Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Global Climate Change: Understanding the Greenhouse Effect

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students study past climate change, explore the effect of greenhouse gases on Earth's atmosphere today, and consider human impact on global warming.
Handout
Encyclopedia of Earth

Encyclopedia of Earth: Climate Change: Past History

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of articles on methods used to investigate changes in processes that are, and have been, affected by climate. It also covers the discoveries that have been made about climate change in the Earth's recent and ancient past.
Lesson Plan
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Ucar: Little Ice Age: Working With Indirect Evidence of Past Climates

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Students explore the differences between direct and indirect evidence to understand how climate has varied through time.
Unit Plan
Exploratorium

Exploratorium: Global Climate Change: Research Explorer

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore scientific data relating to the atmosphere, oceans, areas covered by ice, and living organisms in all these domains. Interpret past and present climate data to predict future climate change and its possible effects.
Handout
Other

The Geological Society: Climate Change: Evidence From the Geological Record

For Students 9th - 10th
In this statement, The Geological Society describes the changes that are happening to the global climate in terms of what evidence has been observed in our geological history. For example, what happened during past events of rapid...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Tracking Global Climate Change: Microfossil Record of Planetary Heat Pump

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This lesson plan integrates physics, biology, and geology to understand planetary processes that contribute to climate change through time. It includes an activity that demonstrates heat transfer and it uses figures and charts to...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: A Reader's Guide to Climate Change

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this activity from the Deep Earth Academy, students divide into groups to read and discuss one of nine short articles (1-2 pages) about research done by the Ocean Drilling Program. These articles discuss our understanding about past...
Handout
Encyclopedia of Earth

Encyclopedia of Earth: Climate Change: Ancient

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of articles on ancient climatology. They examine past extremes of the Earth's climate, cycles of climate change, and cataclysmic climate-changing events that are believed to have occurred.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Earth Science: Climate Change in Earth History

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Traces changes in Earth's climate through Earth history, especially in the past 2,000 years.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Earth Science: Climate Change in Earth History

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] How Earth's climate has changed in the past.
Unit Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Education: Prehistoric Climate Change and Why It Matters

For Students 1st - 9th
Through interactive and engaging learning site, students become the scientists and learn how to determine earth's temporal past.
Article
American Geosciences Institute

American Geosciences Institute: How Ice Cores Are Used to Determine Past Climate

For Students 3rd - 5th
Find out how climate scientists use data from ice cores to determine past climate conditions.
Article
Nature Research

Nature Education: Studying and Projecting Climate Change

For Students 9th - 10th
A model organizes what we think we know about something in order to predict how it might behave in the present, future, or past as well as how it might respond to external influence. Models are especially useful when direct, controlled...
Website
Other

The Alaska Climate Research Center

For Students 9th - 10th
See the current and past weather conditions of Alaska. Take a look at a webcam set up in Fairbanks, Alaska for current conditions.
Lesson Plan
Climate Literacy

Clean: Climate and Civilization: The Maya Example

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students use geophysical and geochemical data collected by the Ocean Drilling Program to examine climate in Central America during the recent past. They also have the opportunity to investigate the link between climate change and...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Hurricanes and Climate

For Students 9th - 10th
The past few years have histories of extremely powerful and dangerous storms. These storms have also increased in frequency. To investigate potential effects of climate on hurricane number and strength, this project will focus on the...
Handout
NASA

Nasa Earth Observatory: Ocean and Climate Fact Sheet

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about Earth's oceans and the effects that climate have had on the rising temperatures over the past one hundred years. Discover how the Earth's ocean and atmosphere are interlocked so that when one changes, the other is affected.
Handout
Encyclopedia of Earth

Encyclopedia of Earth: Rapid Changes in Glaciers and Ice Sheets

For Students 9th - 10th
The world's glaciers and ice sheets are melting according to this extensive report. It makes recommendations on how to monitor this situation, explains what we know about the past when there was much less ice in the world, describes what...
Handout
Other

Univ. Of Copenhagen: Centre for Ice and Climate: Preserved Fossil Dna in the Ice

For Students 9th - 10th
Discusses how fossil DNA data that is collected from ice cores is used by scientists to reconstruct the composition of past ecosystems and their biodiversity, as well as climates. There is a great deal of other information on the website...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Time and Cycles: Dendrochronology

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students explore the direct impact of climate on annual tree growth patterns by using pre-marked paper strips to simulate tree-ring core samples.
Article
National Earth Science Teachers Association

Windows to the Universe: Paleoclimates: Climates of the Past

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn how climate has changed in the past and how it relates to global warming. Links to related material.
Handout
Science Struck

Science Struck: Sahara Desert Climate

For Students 4th - 6th
Describes the climate of the Sahara Desert and the climate changes that have occurred there in the past.
Unit Plan
University of California

University of California Museum of Paleontology: Stories From the Fossil Record

For Students 4th - 9th
This colorful, interactive site demonstrates how fossils can be used to discover a range of information about the past. Topics include Past Lives, Paleoecology, Geologic History, and Biodiversity.
Graphic
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Link Between Arctic Sea Ice and Solar Radiation Absorbed

For Students 9th - 10th
The Arctic plays an important role in regulating Earth's climate. The region reflects much of the Sun's energy and helps keep the planet cool. Data collected by NASA have revealed that sea ice in the Arctic has steadily declined over the...