Climate Change Education Across the Curricula, Across the Globe

Climate Change Education Across the Curricula

Tag: Classroom/Laboratory Activity

Classroom/Laboratory Activity: Metabolic Rates and Global Warming

Posted by on in Biological Sciences

A guidebook of gender-sensitive approaches to climate change policy for city planning. It discusses the different ways in which women and men are affected by climate change. This guidebook includes discussions on gender inequalities such as gender division of labour, gender differentials in income, gender biases in decision making, and other factors contributing to climate vulnerability.

Students will understand how climate change impacts genders differently. They will also learn the importance of gender sensitivity in formulating climate change policies. Students will be introduced to gender sensitive climate adaptation, mitigation and resilience in cities.

Use this tool to help your students find answers to: 

  1. How does climate change affect genders differently?
  2. Give a few reasons why climate change policies should use a gender-sensitive approach
  3. What are the priorities for gender-sensitive climate policies at urban levels?

About the Tool 

Tool Name Gender and Urban Climate Policy: Gender-Sensitive Policies Make a Difference
Discipline Humanities, Social Sciences
Topic(s) in Discipline Gender, Gender and Climate Change, Gender Inequality, Urban Planning, Public Policy, Climate Change Policy, Climate Vulnerability
Climate Topic Climate and Society, Policies, Politics, and Environmental Governance
Type of Tool Reading
Grade Level Undergraduate, Graduate
Location  Global
Language English
Translation –
Developed by Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development 
Hosted at Giz, UN Habitat, Gender CC 
Link Reading Link
Access Online, Offline
Computer Skills Basic

 

Classroom/Laboratory Activity: Linear Regression using Global Temperatures

Posted by on in Mathematics and Statistics

A classroom/lab activity for Statistics teachers to teach about Linear Regression. This activity is based on a dataset on average global temperature anomalies from 1850 to 2019. 

Students will learn about introductory linear regression techniques and will learn to make scatter plots of the data provided. This tool will allow the student to understand changes in the average global temperatures since the industrial revolution. 

Use this tool to help your students find answers to:

  1. What is linear regression?
  2. Plot the average global temperature anomalies on a scatter plot.
  3. What are confidence intervals? What are the confidence interval slopes for global temperature at 25, 50, 100 and 150 years before 2019?
  4. How have human activities impacted average global temperatures since the Industrial revolution?

About the Tool

Tool Name Global Temperature Anomalies
Discipline Mathematics and Statistics
Topic(s) in Discipline Linear regression, Scatter Plot, Confidence Intervals
Climate Topic Climate Variability Record
Type of Tool Activity
Grade Level High School, Undergraduate
Location Global
Language English
Translation –
Developed by IPCC, Thomas J. Pfaff (Ithaca College)
Hosted at Sustainability Math
Link Link
Access Offline
Computer Skills Basic

Differential Calculus using Methane Data

Posted by on in Mathematics and Statistics

A classroom/laboratory activity for Mathematics teachers to teach about Differential Calculus, specifically, about polynomial differentiation focusing on  Tangent Line Problem and Curve Fitting. This activity contains yearly data of the globally averaged marine surface methane from 1984 to 2019. Methane is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions – a potential cause of global warming.

Students will learn the use of scatter plot and curve fitting to derive the polynomial differentiation function. Further this activity will allow students to predict future methane concentrations.

Use this tool to help your students find answers to:

  1. What are polynomial differentiation functions?
  2. Derive a polynomial function using the given methane concentration date.
  3. Calculate future methane concentration using polynomial differentiation.

About the Tool

Tool Name Global Marine Surface CH4
Discipline Mathematics and Statistics
Topic(s) in Discipline Differential Calculus, Polynomial Differentiation, Tangent Line Problem, Scatter Plot, Curve Fitting
Climate Topic Classroom/Laboratory Activity
Type of Tool Video (64 mins)
Grade Level High School, Undergraduate
Location  Global
Language English
Translation –
Developed by Thomas J. Pfaff (Ithaca College)
Hosted at Sustainability Math
Link Link
Access Offline
Computer Skills Basic

Classroom/Laboratory Activity: Permafrost and Climate Change

Posted by on in Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geography

A set of hands-on classroom and computer-based activities for students to learn about permafrost and to explore various web-based scientific data portals to investigate permafrost distribution, characteristics of permafrost, and the effects of thawing permafrost on the atmosphere and the environment.

Read More “Classroom/Laboratory Activity: Permafrost and Climate Change”

Classroom/Laboratory Activity: Reconstruction of Paleoclimate by Using Isotopic Composition Data

Posted by on in Chemistry, Earth Sciences

A classroom/laboratory activity to learn about the isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen, analyze the isotopic composition of ice, and understand how isotopic compositions can be used to recreate past temperatures and climate.

Students will plot graphs to analyze data from the Vostok ice core in Antarctica, learn about the ice age and the gas age, calculate past temperatures using hydrogen isotope data, and discuss the possible impacts of changes in carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) concentrations on climate.

Use this tool to help your students find answers to:

  1. How can you use hydrogen isotope data in an ice core to determine temperature?
  2. How can the isotopic composition of air bubbles in ice cores be used to recreate past climate?

About the Tool

Tool Name Lab: Vostok Ice Core
Discipline Chemistry, Earth Sciences
Topic(s) in Discipline Isotopes, Isotopic Ratios, Isotopic Composition in paloeclimate reconstructions
Climate Topic Climate and the Cryosphere, Climate Variability Record
Type of Tool Laboratory Activity
Grade Level Undergraduate
Location Antarctica
Vostok Station
Language English
Translation
Developed by  Stephanie Pfirman, Barnard College
Hosted at Columbia University: The Climate System course taught by Peter Schlosser, Stephanie Pfirman, Mingfang Ting, Jason Smerdon
Link http://eesc.columbia.edu/courses/ees/climate/labs/vostok/
Access Online, Offline
Computer Skills Intermediate

Classroom/Laboratory Activity: Ocean Chemistry, Ocean Acidification, and Oyster Growth

Posted by on in Chemistry

A classroom/laboratory activity to learn about the pH of ocean water, explore the potential effects of climate change on ocean acidification, and understand the possible impacts of ocean acidification on marine organisms such as oysters.

Students will explore and analyze the relationship between the growth of oyster larvae and the chemistry of ocean water (aragonite saturation state) by plotting graphs for actual data from the Whiskey Creek Hatchery in Oregon, USA.

Use this tool to help your students find answers to:

  1. If ocean water became more acidic, how might it affect oyster populations?
  2. What are the possible impacts of climate change on the chemistry of seawater?

About the Tool

Tool Name Ocean Acidification and Oysters Lab
Discipline Chemistry
Topic(s) in Discipline pH Scale, Acids and Bases, Acidification, Ocean Carbonate Chemistry, Seawater Chemistry, Aragonite Saturation State, Ocean Acidity
Climate Topic Climate and the Hydrosphere
Type of Tool Laboratory Activity
Grade Level High School, Undergraduate
Location North America
USA
Language English
Translation
Developed by Hilary Palevsky, UW Oceanography
Hosted at Program on Climate Change, College of the Environment, University of Washington
Link https://pcc.uw.edu/education/classroom-resources/climate-teaching-modules/uwhs-atms-211-ocean-acidification-and-oysters-lab/
Access Online, Offline
Computer Skills Intermediate

(Image credit: Program on Climate Change, College of the Environment, University of Washington)

Classroom/Laboratory Activity: The Impact of Human Activities on the Natural Carbon Cycle

Posted by on in Chemistry

A classroom/laboratory activity to understand the carbon cycle, and to explore how human activities may affect the natural carbon cycle.

Students will run a simulation to explore how an increase in fossil fuel use will affect the natural carbon cycle, and will discuss the possible impacts on flora and fauna.

Use this tool to help your students find answers to:

  1. Which components in the carbon cycle act as carbon sinks?
  2. What are the possible impacts of deforestation on the natural carbon cycle? How might these changes affect the Earth’s climate?

About the Tool

Tool Name The Habitable Planet – Carbon Lab
Discipline Chemistry
Topic(s) in Discipline Carbon Cycle, Biogeochemical Cycles, Environmental Chemistry
Climate Topic Long-term Cycles and Feedback Mechanisms
Type of Tool Laboratory Activity
Grade Level High School
Location  Global
Language English
Translation
Developed by Annenberg Learner
Hosted at Annenberg Learner
Link https://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/interactives/carbon/index.php
Access Online
Computer Skills Intermediate

Classroom/Laboratory Activity: Climate Change, the Cryosphere, and Rising Sea Levels

Posted by on in Earth Sciences, Geography

A classroom/laboratory activity that introduces the relationship between climate and the cryosphere, explains how sea-level rise can be predicted (based on average global temperature change), and triggers a discussion on the potential impacts of sea-level rise.

Read More “Classroom/Laboratory Activity: Climate Change, the Cryosphere, and Rising Sea Levels”