Classroom/Lab Activities

What do Squirrels know about Climate Change?

This activity enables students to determine how biodiversity may be influenced by climate change. They will learn about changes in

Lab: Vostok Ice Core

The tool allows a student to explore how isotopes can be used as indicators of paleoclimate and reconstruct the paleoclimate

Is There a Trend in Hurricane Intensity?

This laboratory activity allows a student to explore trends in hurricane intensity, the possible impact of climate change on hurricanes,

Introducing the economic concept of ‘tragedy of the commons’ using global warming

In this laboratory activity, students learn that the atmosphere of planet Earth can be considered as a “commons” and that

Historical Temperature Trends

In this laboratory activity students use statistical methods to analyze historical temperature records of different cities and find significant patterns

Why fly south? How climate change alters the phenology of plants and animals

This activity allows students to learn about phenology in plants and animals and to explore how climate change may influence

Lab: Beyond the byte: Mosquitoes and Malaria

This activity enables students to examine the relationship between temperature and the geographical distribution of malaria, and to determine how

Ocean Acidification and Oysters Lab

This classroom/laboratory activity allows students to understand how marine organisms may be affected by increased ocean acidification caused by climate

Variations climatiques et composition isotopique de l’oxyène (O18_16 (Oxygène))

The tool allows a student to learn about the isotopes of oxygen (O18 and O16); to understand the relative distribution

The Habitable Planet – Carbon Lab

This laboratory activity (including an interactive visualization tool and an associated activity), “Carbon Lab,” allows students to observe and understand

Meteorologist for a day

In this activity students are provided a set of hourly temperature data for a 24-hour period from one location around

Arctic Ice Data

In this exercise, students learn to use statistical methods on climate data from the Arctic. They run the linear regression

Global Ocean Conveyor Belt

This laboratory activity helps students understand the great ocean conveyor belt by exploring how various factors and processes (such as

Beetles, Mammals, and Plants: Is Climate Driving Range Shifts Since the Last Glacial Maximum

In this exercise, students will learn how organisms respond to the change in climate since the last glacial maximum (LGM)

Feeling the Heat

This activity allows students to learn and understand the urban heat island effect by measuring temperatures in an area, collating

Climate Prediction

In this activity, students model the effect of change in the radiation entering or leaving the Earth on the resulting

Hadley Circulation using NASA Merra Reanalysis Model

This laboratory activity helps students to understand radiation, heat transport, convection, and energy/mass conservation by interpreting and mapping the Hadley

Using trigonometric functions to model climate

In this exercise students are provided with local temperature data of Wellington, New Zealand and they model fluctuations in temperature

Global Warming: A Zonal Energy Balance Model

This laboratory activity involves creating an Energy Balance Model for planet Earth by writing code in MATLAB or Mathematica. Students

US and China CO2 Emisisons

In this activity, students are provided with CO2 emissions, population, and per capita emissions data for the US and China

Mauna Loa Yearly Average CO2

In this activity, students are provided with mean atmospheric CO2 concentration from the Mauna Loa observatory from 1950 to the

Mapping Coastal Vulnerability to Sea-Level Rise at Point Reyes National Seashore

This activity allows a student to learn about the rate of sea-level rise and its causes. It also describes how