Lesson Plan
Global Change

Impact of Climate Change on the Desert Pupfish

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
A fish that lives in the desert? You and your class can meet the desert pupfish as they examine its habitat, the role humans play in diminishing water supplies, and how climate change might impact this fishy friend. There are four short...
Lesson Plan
National Park Service

Glaciers and Water

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Explore the amazing power of glaciers with a hands-on earth science experiment! After first learning basic background information, learners go on to create their very own chunks of frozen water and gravel in order to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth's Water

For Teachers 4th - 8th
If the majority of our planet is covered with water, why do we need to bother conserving it? With a thorough and varied investigation into the location and types of water on the earth, learners will gain an understanding of why this...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Surface Air Temperature Trends of the Caribbean

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students investigate the seasonal changes to sea surface and near-surface air temperatures near the equator. They use actual satellite data to track and graph the differences in air and sea temperatures during different seasons in the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Biomes: Extreme Climate

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students create a web connecting global warming, the Arctic, and wold climate. They write a paragraph explaining the role of the Arctic in world climate.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Extreme Climate

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students discuss global warming, greenhouse effect, permafrost and other key words.  In this climate lesson students create a web that connects global warming, the Arctic and world climate then write a paragraph explaining the role...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Weather & Climate; Knowledge Quiz

For Students 5th - 7th
In this weather and climate quiz learning exercise, students complete a set of 10 multiple choice questions covering a variety of concepts related to climate and weather.
PPT
Curated OER

Jeopardy - Earth Sciences

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Questions about water, weather, geology, astronomy, and the scientific process make up this Jeopardy game. It is a pretty well-rounded set of slides, although you may want to be aware that a few of the questions are specific to the state...
Lesson Plan
NOAA

A Laboratory Simulation of Ocean Surface Currents

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Stimulate interest in ocean currents with a simulation. The first installment of a five-part middle school series teaches future oceanographers about the forces that interact to cause ocean currents. A simulation shows how wind and...
Activity
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National Academy of Sciences

Global Warming: Facts and Our Future

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
According to the United Nations, climate change affects every country on the planet. This research project encourages scholars to explore the factors that affect climate change from different perspectives: climate scientist, policy...
Lesson Plan
NOAA

Climographs

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In the second lesson plan of a five-part series, young climatologists use provided temperature and precipitation data to create climographs of three different cities. They then analyze these climographs to develop a general...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Glaciers and Icebergs

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students conduct an experiment on glacial scraping. In this glacial scraping lesson, students create a small glacier in a plastic cup. Students remove the cup and scrape the glacier across wood and note the markings. Students then make...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Biomes: Extreme Climate

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers discuss the causes of global warming. In this earth science lesson plan, students examine how global warming is connected to the arctic and world climate. They write a paragraph about their interconnection.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Coral Bleaching in the Caribbean

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students practice analyzing images, maps and graphs from Internet-based educational resources. They explore the correlation between sea surface temperature and coral bleaching. Students comprehend that coral reefs are collections of tiny...
Activity
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NOAA

The Great, Glowing Orb What You Will Do: Make a Solar Heat Engine

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
How is solar energy able to move wind and water to control the climate? Scholars explore the concept of solar energy in the first of 10 activities in the Discover Your Changing World series. They follow instructions to build homemade...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Is There Liquid Water on Mars?

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students assess whether there is liquid water on Mars by analyzing images and data.  In this planetary lesson students analyze temperature and pressure graphs and hypothesize about how water could have flowed on Mars.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Comparison of Land and Water Temperature

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Learners use the NASA website's Live Access Server to create a graph of surface temperature at two locations on earth. They analyze the data and then answer specific questions provided in this lesson. They also examine and compare the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Differences Between Ground and Air Temperatures

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars examine the differences between air temperature and ground temperature.  In this investigative lesson students find NASA data on the Internet and use it to create a graph. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Earth Energy Budget Pre Lab

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students explore energy by conducting an in class experiment. In this climate change activity, students conduct a water vapor experiment in a soda bottle. Students utilize graphs and charts to analyze the results of the experiment and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Does the Loss of Ozone Affect Our Climate

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore the greenhouse effect and what it does to the environment. They discuss if and how human behavior contributes to global warming and test natural materials for carbon content.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sea Water Mixing and Sinking

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers investigate the role of temperature and salinity in determining seawater density. They use a Temperature-Salinity Diagram to examine the effects of mixing on density.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Latent Heat and Clouds

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students explore latent heat and how it relates to clouds in the atmosphere.  In this earth science lesson students investigate how clouds are formed. Students examine clouds and the water cycle.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Greenhouse Effect

For Teachers 4th - 9th
Learners investigate the greenhouse effect. In this environmental lesson, students investigate why the greenhouse effect changes the climate through an experiment. Learners use vinegar to simulate how acid damages the environment.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM) Lesson

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Introduce your class to one of the ways that technology is benefiting humanity. The Global Precipitation Measurement Mission involves the data collected by nine satellites from different countries with a united focus on studying world...