This project involves pairing pre-service teachers with students in the rural Alaskan …
This project involves pairing pre-service teachers with students in the rural Alaskan village of Eek in Southwestern, Alaska. By creating effective writing prompts, the pre-service teachers hope to better understand how climate change is affecting the people of this region.
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This visualization is a website with an interactive calculator that allows for …
This visualization is a website with an interactive calculator that allows for estimation of greenhouse gas production from croplands in the United States.
The US Department of Agriculture provides an interactive Zone Map for plant …
The US Department of Agriculture provides an interactive Zone Map for plant hardiness to determine growing zone for planting. Additional Maps of Colorado or other states or regions can be found visting this link and clicking on the region of interest. https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/pages/view-maps
This is a real-time map of current drought conditions in the US, …
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.
This interactive module allows students and educators to build models that explain …
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.
This module contains five activities, in increasing complexity, that focus on understanding …
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.
The term "Earth system science" is typically used to describe the science …
The term "Earth system science" is typically used to describe the science (especially quantitative modeling) of the interactions between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and cryosphere, and biosphere---the addition of lithosphere to that list provides all of the main generalized components ("spheres") of the Critical Zone. In this lesson, students will consider basic concepts of system science (studying complex systems), specifically as it can be applied to Critical Zone science. Students will engage in developing a qualitative systems model graphic of the Critical Zone. The knowledge gained here will be applied later in the semester to more in-depth systems thinking of the Critical Zone.
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How are rising sea levels already influencing different regions? This unit offers …
How are rising sea levels already influencing different regions? This unit offers case study examples for a coastal developing country (Bangladesh), a major coastal urban area (southern California), and an island nation (Maldives). What are the anticipated consequences of additional sea-level rise this century in these different places? This introduction to the module is designed to prompt student consideration of the economic and social impacts of sea-level change. As a class, students conduct a stakeholder analysis for one or more of the case study regions in order to better understand how different segments of a society affect and will be affected by sea-level change.
Show more about Online Teaching suggestions Hide Online-adaptable: This exercise could be converted to online whole-class discussions and a breakout group activity. At least the whole-class portion would probably need to be done synchronously.
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This unit is designed to engage students by introducing them to patterns …
This unit is designed to engage students by introducing them to patterns in recent climate and investigating possible reasons for recent changes. Students work in small groups to plot and analyze real-world temperature data covering a decade, and use that information to make predictions about future climatic trends. Whole-class discussions illustrate the differences between short- and long-term trends. Students also analyze graphs of solar irradiance to begin to determine reasons for the observed increase in temperature, setting the stage for Unit 2, which examines the role of the atmosphere in controlling Earth's surface temperature.
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Students will identify how they, as individuals, think about climate science and …
Students will identify how they, as individuals, think about climate science and explore common perceptions and misconceptions that exist about climate science. The activities within this unit incorporate individual reflection by students, small group work, and larger group/class discussions, and endeavor for students to learn how to discern true and untrue statements using logic and fact. Students are presented with various statements about climate science and are tasked with determining whether these statements are factually true and whether they are logically valid. We recognize that students may have limited background factual knowledge in climate science before starting these activities, so some exercises are intended more as a way for students to evaluate how they think about climate science and how to create logically valid scientific statements (i.e., how to think and talk like a scientist). By learning how to identify logically and factually true and untrue statements, students will, by the end of this unit, be able to create and evaluate statements about climate science (even with limited factual knowledge) and critique common misconceptions about climate science.
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In this unit, students explore the role of ocean circulation in climate …
In this unit, students explore the role of ocean circulation in climate modification and bioproductivity. The activities require students to interpret the effect of horizontal and vertical seawater movement on heat distribution, carbon dioxide dissolution, and nutrient availability. Students will use their new knowledge to predict how those parameters may change as a result of major shifts in ocean circulation associated with global climate change.
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Unit 1 serves as an introduction to Earth's climate system components. After …
Unit 1 serves as an introduction to Earth's climate system components. After exploring climate data, students are introduced to the natural processes responsible for global climate and how specific variables are interpreted by scientists.
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How are rising sea levels already influencing the developing nation of Bangladesh, …
How are rising sea levels already influencing the developing nation of Bangladesh, and what are the anticipated consequences of additional sea level rise in the next century? This introduction to the Ice and Sea Level Changes module is designed to prompt student consideration of the economic, social, political, and health impacts of sea level change. They will revisit the impacts of sea level change on society in Unit 5 when they investigate implications for New York City and Southern California.
Show more about Online Teaching suggestions Hide Online-ready: This opening class discussion about climate change and societal impacts could be converted to an online discussion format.
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This unit investigates the role of the atmosphere on incoming solar and …
This unit investigates the role of the atmosphere on incoming solar and outgoing terrestrial radiation and analyzes modern trends in greenhouse gas concentrations. Students first investigate radiation spectra to see how the atmosphere absorbs radiation in different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. This information is used to develop the idea of greenhouse warming. Students then use the atmospheric CO2 dataset from Mauna Loa to investigate changes in atmospheric CO2 through time, and the drivers behind these changes. Follow-up questions ask students to consider how their own daily activities contribute to atmospheric CO2, and how rising CO2 may trigger potential feedbacks in the Earth system.
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What is the contribution of seawater thermal expansion to recent sea-level rise? …
What is the contribution of seawater thermal expansion to recent sea-level rise? In this unit, students create time-series graphs of global averaged sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) data spanning 1880 -- 2017 and conduct linear trend analysis to assess SST change during this period. Based on the calculated SST change, students calculate how much sea-level rise occurred during 1993 -- 2015 due to thermal expansion of the oceans. Students compare their thermal expansion calculated sea-level rise results to observed sea-level rise from radar altimetry and assess how much sea-level rise is attributable to thermal expansion.
Show more about Online Teaching suggestions Hide Online-ready: The exercise is electronic and could be done individually or in small online groups. Lecture is best done synchronously due to the technical nature. Discussion would be better that way too.
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Students will be provided with seawater pH and carbon dioxide concentration (pCO2) …
Students will be provided with seawater pH and carbon dioxide concentration (pCO2) data spanning as far back as 1850. They will describe trends in pH, pCO2 and atmospheric CO2 concentration, outline why these parameters are related, and predict how changes in these parameters will affect marine biology. Each group of students will be given a different set of data from different regions and asked to compare with other groups to determine if seawater pH change is a global or regional phenomena. This unit will provide students with an understanding of the pH buffering system and an opportunity to interpret real climate data.
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How have average global air temperature and sea level changed in the …
How have average global air temperature and sea level changed in the last three decades? Have the changes been consistent? Can future changes in air temperature and sea level be predicted? In this unit, students will become familiar with the concept of a time series by calculating recent air temperature and sea level trends and projecting these measurements for 2100. They will also begin to consider environmental factors in addition to temperature that could influence sea level and the potential implications of sea level changes during the next century.
Show more about Online Teaching suggestions Hide Online-adaptable: The lecture and main data analysis exercise can easily be moved online. Student discussions are designed to be intermixed into the flow of the lecture and exercise. Thus moving to online discussions would be might take a bit more planning.
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Students will explore the different aspects of the carbon cycle on Earth. …
Students will explore the different aspects of the carbon cycle on Earth. This includes the original source of all the carbon on our planet, the near ubiquity of carbon, the six principle reservoirs of carbon in the Earth system, and the movement (flux) of carbon between reservoirs. Students will approach the chemical history of carbon by personifying the "journey" of specific carbon atoms throughout geologic time. The unit emphasizes the grand challenges of energy resources and climate change by grounding these issues in a solid understanding of carbon from a systems thinking perspective. The point here is for students to gain a more robust appreciation for the movement of carbon between atmosphere and geosphere, between hydrosphere and biosphere. The unit provides dynamic understanding of how perturbations to one sphere or changes in the amount of carbon in a given reservoir can have implications throughout the Earth system.
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