As an anticipatory set, young environmental technicians watch a video about how ocean temperatures seem to be changing along with the global climate. They perform a laboratory demonstration with the purpose of observing what happens to...

With global temperatures on the rise faster than ever recorded, the effects of a heating planet could be devastating. Allow learners to discover just what the world is in store for if the warming continues through a series of videos, a...

With the global temperature on the rise, the effects of climate change are starting to be seen. However, many people have a difficult time conceptualizing the long-term effects, such as sea levels rising. Given an easy and effective...

The higher the number of letters in the final word for the National Spelling Bee, the higher the number of people killed by venomous spiders. Obviously, those two facts correlate, but no causation exists. Scholars view data based on...

There's nothing better than a cool breeze blowing in from the ocean. Scholars explore how water affects change in temperature using a hands-on experiment on climate. They use measurement tools to compare the continental and oceanic...

What effects do temperature and carbon dioxide levels have on the zooplankton of Antarctica? This concluding lesson plan in a short unit on climate change and the ocean helps environmental scientists answer these questions. After...

It's time for your class to literally show what they know! Pupils illustrate what they learned about the causes and effects of climate change by filling out a graphic organizer to complete the 5-part series of lessons. They discuss them...

Is it really that big of a deal if the global climate undergoes a little change? Young environmentalists consider this very question as they discuss in small groups the impact of different climate change scenarios on their lives,...

Learners investigate the climate changes occurring locally, regionally and globally over the last one hundred years. They brainstorm and predict whether the current year's weather was warmer or colder than last year then check the...

A challenging activity helps young geographers explore the temperatures around the world! They study how the Earth's land temperatures are affected by their proximity to an ocean, as well their latitude and their altitude. A very...

Based on the rate of melting observed from 2003-2007 in Greenland, it would take less than 10 minutes to fill the Dallas Cowboys' Stadium. The 17th instructional activity in a series of 21 has scholars use the ICESat data to understand...

Young scholars examine the environmental impact of global warming. In this environmental science lesson, students design and conduct an experiment about the effect of temperature on paramecia. They write a lab report about their experiment.

The United States is a large country with many different climates. Graph and analyze temperature and rainfall data for Sacramento and Washington DC as you teach your class about the characteristics of Mediterranean climates. Discuss the...

After viewing a video and reading an article about the threatened turtles and tortises in The Amazon River area, collaborative groups create a poster or presentation about how we can help them. Several links to other related lesson plans...

Global warming isn't just an issue on land; deep ocean waters are also showing troubling signs. Young scientists learn more about deep water corals and the many recent discoveries researchers have made. Then they examine data related to...

Earth's vast ocean is full of mysteries! Science scholars discover the big-picture properties that influence its characteristics at different latitudes using a lesson from PBS's Weather and Climate series. After completing a background...

Feeling under the weather? This lesson on hurricanes can whip things up! With professionally designed maps and handouts, teach your future weathermen (or women) where, when, and how hurricanes occur. They identify hurricane regions and...

You know climate change is happening when you see a bee take off its yellow jacket. Part four in a series of five lessons explores all factors affecting climate change: temperature, cloud cover, precipitation, and carbon dioxide. By...

It is unknown if cloud cover increases in response to carbon dioxide levels changing, helping climate change slow down, or if cloud cover decreases, allowing Earth to warm faster. Part four in the series of five lessons has classes...

Get your kids thinking about climate change with a series of activities that include creating a ditty box poem for the planet, a poem that identifies concepts or objects they would want to preserve.

After listening to your lecture on climate change, young scientists access NOAA's database listing Mauna Loa's carbon dioxide data. They graph the monthly means and then compare their graphs to NOAA's. This is a concise plan that could...

Students use satellite data to compare precipitation and surface temperatures on different islands.  In this satellite lesson students create graphs and explain the differences between weather and climate. 

Students differentiate weather and climate. In this earth science lesson, students compare weather and climate in different regions of the world. They interpret weather graphs and compare isotherm lines of northern and southern hemisphere.

Ancient coral beds give scientists clues to past ocean temperatures in much the same way that tree rings indicate historical weather conditions. High school scientists examine coral oxygen isotope ratios and plot the data as a function...