PBS
Climate Change as a Scientific Theory
Get your class thinking about climate change as a scientific theory. Guided by a handout, emerging earth scientists read articles and take notes about glaciers and sea ice. To conclude, they write an evaluation of the evidence for...
Curated OER
Bringing Climate Change Into the Classroom
Learners investigate the greenhouse effect and examine the potential effects of climate change in the Arctic. They construct a mini-greenhouse and test its effect on temperature, analyze historical climate statistics, and conduct an...
Curated OER
Changing Planet: The Case of the Leaky Gyre
The fascinating video "Changing Planet: Fresh Water in the Arctic," introduces your oceanographers to the world's gyres. They learn that melting sea ice is making the gyres larger, and that the changes could, in turn, contribute even...
Curated OER
Glaciers As Indicators of Global Climate Change
Students research about glacial ice melting on the four major spheres of the Earth. In this earth science lesson, students explain how this process relates to global warming. They create a presentation and share their findings with the...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Food for Thought: Climate Change and Trophic Cascades
Learners examines the arctic food web with a short video about polar bears and an article about bears and warming temperatures. They design an arctic food web and discuss the trophic cascade that could come from climate change.
Curated OER
Polar Bears in Peril - Climate Change Culprit?
High schoolers explore the changes in sea ice over several years. In this life science lesson, students review and examine 20 years of data. They use Excel to graph data and analyze trends.
Curated OER
Changing Planet: Permafrost Gas Leak
Pair earth scientists up to use an amazing online arctic portal mapping tool and Google Earth to analyze permafrost changes. They compare changes to data on atmospheric concentrations of methane to see if there is a correlation. Then...
National Wildlife Federation
I Speak for the Polar Bears!
Climate change and weather extremes impact every species, but this lesson focuses on how these changes effect polar bears. After learning about the animal, scholars create maps of snow-ice coverage and examine the yearly variability and...
Curated OER
Global Climate Lesson Plans
Students explore the concept of global climate. In this global climate lesson plan, students research and investigate global warming and its effects on the world over the course of 9 lessons. Students create a proposal that show the...
Curated OER
Graphing Sea Ice Extent in the Arctic and Antarctic
Students graph sea ice data and predict long term trends in the data. In this climate change lesson, students use sea ice data from the Arctic and Antarctic to construct line graphs. They use their graphs to predict the effects of global...
Wild BC
Bearly Any Ice
After reviewing food chains, your class members participate in an arctic predator-prey game that exemplifies the impact of climate change of food availability. If you are in a hurry, skip this lesson, but if you have the time to...
Curated OER
The Effects of Global Warming in Alaska
Students view video clips and create presentations to illustrate the problems in Alaska related to global warming. In this climate change lesson, students view a Quick-Time video about the consequences of global warming in Alaska. They...
Curated OER
March of the Polar Bears: Global Change, Sea Ice, and Wildlife Migration
Young scholars study global change and how these changes impact wildlife. In this polar bears lesson students analyze maps and data to understand climate change.
Curated OER
Canada's Arctic Barometer
Students research arctic climates. In this Web-quest investigation, students will identify Arctic climate changes, explain the effects of these changes, relate the changes to other regions, and write their findings in a letter format.
Beyond Benign
The Big Melt: Arctic Ice Caps
Are the Arctic ice caps really melting out of existence? Junior climatologists examine the statistics of ice decline through four math-based lessons. Each activity incorporates data, climate information, and environmental impact into an...
Curated OER
Climate Change
Ninth graders compare the Arctic and Antarctic. In this climate lesson students work in groups, research and complete an oral report or a poster.
Curated OER
Evidence of Change Near the Arctic Circle
Students analyze graphs and make conclusions about climate change. In this climates lesson students produce graphs and identify relationships between parameters.
Curated OER
Life in the Freezer
In this global warming worksheet, climatologists examine a few possible results of climate change. There is no specific reading from which learners extrapolate the information needed to answer the questions, so you will need to preface...
Curated OER
When Floating Ice Melts in the Sea
With this simple inquiry exercise young scientists observe the effects of melting ice on water level. Set up an easy experiment with floating ice cubes in a dish of water then have your pupils make and record their observations of the...
Polar Trec
Arctic Smorgasbord!
Two blooms of phytoplankton, instead of just one, now occur in the Arctic due to declining sea ice, which will have widespread effects on the marine life and climate. In small groups, participants build an Arctic food web with given...
Curated OER
Glacier Presentations
Students research news articles relating to global climate change. In this earth science lesson plan, students create a news broadcast using the information they gathered. They present this in class and each student gives their peer...
Curated OER
The Good, The Bad, and the Arctic
High schoolers investigate the social, economic and environmental consequences that might result from Arctic climate change. Students identify and discuss at least three consequences.
Curated OER
The Future of Arctic Sea Ice
Students research about the importance of sea ice to world climate and sea organisms. In this earth science lesson, students create a model of present and future Arctic sea ice communities. They discuss how ice melting affects...
Curated OER
Global Warming
First graders discover the effects of global warming on polar bears. In this life science instructional activity, 1st graders model the polar bear's habitat and observe what happens as they raise the temperature. They record their...