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Teaching Resources for Climate Change
Classroom Activities
Introduction to Global Warming
To begin this minds-on analysis and discussion activity, students learn about the correlated increases in global temperatures and CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. Next, students evaluate an example that illustrates that correlation does not necessarily imply causation.
Then, students analyze several types of evidence to test the hypothesis that increased CO2 in the atmosphere has been a major cause of the increase in global temperatures. This activity concludes with a very brief discussion of how global warming has contributed to harmful effects (e.g., increased flooding) and possible student actions to reduce these harmful effects.
Food and Climate Change – How can we feed a growing world population without increasing global warming?
In this analysis and discussion activity, students learn how food production results in the release of three greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4). Students analyze carbon and nitrogen cycles to understand how agriculture results in increased CO2 and N2O in the atmosphere.
Students interpret data concerning the very different amounts of greenhouse gases released during the production of various types of food; they apply concepts related to trophic pyramids and they learn about CH4 release by ruminants.
Finally, students propose, research, and evaluate strategies to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that will be released during future production of food for the world’s growing population.
Global Warming News from the New York Times
- Federal Reserve Plans to Cut 10% of Its Staff
- Data Centers’ Hunger for Energy Could Raise All Electric Bills
- The Home Insurance Crisis Is Getting Even More Expensive
- An Effort to Kill Off Lawsuits Against Oil Giants Is Gaining Steam
- Trump Administration to Uphold Some PFAS Limits but Eliminate Others
- Making Dishwashers Great Again?
- A Lavish Welcome for Trump in Saudi Arabia, and a Standoff at the Library of Congress
Climate Change News from The Guardian
- Texas swelters as record-breaking heatwave sweeps across state
- The Guardian view on green homes: solar panels and heat pumps should be a bare minimum | Editorial
- Trump pick for workplace safety agency sparks fears heat protections will be derailed
- Weatherwatch: How ecologists are helping birds adapt to climate crisis
- Abi Daré wins the inaugural Climate fiction prize
- How memories of clean water, frogs and fresh air could help save Rio’s favelas from future climate disaster
- European firms ramping up lobbying for climate action, report finds
Climate Change Posts from Nature
- Don’t overlook the mental-health costs of California’s wildfires
- Atmospheric circulation to constrain subtropical precipitation projections
- Drivers of marine heatwaves in coral bleaching regions of the Red Sea
- Warming triggers snowfall fraction loss Thresholds in High-Mountain Asia
- Polar bears and expanding sea ice in the Mid Holocene Aleutian Islands, Alaska
- More autumn tropical cyclone genesis in the South China Sea during El Niño to La Niña transition
- Optimizing afforestation pathways through economic cost mitigates China’s financial challenge of carbon neutrality
Climate Solutions from Union of Concerned Scientists
- 12,000 Reasons Why the Trump Administration Must Be Stopped from Dismantling FEMA
- Seven Questions for EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin as He Testifies Before Congress
- Trump Administration Attempts Burying Climate Change Evidence to Further Fossil Fuel Agenda
- 4 Ways the Trump Administration Is Making Danger Season Worse this Year
- What’s at Stake in the Budget Reconciliation Process (And What You Can Do About It)
- Trump’s 6 Worst Attacks on FEMA in the First 100 Days
- President Trump’s 100 Days of Federal Housing Policy Chaos
Resources for Teaching and Learning about Climate Change
This annotated list includes resources that can help your students to develop a scientifically accurate understanding of the causes and consequences of global warming and climate change. This list also includes resources for learning about how to reduce greenhouse gases and how to cope with the harmful effects of climate change. When learning about climate change, it is important for students to engage with proposals to mitigate and adapt to climate change, so they can feel energized, instead of powerless. Given the nature of the topic, the approach is interdisciplinary. These resources are appropriate for middle school, high school and/or college students.