Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Quantitative Reasoning and Analytical Writing in a Global Climate Change

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this lesson learners use Microsoft Excel to manipulate and statistically analyze large climate databases of precipitation., temperature, stream discharge, tree ring data, ice core data, and ENSO to determine climate relationships and...
Unit Plan
Center for Educational Technologies

Cet: Exploring the Environment: Ice Caps and Sea Levels

For Students 9th - 10th
Students have just completed climate science fieldwork studying Earth's ice caps and sea levels. Analyze the data to present a report to the U.S. Panel on Global Climate Change.
Lesson Plan
Climate Literacy

Clean: Climate Change and Arctic Ecosystems

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Learners learn about how climate change is affecting the Arctic ecosystem, and then investigate how this change is impacting polar bear populations. Students analyze maps of Arctic sea ice, temperature graphs, and polar bear population...
Interactive
BBC

Bbc: News: Guide to Climate Change

For Students 9th - 10th
The BBC offers an interactive guide to climate change, including a sliding scale depicting climate change from 1885 to 2099, animation which explores how the greenhouse effect works, and detailed diagrams exploring the carbon cycle, the...
Lesson Plan
University of Wisconsin

Uw: Probabilities, Uncertainties and Units Used to Quantify Climate Change

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This resource engages learners in using scientific data to analyze a 150-year dataset from Lake Mendota in Madison Wisconsin reflecting seasonal ice cover.
Lesson Plan
Climate Literacy

Clean: How Does Melting Ice Affect Sea Level?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate how sea levels might rise when ice sheets and ice caps melt by constructing a pair of models and seeing the effects of ice melt in two different situations.
Article
National Earth Science Teachers Association

Windows to the Universe: Effects of Climate Change Today

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn some effects of climate change that are being caused by warmer temperatures. Links to related material.
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Mn Step: Sinking Water: Glaciers, Ocean Currents and Weather Patterns

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
A lesson where students learn how warm water is less dense than cold water, and what this means for global climate change as ice from the polar regions melts. Students will do experiments in buoyancy and water density when hot or cold,...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Melting Ice

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A mulit-media lesson where students explore the role that ice plays on Earth, the factors causing it to melt, and the local and global consequences of melting ice.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Nova: Extreme Ice

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students study how scientists monitor changes in Earth's glaciers, ice caps, and ice sheets. They investigate about glacier locations, glacial movement, and impacts of climate change on glaciers depending on the depth of research.
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...
Graphic
BBC

Bbc News: An Animated Journey Through the Earth's Climate History

For Students 9th - 10th
A narrated journey through the last 800,000 years of the Earth's climate, accompanied by images and graphs. A text-only version is also available. (Published 3 Dec. 2009)
Lesson Plan
American Geosciences Institute

American Geosciences Institute: Earth Science Week: Sea and Ice Salinity

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students investigate the effects of salinity on the formation of sea ice, and whether salt water freezes more quickly or more slowly than fresh water.
Website
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center: Arctic: A Friend Acting Strangely

For Students 9th - 10th
Discover the devastating effects of climate change on an Inuit Arctic community in northern Canada. The melting sea ice caused by global warning has started a chain reaction of many changes in the culture and survivability in the Arctic...
PPT
NASA

Nasa: Climate Time Machine

For Students 9th - 10th
Take a trip in a "time machine" to see a series of pictures that show the how the climate of Earth has been changing. The indicators shown are: sea ice, sea level, carbon dioxide, and global temperature.
PPT
NPR: National Public Radio

Npr: Greenland: Ice on the Move

For Students 9th - 10th
NPR offers a photographic slide show on the status of Greenland's ice glaciers as they start to melt and the consequences of the melting for the future.
Lesson Plan
Climate Literacy

Clean: March of the Polar Bears: Global Change, Sea Ice, and Wildlife Migration

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students use NASA satellite data to study temperature and snow-ice coverage in the South Beaufort Sea, Alaska. With the data, they investigate global change, sea ice changes, and polar bear migration.
Lesson Plan
Climate Literacy

Clean: Impacts of Topography on Sea Level Change

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Young scholars use web-based animations to explore the impacts of ice melt, specifically changes to sea level. They also use topographic maps to examine the relationship between topography and sea level change by mapping changing...
Lesson Plan
National Earth Science Teachers Association

Windows to the Universe: Graphing the Extent of Sea Ice in Arctic and Antarctic

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students graph sea ice extent in both polar regions over a three-year period to learn about seasonal variations, and over a 30-year period to learn about longer-term trends.
Website
Exploratorium

Exploratorium: Ice Stories: Dispatches From Polar Scientists

For Students 9th - 10th
During the International Polar Year, scientists descended on the Arctic and the Antarctic in droves. While there, they documented their experiences and research work. That rich database of information, covering November 2007 to October...
Lesson Plan
Other

Antarctic Geological Drilling: Environmental Literacy Framework Activities

For Teachers 9th - 10th
An impressive collection of lessons on climate science and climate change. The entire book can be downloaded. As well, each lesson has its own page with some combination of background information, PowerPoints, images, maps, glossaries,...
Lesson Plan
Climate Literacy

Clean: Interactive Geologic Timeline Activity

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this learning activity, students use a web-based geologic timeline to examine temperature, CO2 concentration, and ice cover data to investigate how climate has changed during the last 715 million years. Students will gain an...
Website
NOAA

Noaa: Arctic Theme Page

For Students 9th - 10th
Information on the Arctic for students, teachers, and other interested groups includes changes in the ecosystem and climate.