use
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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
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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
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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
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Educational Use
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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
Carbonated Communities
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Educational Use
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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
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Unrestricted Use
CC BY
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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.

Subject:
Applied Science
Biology
Career and Technical Education
Ecology
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Life Science
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:
Alaska SeaGrant
Alaska Seas and Rivers Curriculum
Date Added:
06/19/2012
Changes Ahoof: Could Climate Change Affect Arctic Caribou?
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Students run a simplified computer model to explore how climate conditions can affect caribou, the most abundant grazing animal in the Arctic.

Subject:
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:
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Date Added:
06/19/2012
Changes in Hardiness Zones
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
Climate Change Impacts Alaska Glaciers
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Educational Use
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This video adapted from KTOO takes a look at Earth's warming and cooling cycles and the current atypical trend of warming that is impacting the glaciers in Alaska's Inside Passage.

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
Climate Change Impacts on Biodiversity
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This video documents the effects of increasing global temperatures on biodiversity (changes in distribution, range, and numbers) and human populations. Adaptations to climate change are also outlined.

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:
Convention on Biological Diversity
Date Added:
09/24/2018
Climate Change Jigsaw
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Educational Use
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This Jigsaw exercise has students discuss radio stories from the Yale Climate Connections (YCC) project as a team to deepen their thinking around climate change issues.

Subject:
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Career and Technical Education
Ecology
Economics
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Life Science
Physical Science
Social Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
Date Added:
07/13/2022
Climate Change Wildlife and Wildlands
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Educational Use
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This video focuses on the science of climate change and its impacts on wildlife on land and in the sea, and their habitats in the U.S. There are short sections on walruses, coral reefs, migrating birds and their breeding grounds, freshwater fish, bees, etc. Video concludes with some discussion about solutions, including reduce/recycle/reuse, energy conservation, backyard habitats, and citizen scientists.

Subject:
Applied Science
Atmospheric 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:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
U.S. Global Change Research Program
Date Added:
05/15/2012
Climate Change and Arctic Ecosystems
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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.

Subject:
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:
Project Activities for Conceptualizing Climate and Climate Change
Purdue University
Date Added:
06/19/2012
Climate Change and the Global Ocean
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Video presents a broad overview of what (NASA) satellites can tell us about how climate change is affecting oceans.

Subject:
Geoscience
Physical Science
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Jennifer A. Shoemaker
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Date Added:
10/27/2014