| Touch the Earth |
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http://climate.nasa.gov/TouchTheEarth/
NASA's "Touch the Earth" takes a multimedia approach to teach middle school students about the Earth's biomes -- areas on Earth with similar climate, soil and vegetation -- using sound and visual aids, tactile and colored graphics, large print and Braille. It was developed for Blind and Deaf users as well as students who learn best with a multimedia approach, and was published with the support of NASA Headquarters' Office of Earth Science Education programs.
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| Aquarius Mission Education: Salinity Patterns & the Water Cycle (K-12) |
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http://aquarius.nasa.gov/education.html
The Aquarius mission is set to launch in January 2011 and will measure sea surface salinity with exceptional resolution.
"Salinity Patterns and the Water Cycle" is a series of physical science classroom activities and data driven tools for students in elementary through high school. These guides help students see the implications of ocean change on the environment and demonstrate how even small scale variations in sea surface salinity -- the amount of salt present near the ocean's surface -- can have dramatic effects on sea ice, the water cycle and ocean circulation. |
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| My NASA Data (K-12) |
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http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/ClimChg_lessons.html
Students of all ages can investigate microsets of NASA Earth science satellite data, including atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, ocean and land surface. Data are available along with lesson plans, teacher-friendly documentation, computer tools and an Earth science glossary. Science project starter ideas are also available.
Climate change classroom lessons include:
- Coral Bleaching in the Caribbean
- Ocean Currents and Sea Surface Temperature
- Investigating Factors that Influence Climate
- Studying Snow and Ice Changes
- Tropical Atlantic Aerosols
- Hurricanes As Heat Engines
- El Niño
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| Earth Exploration Toolbook (EET) Climate Chapters at SERC, the Science Education Resource Center at Carlton College |
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http://serc.carleton.edu/eet/chapters.html?q1=sercvocabs__44%3A6
Each EET chapter provides teachers and students with direct practice using scientific tools to analyze Earth science data, a description of the chapter, teaching notes, a case study, step-by-step instructions and more. Earth Exploration Toolbook chapters related to NASA climate science include:
- Detecting El Niño in Sea Surface Temperature Data (7-12)
- Envisioning Climate Change using a Global Climate Model (9-12)
- Is Greenland Melting? (7-12)
- Whither Arctic Sea Ice? (7-12)
- Exploring Regional Differences in Climate Change (College Freshman)
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| OceanMotion.org (Grades 9-12) |
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http://oceanmotion.org
The site focuses on understanding patterns of ocean surface currents and how they relate to issues of human exploration, commerce, science, weather/climate, and pollution. Ocean Motion includes articles and video interviews about NASA ocean current research, an interactive data visualizer, and teacher and student guides. Lesson 4 for students and teachers emphasizes ocean warming and there is a section called What do you know about climate change and the:
- Atlantic Current
- Developing El Niño
- Garbage Patch
- Melting Ice Sheets
- Ocean Conveyor Belt
- Ocean Race
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| Ocean World, The Jason Education Project at Texas A&M University (K-12, college) |
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http://oceanworld.tamu.edu
This website contains a user friendly online textbook containing information about the ocean such as it’s relationship with weather and climate, icebergs and ice ages, waves, currents, El Niño and the ocean observing satellites. The materials are linked to educator background information, classroom activities, and to sources of real-time data that can be used in the classroom. The site is also linked with college-level and graduate courses in oceanography and physical oceanography. K-12 material is tied to national and Texas standards for teaching science and mathematics.
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| Climate Change, Wildlife and Wildlands: A Toolkit for Educators (Middle School +) |
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http://www.globalchange.gov/resources/educators/toolkit
This toolkit was developed by the United States Global Change Research Program, an interagency project, which coordinates and integrates federal research on changes in the global environment and their implications for society. The educator resource toolkit provides information for students and educators about the impact of climate change on wildlife and wildlands for 11 ecoregions across the United States. The toolkit includes case studies and a series of downloadable activities for each ecoregion. |
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| S'COOL: Student Cloud Observations On-Line (upper elementary-high school) |
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http://science-edu.larc.nasa.gov/SCOOL/index.php
S'COOL is a real-time, collaborative science experiment that elementary through secondary students conduct with NASA scientists. Participants make ground truth observations of clouds for comparison with satellite data. These observations help NASA scientists validate the measurements from NASA's CERES satellite instrument (Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System). The S'COOL website includes several educational resources, including tutorials, lesson plans, labs, cloud ID charts and ideas for projects. |
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Goddard Institute for Space Studies Institute on Climate and Planets (grades 11-12) |
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http://icp.giss.nasa.gov/education/
ICP lessons and modules are driven by fundamental questions and topics scientists deal with in climate and environmental research. By design, they are problem-based investigations for middle to high school in which students learn to use various research tools to construct scientific understandings. Students seek answers and consensus by experimenting with physical and computer models, collecting and analyzing their own measurements, and conducting inter-comparisons with real world data from satellites and ground-based observations.
Lessons and modules:
- What Determines a Planet’s Climate?
- The Carbon Question
- Introduction to Clouds
- Effect of the Sun’s Energy on the Ocean and Atmosphere
- The Role of the Atmosphere and Greenhouse Effect in Determining Surface Temps
- The Volcano and the Climate Model
- More
Each module includes downloadable teacher notes, student activities, data and tools. The site also includes a series of Excel and Toolbook models and simulations.
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Global Change Education.org (all grades) |
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http://icp.giss.nasa.gov/education/
A portal website and directory providing links to the best available resources on global warming education, climate change education, science and solutions.
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