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CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network

The Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) Portal was launched in 2010 as a National Science Digital Library (NSDL) Pathways project. It is led by the science education expertise of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College. As of 2012, CLEAN has been syndicated to NOAA's climate.gov portal.

CLEAN's primary effort is to steward the collection of climate and energy science educational resources and to support a community of professionals committed to improving climate and energy literacy.

The three key components of the CLEAN project are:

  1. The CLEAN Collection of Climate and Energy Science resources- high-quality, digital resources---including learning activities, visualizations, videos, and short demonstrations/experiments---geared toward educators of students in secondary through undergraduate levels.
  2. Guidance in Teaching Climate and Energy Science pages designed to help educators understand and be equipped to teach the big ideas in climate and energy science.
  3. The CLEAN Network a community of professionals committed to improving climate and energy literacy.

CLEAN recognizes the disproportionate impact climate change has on Communities of Color and the importance of incorporating social and environmental justice into climate education.

Visit our website @ https://cleanet.org/ for more information and additional resources. 

 

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Attacks on a Protective Canopy
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
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This is a photo essay linked to a New York Times story about climate-related stressors on forests -- including mountain pine beetles, forest fires, forest clearance, and ice storms -- and the importance of protecting forests as an important carbon sink.

Subject:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Applied Science
Biology
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:
Josh Haner
The New York Times
Date Added:
05/15/2012
At the Core of Climate Change
Read the Fine Print
Some Rights Reserved
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This video shows where and how ice cores are extracted from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The cores are cut, packaged, flown to the ice core storage facility in Denver, further sliced into samples, and shipped to labs all over the world where scientists use them to study indicators of climate change from the past.

Subject:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Archaeology
Earth and Space Science
Environmental Studies
Physical Geography
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
Date Added:
03/09/2023
Automotive Emissions and the Greenhouse Effect
Unrestricted Use
CC BY
Rating
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This is a laboratory activity in which students will compare the amount of carbon dioxide in four different sources of gas and determine the carbon dioxide contribution from automobiles. They test ambient air, human exhalation, automobile exhaust, and nearly pure carbon dioxide from a vinegar/baking soda mixture.

Subject:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Earth and Space Science
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
Date Added:
03/09/2023
Baking the Breadbasket: Persistent Drought in the Heartland
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Educational Use
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In this video, NOAA's Deke Arndt, Chief of the Climate Monitoring Branch at the National Climatic Data Center, recaps the temperature and precipitation data for the continental US in summer 2012. It describes how these conditions have led to drought and reduced crop yields.

Subject:
Agriculture
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Earth and Space Science
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Physical Science
Material Type:
Lesson
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Deke Arndt
NOAA
Date Added:
03/09/2023
Basic Coordinates and Seasons Lab
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This interactive activity, in applet form, guides students through the motion of the sun and how they relate to seasons.

Subject:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Environmental Studies
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Interactive
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Date Added:
03/09/2023
Beat the Uncertainty: Planning Climate-Resilient Cities
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Educational Use
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This learning activity explores the concept of resiliency. It allows students to make city planning decisions and then employs a game to test their resilience decisions against potential impacts from severe weather, climate change, and natural hazards.

Subject:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Applied Science
Earth and Space Science
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
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:
Astrid Kause
Dinh Thai Hung
NOAA
Peg Steffen
Susan Fox
Tarlise Townsend
Than Ngo Duc
Vinh Nguyen Li Ai
Date Added:
03/09/2023
Beetle Outbreaks and Climate Change
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This interactive shows the extent of the killing of lodgepole pine trees in western Canada. The spread of pine beetle throughout British Columbia has devastated the lodgepole pine forests there. This animation shows the spread of the beetle and the increasing numbers of trees affected from 1999-2008 and predicts the spread up until 2015.

Subject:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Applied Science
Biology
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
Date Added:
03/09/2023
Bering Sea Expedition
Unrestricted Use
CC BY
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Learners research the effects of melting sea ice in the Bering Sea Ecosystem. They create research proposals to earn a place on the scientific research vessel Healy and present their findings and proposals to a Research Board committee.

Subject:
Agriculture
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Applied Science
Biology
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:
Alaska Sea Grant
Alaska Seas and Rivers Curriculum
Date Added:
03/09/2023
The Big Energy Gamble
Unrestricted Use
CC BY
Rating
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In this activity, students conduct an energy audit to determine how much carbon dioxide their family is releasing into the atmosphere and then make recommendations for minimizing their family's carbon footprint.

Subject:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Applied Science
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:
Jeff Lockwood
NOVA Teachers
Date Added:
03/09/2023
The Big Melt
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This is a collection of five short videos that show how climate change is affecting fishing, native populations and access for the oil and gas industry in the Arctic. The videos include personal reflections by writers Andrew C. Revkin and Simon Romero, scientists, and residents about their experience of the impacts of the climate change in the Arctic.

Subject:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Applied Science
Earth and Space Science
Ecology
Economics
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Life Science
Oceanography
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
Date Added:
03/09/2023
Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters
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Educational Use
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This set of interactive data visualizations show the weather and climate events that have had the greatest economic impact on the US from 1980 to 2016.

Subject:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Earth and Space Science
Economics
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Physical Science
Social Science
Material Type:
Lesson
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
NOAA
National Center for Environmental Education
Date Added:
03/09/2023
Biofuels 101
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This suite of short video clips is part of a series produced by the Switch Energy project. There are several video segments that discuss different perspectives of biofuels as a renewable source of energy.

Subject:
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Date Added:
03/09/2023
Biofuels/Biomass Cellulose Lab
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Educational Use
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In this lab activity, students investigate how to prepare a biofuel source for conversion to a combustible product. The activity models how raw materials are refined to process liquid fuels.

Subject:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Environmental Studies
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Interactive
Lesson
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Environmental Literacy and Inquiry Working Group
Lehigh University
Date Added:
08/29/2012
Biofuels Video
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Some Rights Reserved
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This video provides an overview of the research of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) on converting biomass to liquid fuels.

Subject:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
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
Date Added:
03/09/2023
Biomass - Creating Bio-Diesel
Unrestricted Use
CC BY
Rating
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This detailed chemistry lesson from the U.S. Department of Energy focuses on transforming vegetable oil into biodiesel through a process of transesterification. The process described offers a good model for many chemical reaction processes that are used to produce a viable product.

Subject:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Applied Science
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:
Matthew A. Brown
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Raymond I. Quintana
Date Added:
03/09/2023
Biomass - Investigating Gases
Unrestricted Use
CC BY
Rating
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In this lab activity students generate their own biomass gases by heating wood pellets or wood splints in a test tube. They collect the resulting gases and use the gas to roast a marshmallow. Students also evaluate which biomass fuel is the best by their own criteria or by examining the volume of gas produced by each type of fuel.

Subject:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
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:
Eric Eric Benson
Melissa Highfill
US Department of Energy - Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy - Energy Education and Workforce Development
Date Added:
03/09/2023
Bioprospecting for cellulose-degrading microbes: Individual Isolate Method
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Educational Use
Rating
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This is a long-term inquiry activity in which students investigate locations they believe harbor cellulose-digesting microbes, collect samples, isolate them on selective media, and screen them for cellulase activity. These novel microbes may be useful for the production of cellulosic ethanol. In the process they learn about plating techniques, serial dilutions, symbiotic relationships and enzyme specificity. Two methods are provided, one focusing on isolation of pure microbial strains, the other focusing on finding symbiotic communities of microbes. The companion activity is here: https://www.glbrc.org/outreach/educational-materials/bioprospecting-cellulose-degrading-microbes-filter-paper-assay

Subject:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Environmental Studies
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Simulation
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Author:
Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center
U.S. Department of Energy
Date Added:
03/09/2023
Bird's Eye View Lesson Plan
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Educational Use
Rating
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In this activity, students construct "flying birds" (pollution collectors) from paper and wire hangers. Students hang up their birds to see how they react to air pollution, and compare and make observations about the differences in the birds.

Subject:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Earth and Space Science
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:
Air Quality Flag Program
Environmental Protection Agency
Date Added:
07/25/2022
Birds, Mosquitoes, and Viruses
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Some Rights Reserved
Rating
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In this activity, students distinguish between directly and indirectly transmitted diseases and participate in a group game to simulate the spread of vector-borne diseases. They then research a particular pathogenic disease to learn how global warming and biodiversity loss can affect disease transmission.

Subject:
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Date Added:
03/09/2023
Black Carbon
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Some Rights Reserved
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This video describes what black carbon is, where is comes from, and how it contributes to sea ice melt and global warming.

Subject:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Applied Science
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
Physical Science
Physics
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Provider Set:
CLEAN: Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network
Date Added:
03/09/2023