Interlinked Challenges features bits of information about global challenges from the last 400,000 years. Challenges include: biodiversity, climate change, eco-migrations, economy, energy, food, health, hunger, population growth, poverty, security, sustainability, transportation, urbanization, and water. Info bits are drawn from articles, podcasts, blogs, press releases, institutional reports, testimonies, encyclopedias, books, and documentaries. Each bit is referenced, date stamped, linked to t
Evidence of rising sea level: Coastal erosion and plant community changes
A Carolina Environmental Diversity Explorations "virtual field trip" that examines the causes and effects of changes in sea level, both short-term (as a result of storms) and long-term (as a result of climate change).
Bloom Clock Project
The Bloom Clock Project is an attempt to create a language for discussing the bloom times of wildflowers and other plants that is neutral in respect to climate, region, and hemisphere. This language will take a few years to develop as it depends on a large pool of data.
Exploring the Environment
This site features 25 online modules that put students in problem-based learning scenarios. In one module, students predict the impact of increased carbon dioxide on the wheat yield in Kansas. In another, they predict weather 48 hours in advance. Topics include coral reefs, climate change, the Everglades, mountain gorillas, rainforests, volcanoes, water quality, and ozone depletion.
Climate Modeling Program
The research-based Arctic Climate Modeling Program (ACMP) is funded by NSF ITEST. Curriculum based resources were designed with input from 21 scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. Resources include K-12 inquiry-based classroom lessons, a student network for observing arctic weather, digital lectures, and an interactive multimedia learning system (on DVD).
Atmospheric Visualization Projects
This site includes simulations of more than 40 phenomena: sea ice and CO2, climate change (230-year period), clouds and precipitation, coral reef evolution (starting 21,000 years ago), universal fire shape, fire twirl and burst behavior, tornadoes, thunderstorms, typhoons, El Niño events, greenhouse gases and sulfate aerosols, polar vortex breakdown, CO2 and temperature, CFCs in the ocean, cloud evolution (7-day period), daily weather in the U.S., and more.
Introduction to Climate - Background Material
Climate is generally defined as average weather over a long period of time. A place or region's climate is determined by both natural and human-induced factors. Students can read an overview of Earth's climate and participate in activities which explain the following concepts: distinctions between weather and climate, variability of daily weather measurements compared to long-term climate data, how significant annual variability affects long-term climate averages, how Earth's climatic changes oc
Atmospheric scientists investigating the possibility that human influences are changing the Earth's climate confront a significant problem - how do we actually detect climate change? As they participate in this classroom activity, students will develop the understanding that long-term climate averages are the result of significant annual climate variability and that random climate variability makes detecting climate change more difficult. A list of materials, instructions, assessment ideas, and
Ask Dr. Global Change
This site offers a searchable collection of answers to questions about global warming, ozone depletion, greenhouse gases, and other issues related to climate change. Students can also submit questions of their own and explore related links.
Climate Change Emission Calculator Kit (Climate CHECK)
High school students can investigate the link between everyday actions at their high school, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Using this site, students can learn about climate change, estimate their school's greenhouse gas emissions and conceptualize ways to mitigate their school's climate impact. Students gain detailed understandings of climate-change drivers, impacts, and science; produce an emission inventory and action plan; and can even submit the results of their emission inven
Climate Change Kids Site
Explore this site to learn about the science and impacts of climate change. The site also provides games that help students, their parents and their teachers learn about both the science of climate change and what actions they can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
High School Environmental Center
This is a portal to environmental resources. It organizes sites by topics: air pollution, climate change, global warming; conservation of energy, soil, and water; coral reefs, forests, watersheds, and other ecosystems; drinking water, waste water, ground water; asthma, lead, pesticides, sun protection, and other health issues; waste and recycling; and local data and maps.
The poles are fascinating, partly because they are such difficult places to visit, work and live. They still guard many mysteries that we'd like to unravel, including the survival of polar animals, the history of ancient peoples, and the understanding of Earth's climate.
Volcanoes are big movers and shakers in the business of continually redesigning the Earth's landscape. With no concern for nearby people or ecosystems, volcanoes release toxic gases, climate-altering ash, lava and rock. How does this work? Are scientists getting better at predicting volcanic eruptions? How do areas recover after destruction?
Study of Place: Antarctic Exploration
Each two-week module in the Study of Place curriculum is framed by an historical event that makes a connection between the physical environment and human activity. The activities focus primarily on physical and earth science content, geography, and inquiry skills. Assessments and scoring rubrics, including a pre-assessment that can be used for both modules, are embedded in each module, providing opportunities for tracking student learning. The Antarctic Exploration module is framed by Sir Ernest
Study of Place: Ocean Currents Exploration
Each two-week module in the Study of Place curriculum is framed by an historical event that makes a connection between the physical environment and human activity. The activities focus primarily on physical and earth science content, geography, and inquiry skills. Assessments and scoring rubrics, including a pre-assessment that can be used for both modules, are embedded in each module, providing opportunities for tracking student learning. The Ocean Currents Exploration module is framed by Benja
Exploring Earth: Visualizations
This site features over 100 animations and images that illuminate key concepts in earth science. Examples are: coal formation, nuclear fission, growth of a continent, tectonic plate movement, volcanoes and earthquakes, fault motion, geyser eruption, wave motion, tornadoes, hurricanes, and more. Students can observe a single place on earth from multiple views, 3-D models of water and common molecules, different climate zones, and seasonal changes in the amount of sunlight reaching locations on ea
Exploring Earth: Investigations
This site provides more than 75 earth science investigations. Each presents photos and text (and sometimes video) that help students understand key earth science concepts. Among the topics: earth's layers, rocks, volcanoes and plate tectonics, earthquakes and mountains, surface and ground water, wind and currents, atmosphere and weather, climate change, oceans, our moon and solar system, and earth's history.
The Snowball Earth
This website contains an informational paper by Paul Hoffman and Daniel Schragg at Harvard University. The paper describes many lines of evidence supporting a theory that the entire Earth was ice-covered 600-700 million years ago. Each glacial period lasted for millions of years and ended violently under extreme greenhouse conditions. These climate shocks triggered the evolution of multicellular animal life, and challenge long-held assumptions regarding the limits of global change. Users can rea
Physical geography is the study of the earth's dynamic systems -- its air, water, weather climate, landforms, rocks, soils, plants, ecosystems and biomes -- and how humans interact with the earth's systems. Physical geography is the study of the world around you. Everyone, every day, interacts with the earth's dynamic systems. I challenge you to join me on an exploration of the complex, and exciting world in which you live! This is a freshman level college course in physical geography. It requir