In a lesson in this issue of Smithsonian in Your Classroom, learners do the work of a team of paleontologists studying a time of rising carbon dioxide and rapid global warming during the Eocene epoch. By examining fossils of tree leaves,...

A teaching guide with eleven lessons on the atmosphere, and the impact that different kinds of energy have on the atmosphere and ecological systems. The unit and accompanying PowerPoint can both be downloaded.

Students will gain an understanding of global climate change by exploring the role that energy plays in it. They will explore NetLogo models of climate and learn about cumulative effects.

In this activity learners form groups, conduct research into paleoclimate, and report their findings in the form of a presentation.

This lesson is a lab in which students use thermometers, white and dark paper, and lamps to measure differences in albedo between the light and dark materials. Connections are made to albedo in Antarctica.

Use jelly beans to compare the compositions (amounts of different gases) of the atmospheres of Earth, Mars, and Venus.

Learners conduct an investigation to determine CO2 levels in four different gas samples, examine evidence of global warming in our environment, and consider their own role in contributing to global warming.