In this activity, students will use pre-marked paper strips to simulate tree-ring core samples to help them understand that data for past climate changes can be gathered from sources beyond long-term weather observations. Students will be able to recognize the direct impact of climate on annual tree growth patterns. The student guide has an overall description of the activity, a list of materials, ... Full description.

In this activity students will simulate climate variability and come to understand that long-term climate averages are the result of significant annual climate variability. After this activity students will understand that long-term climate averages are the result of significant annual climate variability and be able to express the fact that random climate variability makes detecting climate change ... Full description.

This activity will provide students with first hand knowledge of local weather changes and how they relates to local climates. After this activity students will understand the general distinctions between weather and climate, that daily weather measurements are highly variable compared to long-term climate data, and appreciate the difficulty of identifying climate trends based on limited data. The ... Full description.

This activity is designed to familiarize students with how a greenhouse retains heat by building simple models. As a result of this activity, students will come to understand that greenhouses are useful because they both allow sunlight to enter and prevent heat from escaping. The transparent covering of the greenhouse allows visible light to enter unhindered, where it warms the interior as it is absorbed ... Full description.

This activity has students use a model to investigate factors in greenhouse heating and cooling. The type of surface that sunlight first encounters is the most important factor. Forests, grasslands, ocean surfaces, ice caps, deserts, and cities all absorb, reflect, and radiate radiation differently. As a result of this activity students will be able to identify at least three factors affecting the ... Full description.

This activity has students explore the carbon cycle and learn to identify carbon sources, sinks, and release agents. They will come to understand that carbon is critical to the biosphere and must continue cycling to support life on earth. The instructor guide contains detailed background material, learning goals, alignment to national standards, grade level/time, details on materials and preparation, ... Full description.

This three part activity has students set up experiments to help them better understand the atmospheric portion of the carbon cycle. From this activity, they will be able to explain the concept of sources and sinks as they relate to carbon dioxide, the use of indicator solution bromothymol blue (BTB) to reveal the presence of carbon dioxide, and the qualitative differences between animal and fossil ... Full description.

Global Climate Change is one of the Exploring the Environment series of online modules. Emphasizing an integrated approach to environmental earth science through problem-based learning, this module asks students to predict how increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide is changing the climate, and the possible effects this may have on Kansas wheat crops. Students access remote sensing ... Full description.

This is an overview of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) project at Sachs Harbour on Banks Island, Northwest Territories, Canada, an effort to document the problem of Arctic climate change as experienced by the Inuit living there. There is video commentary by Inuit in which they describe changes in daily life for animals and people at Sachs Harbour: banks caving from permafrost ... Full description.

In this activity, students import mean temperature data from the U.S. Historical Climatic Network (USHCN) into a spreadsheet program and use it to prepare graphs and calculate statistical measures and trends. It can be used in a course with climate change content or as an introduction to basic statistics. A tutorial on using Excel for basic statistics and an answer document are provided. Full description.