Chicago Botanic Garden
Historical Climate Cycles
Scientists use ice core samples to obtain temperatures of the earth from 400,000 years ago! The third of five lessons instructs pupils to interpret historical climate data to see changes over time. In part I, participants interpret...
Chicago Botanic Garden
What Can Tree Rings Tell Us About Climate?
Tree rings are slightly thicker on the south side of the tree because it receives more sunlight. Part two in a series of five lessons helps learners analyze tree rings to determine the environmental conditions that caused size...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Climate Change Impacts on Ecosystem Services
The fourth activity in a series of five has classes participate in a jigsaw to learn about global impacts of climate change and then share their new information with a home group. Groups then research impacts of climate change (droughts,...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Causes and Effects of Climate Change
Wrap-up a unit on global climate change with a instructional activity that examines the causes and effects of climate change. Learners fill out a chart that represents what they think causes climate change—natural and human-based—and...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Climate Change Around the World
Look at climate change around the world using graphical representations and a hands-on learning simulation specified to particular cities around the world. Using an interactive website, young scientists follow the provided directions to...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Albedo, Reflectivity, and Absorption
What is reflectivity, and what does it have to do with the Earth's climate? As reflectivity is measured by albedo, scientists can gather information on Earth's energy balances that relate to global warming or climate change. Budding...
Science Geek
Thermochemical Calculations
Viewers learn where the heat goes when phase changes take place with a presentation that explains the latent heat of phase changes, or, more specifically, the molar heat of fusion, solidification, vaporization, and condensation. The show...
Mathed Up!
Negative Numbers
Eight independent worksheet pages challenge scholars to solve 12 problems that focus on negative numbers in the context of temperature in degrees of celsius.
Mathed Up!
Negative Numbers
Individuals read tables with temperatures and times in order to distinguish the town with the lowest temperature or most extreme temperature difference. Each of the eight questions has three sub-questions that use the same charts.
NASA
Melting Ice: Designing an Experiment
Sometimes, despite the best laid plans, the unexpected will occur. Learners witness this firsthand as they carefully design an experiment to determine the time needed for ice to melt in salt water or pure water. They uncover facts not...
Curated OER
Weathering Lab
Assist your middle school class with one of the most inclusive weathering and erosion labs available. Individuals use sugar cubes and alka-seltzer to demonstrate the process of physical and chemical weathering. They sketch results...
STEM for Teachers
Temperature and Bounce
Take part in a fun experiment and hold an impromptu bouncing contest with your class. Young scientists heat and cool balls before bouncing them to determine whether temperature changes affect how they bounce. The set of STEM lesson plans...
Discover Earth
Weather Stations
Transform your classroom into a fully functioning weather station with this series of hands-on investigations. Covering the topics of temperature, precipitation, wind patterns, and cloud formation, these activities engage young...
Curated OER
Surface Area and Volume
Upper graders identify the surface area and attributes of figures that are measurable. They estimate, measure, and record perimeter, area, temperature change, and elapsed time, using a variety of strategies. They also determine the...
Curated OER
A Sweet Drink
Students investigate reaction rates. For this seventh or eighth grade mathematics lesson, students collect, record, and analyze data regarding how the temperature of water affects the dissolving time of a sugar cube. Studetns determin...
Curated OER
What Temperature Is It?
Students answer the question, What is temperature? In this temperature lesson, students use hot chocolate and ice cubes to measure temperature with a thermometer (Fahrenheit and Celsius). This lesson includes a student activity sheet,...
Curated OER
Global Warming Statistics
Young scholars research and collect data regarding temperature changes for a specific location and find the mean, median, and mode for their data. For this climate change lesson, students choose a location to research and collect data...
Curated OER
A Simple Thermoetric Titration
In this thermometric titration worksheet, students investigate the changes in temperature when an alkali is neutralized by an acid. Students graph their results from the titration and draw 2 best fit lines on their graph. Where the lines...
Curated OER
Room Temperature Investigation
While the topic of this investigation is not specific to any particular discipline of science, it does serve as a practice of the scientific method. Learners set up a bowl containing boiling water, one with room temperature water, and...
Curated OER
Long Term Temperature Changes Essay
Students interview Elders in their community about how temperature changes have affected their lives. In this temperature change lesson plan, students interview the Elders about the societal and environmental changes that have occurred...
Curated OER
Graphing Exercise of Ideal Gas Data
In this graphing of Ideal Gas Data activity, students use the given data to draw 4 graphs of the given data. They are given the pressure and volume to draw and interpret the graphs.
Curated OER
Getting Warmer
Learners examine how different materials absorb energy from the sun. They conduct various experiments and complete a temperature change graph.
Curated OER
Specific Heat and Insulation - Temperature Changes
Young scholars expand their knowledge of how temperature changes between air and soil. They also examine how natural grass cover insulates the effects of the sun's direct radiation.