Climate Change Education Across the Curricula, Across the Globe

Climate Change Education Across the Curricula

Tag: Introduction to climate change

Audio: Rap Music and Climate Change

Posted by on in Humanities

A music album titled ‘The Rap Guide To Climate Chaos’ by Baba Brinkman that contains 24 tracks on climate change. The album discusses the science, politics and economics of climate change. The tracks cover a variety of topics such as greenhouse gases, carbon emissions, climate taxes and green capitalism.  

Tracks include – Options, I.P.C.C., Keep It Positive, Greenhouse (feat. Aaron Nazrul), Party Don’t Stop, Run the Joules, Mo Carbon Mo Problems, What’s Beef (feat. Bill Nye), Battle Lines, Lost in the Numbers, Bright Side, Fossil Fuel Ballers (feat. Aaron Nazrul), Exxon Knew, Laudato Si, Yank the Plug, Make It Hot, Regulators, Carbon Bubble (feat. Mariella), Stranded Assets, Ride Electric (feat. Fand), This or That, Freedom Ain’t Free, Stand Up, Makin’ Waves (feat. Gaia’s Eye) 

In songs such as ‘IPCC’, Brinkman addresses the findings of the committee and even internal disagreements on projections. On songs such as ‘Greenhouse’, he takes the listener through a sonic journey of development including the greenhouse effect, predicted rise in global temperatures from Svante’s study and puts them alongside the findings of the IPCC and its accuracy. He critiques his own consumption and the paradox of being unable to individually contribute to reducing the impact of climate change without large scale policy reforms. Brinkman speaks extensively about cap and trade vs climate taxes, and the ecological debt that richer countries owe the marginalized. The album also focuses on Exxon’s failures and lies.

The album can be found at https://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-climate-chaos

Note that the album is available for purchase at the link above.

The tracks are available for free viewing on YouTube as part of Baba Brinkman’s performance for ‘Talks At Google’. This free resource can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1ZH6R3Idb4&t=759s

Students will learn about the topic of climate change through music and learn about its current impacts.  They will also learn about the important stakeholders in climate change politics and how climate change politics plays a huge role in the development of the global economy. Students will further learn about how music can be used to discuss science based topics in order to better understand them.  

Use this tool to help your students find answers to:

  1. What is climate change? Discuss the various perceptions of climate change 
  2. Discuss climate change topics and the politics underlying the problem
  3. What is the role of fossil fuel burning in the warming of the planet?
  4. What is green capitalism?

About the tool

Tool NameThe Rap Guide To Climate Chaos
DisciplineHumanities
Topic(s) in DisciplineClimate Change, Music, Rap, Hip-Hop 
Climate Topic Introduction to Climate Change, Climate and the Anthrosphere, Energy, Economics and Climate Change
Type of tool Audio (60 min)
Grade LevelHigh School, Undergraduate
LocationGlobal
LanguageEnglish 
Translation
Developed byBaba Brinkman
Hosted atBaba Brinkman Music/ Talks at Google 
LinkAlbum Link or Youtube Link
AccessOnline
Computer SkillsBasic 

E-Learning Courses on Climate Change

Posted by on in Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geography, Mathematics and Statistics

Series of two E-Learning Courses on Introduction to Climate Change and Climate Science

Following are two online courses in Climate Change and Climate Science by the National Resource Centre (NRC) on Climate Change at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune as part of the Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching (ARPIT), Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India.

Read More

Model/ Simulator: The Greenhouse Effect

Posted by on in Chemistry

An interactive simulation to explore the role of different greenhouse gases in causing the greenhouse effect. This PhET simulation titled, ‘The Greenhouse Effect’ by University of Colorado, Boulder, helps to visualize the greenhouse effect of the atmosphere.

Students will learn how certain gases in the atmosphere absorb outgoing terrestrial radiation and re-radiate the energy back to Earth’s surface. Using the simulation, they will also be able to adjust the concentration of different greenhouse gases and to note the corresponding surface temperatures of the planet. 

Use this tool to help your students find answers to: 

  1. What are greenhouse gases?
  2. What is the ‘greenhouse effect’ of the Earth’s atmosphere?
  3. Discuss how varying concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere cause global warming. 

About the tool

Tool NameThe Greenhouse Effect
DisciplineChemistry
Topic(s) in DisciplineGreenhouse Effect, Greenhouse Gases (GHGs), Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Global Warming
Climate Topic Greenhouse Effect; Introduction to Climate Change
Type of tool Simulation
Grade LevelMiddle School, High School
LocationGlobal
LanguageEnglish, French, German, and Spanish
Translation
Developed byPhET Interactive Simulations, University of Colorado
Hosted atPhET Interactive Simulations Website
Linkhttps://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/greenhouse
AccessOnline
Computer SkillsBasic

Teaching Module: The Greenhouse Effect

Posted by on in Chemistry

A teaching module for teachers that explains what greenhouse gases are and describes their role in causing global warming. This resource developed by the Office for Climate Education (OCE) introduces students to the concept of the greenhouse effect and the importance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.  The module is based on the IPCC Special Report -Global Warming of 1.5°C and has been developed especially for teachers.

Students will be introduced to the topic of greenhouse gases and the greenhouse effect of the atmosphere. They will further learn about the relationship between this effect and global warming. 

Use this tool to help your students find answers to: 

  1. What is the ‘greenhouse effect’?
  2. Discuss how the industrial revolution has resulted in an increase in the concentration of some GHGs in the atmosphere and how this contributes to global warming.

About the tool

Tool Name‘A. Understanding global warming’, pages 7-9 of the document,
‘IPCC Special Report “Global Warming of 1.5 0 C”- Summary for Teachers’
DisciplineChemistry
Topic(s) in DisciplineGreenhouse Effect, Greenhouse Gases (GHGs), Greenhouse Gas Emissions,
Global Warming, Global Warming Potential (GWP)
Climate Topic Greenhouse Effect; Introduction to Climate Change
Type of tool Reading
Grade LevelMiddle School, High School
LocationGlobal
LanguageEnglish 
Translation
Developed byOffice for Climate Education (OCE)
Hosted atOffice for Climate Education (OCE) Website
LinkLink
AccessOnline/Offline
Computer SkillsBasic

Teaching Module: Climate Change Mathematics by NASA

Posted by on in Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics

A teaching module by NASA makes the use of basic mathematics, algebra, geometry, trigonometric functions and statistics to understand earth science and climate change. This teaching module consists of a range of topics, for different grade levels, and relates them to mathematical modelling. The topic covered are as stated below:

  1. Fractions and Chemistry
  2. Counting Atoms in a Molecule
  3. Parts per Hundred
  4. Parts per Thousand
  5. Kelvin Temperatures and Very Cold Things
  6. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? 
  7. Ancient Eclipses and the Length of Day 
  8. Earth’s Polar Wander – The Chandler Wobble 
  9. Identifying Materials by their Reflectivity 
  10. Reflectivity Fingerprints
  11. Graphical Reflectivity Measurements 
  12. Electricity – Watts and Kilowatts
  13. Energy in the Home
  14. Energy Consumption in an Empty House! 
  15. Annual Electricity Consumption in a Home
  16. Carbon Dioxide Production at Home
  17. US Electrical Energy Consumption
  18. World Electricity Consumption and Carbon Dioxide 
  19. Earth’s Atmosphere
  20. Carbon Dioxide Production and Sequestration
  21. Carbon Dioxide Increases
  22. Modeling the Keeling Curve with Excel
  23. Carbon Dioxide – Where does it all go?
  24. A Simple Model for Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide 
  25. Carbon Dioxide Increases During the Last 2000 Years
  26. Carbon Dioxide Changes During the Last 400,000 Years 
  27. Solar Insolation Changes and the Sunspot Cycle
  28. The Solar Constant Since 1600
  29. Scientists Track the Rising Tide
  30. A Satellite View of Downtown Las Vegas
  31. Exploring Washington DC from Space! 
  32. Paris – In a Different Light
  33. Glacier Retreat
  34. Estimating Biomass Loss From a Large Fire 
  35. Earth – A Matter of Gravity!
  36. Magnetic Earth and the Lithosphere 
  37. Studying Ocean Plankton From Space 
  38. NASA Satellite Sees Carbon Dioxide 
  39. Carbon Production in the US – 2002 
  40. Earth’s Carbon Metabolism – Revealed
  41. The International Space Station and Atmospheric Drag 
  42. Satellite Drag and the Hubble Space Telescope 
  43. Earth’s Rotation Changes and the Length of the Day 
  44. The Global Warming Debate and the Arctic Ice Cap 
  45. The Great Gulf Oil Catastrophe of 2010
  46. Recent Events: A Perspective on Carbon Dioxide

Use this tool to help students find answers to:

  1. What is ‘reflectivity’? Graph the measurements of commonly mentioned materials as per their reflectivity index.
  2. What is ‘Keeling Curve’? What does it say about carbon dioxide concentrations over time?
  3. How is carbon dioxide concentration calculated using satellite imagery?

About the Tool

Tool NameEarth Math Educator Guide
DisciplineEarth Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics, Environmental Sciences
Topic(s) in DisciplineAlgebra, Data Analysis, Probability, Trigonometry, Fractions and Decimals, Energy Consumption, Visualization, Graphs, Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Keeling Curve, Carbon Sequestration, Glacier Retreat
Climate TopicIntroduction to Climate Change; Climate Variability Record; Planetary Climate
Type of toolTeaching Module
Grade LevelMiddle School, Highschool
LocationGlobal
LanguageEnglish
Translation 
Developed byNASA
Hosted atNANA STEM Engagement Website 
LinkLink
AccessOnline/ Offline
Computer SkillsBasic

Video Lecture: Planck’s Law and Earths Climate

Posted by on in Earth Sciences, Physics

A video lecture titled, ‘Planck’s distribution and Inverse square law’ from the e-learning course, ‘Introduction to Atmospheric Science’ developed by C Balaji, IIT Madras, for National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), India. These video lecture gives a detailed explanation about Planck’s Law for black body distribution. It also includes discussions on Wien’s displacement law, radiative loss, Simpson’s rule, Trapezoidal rule, Gauss quads, the Stefan-Boltzmann Law,  and Newton Raphson method.

Students will learn about Planck’s law and how to calculate Earth’s temperature. They will also be introduced to photosphere, flux density, planetary albedo, reflectivity, absorptivity, transmissivity, emissivity for land,  and emissivity of ocean which are used to calculate Earth’s temperature and determine its climate.

A transcript of the lecture is also provided.

Use this tool to help your students find answers to:

  1. Define the following:
    1. Black body radiation
    2. Albedo Effect
    3. Adsorption
    4. Transmissivity
    5. Emissivity of land
  2. How is Earth’s temperature calculate given the following scenario:
    1. Earth as a black body
    2. Earth with oceans, snow covered land and a simple layer of non-interactive air

About the tool

Tool NameLecture – 32: Planck’s distribution and Inverse square law
DisciplinePhysics, Earth Sciences
Topic(s) in DisciplineClimate Physics, Atmospheric Sciences, Atmospheric Physics, Planck’s Law, Black Body Radiation, Earth Climate System, Albedo Effect, Stefan-Boltzmann Law
Climate TopicIntroduction to Climate Change; Planetary Climate; Planetary Energy Balance; Climate and the Atmosphere
Type of toolVideo Lecture ( 47 mins)
Grade LevelUndergraduate, Graduate
LocationGlobal
LanguageEnglish
Translation
Developed byC Balaji, IIT Madras
Hosted atNPTEL (https://nptel.ac.in/courses/119/106/119106008/)
LinkLink
AccessOnline
Computer SkillsBasic

Video Lecture: Physics of Scattering and Greenhouse Gases

Posted by on in Earth Sciences, Physics

Two video lectures titled, ‘Physics of scattering, emission and absorption’ from the e-learning course, ‘Introduction to Atmospheric Science’ developed by C Balaji, IIT Madras, for National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), India. These video lectures explain the behaviour of Earth’s atmosphere due to interaction between gases and sun’s radiation which lead to radiative absorption, emission and scattering.

Students will learn about reflection, refraction, isotropic scattering, greenhouse gases, extinction coefficient, Prevost law, Stefan Boltzmann law, thermal conductivity of water, Kirchhoff’s law, Marshall-Palmer distribution, Rayleigh scattering, Mie scattering, Doppler and Lorentz broadening and Gaussian distribution.

A transcript of the lecture is also provided.

Use this tool to help your students find answers to:

  1. How do greenhouse gases interact with incoming solar radiation?
  2. Discuss the physics of scattering in the atmosphere.

About the tool

Tool NameLecture – 33 and 34: Physics of scattering, emission and absorption
DisciplinePhysics, Earth Sciences
Topic(s) in DisciplineClimate Physics, Atmospheric Sciences, Atmospheric Physics, Prevost law, Stefan Boltzmann law, Kirchhoff’s law, Marshall-Palmer distribution, Rayleigh scattering
Climate TopicIntroduction to Climate Change; Planetary Climate; Planetary Energy Balance; Climate and the Atmosphere
Type of toolVideo Lecture (48 mins and 41 mins)
Grade LevelUndergraduate, Graduate
LocationGlobal
LanguageEnglish
Translation
Developed byC Balaji, IIT Madras
Hosted atNPTEL (https://nptel.ac.in/courses/119/106/119106008/)
LinkLink 1 , Link 2
AccessOnline
Computer SkillsBasic

E-learning Course/ Reading: ‘The Discovery of Global Warming’

Posted by on in Earth Sciences, Geography, Physics

This E-learning course is a website of the Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics, created to supplement the book titled, ‘The Discovery of Global Warming” by Spencer Weart. The original book provides a history of scientific discovery into climate change as a single story. The website provides each chapter as a separate essay which is downloadable and is updated annually. 

It consists of the following chapters that detail each topic under climate change:

  1. Introduction and Summary 
  2. Influences on Climate
    1. The Carbon Dioxide Greenhouse Effect 
      1. Roger Revelle’s Discovery 
    2. Other Greenhouse Gases 
    3. Aerosols: Volcanoes, Dust, Clouds
    4. Biosphere: How Life Alters Climate
    5. Changing Sun, Changing Climate?
    6. Ocean Currents and Climate
  3. Climates Observed
    1. The Modern Temperature Trend 
    2. Rapid Climate Change Abrupt climate change
      1. Uses of Radiocarbon Dating
    3. Past Climate Cycles and Ice Ages 
      1. Temperatures from Fossil Shells 
  4. Theory
    1. Simple Models of Climate Change 
      1. Chaos in the Atmosphere 
      2. Venus & Mars 
    2. General Circulation Models of Climate
      1. Basic Radiation Calculations
      2.  Arakawa’s Computation Device 
  5. Climate and Society
    1. Impacts of Climate Change
      1. Ice Sheets, Rising Seas, Floods
    2. The Public and Climate Change
      1. Wintry Doom
    3. Government: The View from Washington
      1. Climate Modification Schemes
      2. Money for Keeling: Monitoring CO2 Levels 
    4. International Cooperation 
      1. Climatology as a Profession
  6. Conclusions: A Personal Note 

Students will learn about climate change sciences and history from the time of Ancient Greeks to the modern period. They will be introduced to scientific methodologies used to prove how modern climate change is due to anthropogenic activities. Additionally, students will also be able to access all resources used to study about the scientific experiments for themselves. 

Use this tool to help your students find answers to:

  1. What is anthropogenic climate change?
  2. Name some prominent climate change theories and how they were proven/disproven?
  3. What are some of the simple climate change models that draw the connection between Earth’s Climate System and human activities?

About the Tool

Tool NameThe Discovery of Global Warming
DisciplinePhysics, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geography
Topic(s) in DisciplineClimate Change, Global Warming, Climate Physics, Earth System, Climate System
Climate TopicIntroduction to Climate Change; Greenhouse Effect; Planetary Climate
Type of toolE-learning Course; Reading
Grade LevelMiddle School, High School
LocationGlobal
LanguageEnglish
Translation
Developed bySpencer Weart
Hosted atCenter for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics
LinkLink
AccessOnline/ Offline
Computer SkillsBasic

Quiz : “Carbon and the climate”

Posted by on in Environmental Sciences, General

The “Carbon and the climate Quiz” is a simple yet thought-provoking activity suitable for school level students. The quiz has a set of questions about the role of carbon in the earth’s atmosphere, the carbon cycle, and climate change. Browse a collection of similar climate-related quizzes here.

Read More “Quiz : “Carbon and the climate””

Data Visualization of GHG Emissions

Posted by on in Environmental Sciences, General

CAIT Climate Data Explorer by World Resources Institute (WRI) showcases the world’s top greenhouse gas-emitting countries with the latest global data available till the year 2013. This interactive chart can be used to explore it by country and by economic sector, showing how the top emitters have changed in recent years.

Show Larger Image 

Tool Name World’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions
DisciplineEnvironmental Sciences
Topic(s) in DisciplineGreenhouse gas emissions
Climate TopicClimate variability record, The Greenhouse Effect
Type of ToolData Visualization
Grade LevelHigh school, Undergraduate
LocationGlobal
LanguageEnglish
Translation 
Developed byGraphic by Johannes Friedrich based on work by Duncan Clark, Kiln, Mike Bostock and Jason Davies, Jamie Cotta.
Data by the World Resources Institute (WRI)
Hosted atCAIT Climate Data Explorer
Link https://www.wri.org/blog/2017/04/interactive-chart-explains-worlds-top-10-emitters-and-how-theyve-changed
AccessOnline
Computer SkillsBasic