This multimodal text set is designed to help middle school learners work …
This multimodal text set is designed to help middle school learners work toward mastering the grade-level moderately complex Anchor Text “Heat Waves in Missouri (Is it getting hotter, or is it just me?)”, adapted from a published study that models summer heat stress in the St. Louis region during future climates (Steinweg and Gutowski, 2015).
This interactive visualization adapted from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey illustrates …
This interactive visualization adapted from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey illustrates the concept of albedo, which is the measure of how much solar radiation is reflected from Earth's surface.
In this activity, students are guided through graphs of surface air temperature …
In this activity, students are guided through graphs of surface air temperature anomaly data and Vostok ice core data to illustrate how scientists use these data to develop the basis for modeling how climate is likely to change in the future.
This activity will help students to identify and analyze factors contributing to …
This activity will help students to identify and analyze factors contributing to Earth's climate systems.
Provenance: Beverly Owens, Cleveland Early College High School Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.
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Students perform a lab to explore how the color of materials at …
Students perform a lab to explore how the color of materials at Earth's surface affect the amount of warming. Topics covered include developing a hypothesis, collecting data, and making interpretations to explain why dark-colored materials become hotter.
Hands-on laboratory activity that allows students to investigate the effects of distance …
Hands-on laboratory activity that allows students to investigate the effects of distance and angle on the input of solar radiation at Earth's surface, the role played by albedo, the heat capacity of land and water, and how these cause the seasons. Students predict radiative heating based on simple geometry and experiment to test their hypotheses.
This highly informative site explores five different ecosystems and the public health …
This highly informative site explores five different ecosystems and the public health issues that have arisen in each. Students can explore the different ways that ecosystem services that address air quality, heat hazard mitigation, recreation and physical activity, water hazard mitigation, and water quality impact many health conditions.
This course provides a review of physical, chemical, ecological, and economic principles …
This course provides a review of physical, chemical, ecological, and economic principles used to examine interactions between humans and the natural environment. Mass balance concepts are applied to ecology, chemical kinetics, hydrology, and transportation; energy balance concepts are applied to building design, ecology, and climate change; and economic and life cycle concepts are applied to resource evaluation and engineering design. Numerical models are used to integrate concepts and to assess environmental impacts of human activities. Problem sets involve development of MATLABĺ¨ models for particular engineering applications. Some experience with computer programming is helpful but not essential.
This video focuses on the conifer forest in Alaska to explore the …
This video focuses on the conifer forest in Alaska to explore the carbon cycle and how the forest responds to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide. Topics addressed in the video include wildfires, reflectivity, and the role of permafrost in the global carbon cycle.
This textbook is designed for introductory environmental studies and science students. The …
This textbook is designed for introductory environmental studies and science students. The goal is to teach essential ecological concepts by linking them to key environmental issues. The hope is that students can easily understand how firm grounding in these concepts can help them appreciate and hopefully address the biggest environmental threats of our time. After an initial section on the nature of science and an overview of ecology, the textbook is divided into four sections, each addressing a key environmental concern: global climate change, eutrophication, biodiversity loss and food supply and security. After a brief introduction to the environmental concern, the book addresses ecological concepts relevant for understanding the issue. Each section wraps up with a return to the environmental concern and insight into how the ecological concepts learned can be applied to the environmental issue.
Students are charged with thinking about what it takes to 'do science'. …
Students are charged with thinking about what it takes to 'do science'. They are introduced to the science of dendrochronology and learn how tree-ring science is executed.
Students construct model landfill liners using tape and strips of plastic, within …
Students construct model landfill liners using tape and strips of plastic, within resource constraints. The challenge is to construct a bag that is able to hold a cup of water without leaking. This represents similar challenges that environmental engineers face when piecing together liners for real landfills that are acres and acres in size.
In this activity, students select an argument of a climate skeptic, research …
In this activity, students select an argument of a climate skeptic, research it, and write up a mock dialog that portrays a back-and-forth discussion between the skeptic and a non-skeptic, while presenting a scientific argument that counters the false claim.
This video illustrates how atmospheric particles, or aerosols (such as black carbon, …
This video illustrates how atmospheric particles, or aerosols (such as black carbon, sulfates, dust, fog), can affect the energy balance of Earth regionally, and the implications for surface temperature warming and cooling.
This set of five activities focuses on how climate change can affect …
This set of five activities focuses on how climate change can affect agriculture, including crop production and ranching. The activities in this guide are appropriate for both formal and informal settings and all student handouts, instructor guides, and supporting files are included. The curriculum is designed for five days of activities that build on one another, but can also be used individually.
This video shows 15 years of data obtained via Polar-orbiting satellites that …
This video shows 15 years of data obtained via Polar-orbiting satellites that are able to detect subtle differences in ocean color, allowing scientists to see where there are higher concentrations of phytoplankton - a proxy for the concentration of chlorophyll in the ocean.
This activity investigates the oceanographic and climatic characteristics of El Ni��o/La Ni��a …
This activity investigates the oceanographic and climatic characteristics of El Ni��o/La Ni��a (ENSO) events using observational data from moored ocean buoys in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Data are obtained from NOAA's Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) project website which provides a web-based interface for accessing and displaying oceanographic data. In addition to providing an introduction to ENSO, this activity is designed to give students practice interpreting real oceanographic observations by emphasizing the description and identification of patterns in large data-sets. Students first describe patterns in sea-surface and cross-sectional transects of ocean temperatures and surface winds associated with "normal", El Ni��o, and La Ni��a years and then use this as a basis for classifying observations from unknown years and interpreting connections between oceanographic and atmospheric processes occurring in the tropical Pacific.
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This National Geographic video explains the origins of the El NiÃo Southern …
This National Geographic video explains the origins of the El NiÃo Southern Oscillation using animations and shows the impacts on humans, wildlife and habitat, particularly in the United States.
This video explains what El NiÃo is and provides the definition of …
This video explains what El NiÃo is and provides the definition of El NiÃo. It goes into detail about the devastating terrestrial and aquatic effects an El NiÃo can have on living organisms and the climate (disease, storms, floods, tornadoes, drought, wildfire, increased air temperatures, decreased water temperatures, etc).
This short video illustrates the phenomena of El NiÃo and La NiÃa: …
This short video illustrates the phenomena of El NiÃo and La NiÃa: their relationships to tradewinds and surface water temperatures, and their effects on precipitation in North America.
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