Blubber Mittens:Adaptation to Cold Climates

What does it take to make it in the Arctic? Learners examine the cold weather adaptations of a polar bear that help it survive. With everyday objects, they model these characteristics as they become make-shift polar bears. Modeling helps...

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,...

Teams of six to eight players imagine that they are driving in a vehicle and collect balls that represent carbon dioxide emissions based on their different activities. "Greenhouse Gas Guzzler" cards tell teams how many balls to collect...

Students read about homeothermy. Through research and poster projects, they gain insight into the diversity among mammals and the ways specific mammals survive in their native climates.

A video about the impact of climate change on butterfly populations and a PowerPoint about butterfly and bird adaptations warm science learners up for the activity to follow. Using a variety of tools that reprsent unique styles of bird...

Open with a discussion on weather and climate and then explain how tree rings can provide scientists with information about the earth's past climate. Pupils analyze graphics of simulated tree rings from various US locations for the...

Using gloves, shortening, tape, and a lot of ice, participants experience the feeling of having blubber. The experiment's eight steps follow an informative page about blubber and animals that have it.

Future weather forecasters collect daily temperatures over a period of time. Afterward, they compare their data with monthly averages, as researched on national weather websites, in order to grasp the difference between weather and...

Baby Beluga may swim in the deep blue sea, but the song doesn't mention how cold it is out there. Find out in this short project how a bit of blubber can be a useful adaptation when the water is ice cold.

Introduce your young meteorologists to black carbon produced by the burning of fossil fuels by showing the video, "Changing Planet: Black Carbon." Viewers discover that deposition of this carbon on polar ice impacts the absorption of...