Lessons

• 

  Just Turn It Off

  K-2  |  Hands-On
  In this lesson, students will probe the problem of what happens to a battery-operated flashlight when it is not turned off.
• 

  Energy Sources and Use

  3-5  |  Hands-On
  In this lesson, students distinguish between renewable and nonrenewable sources of energy while comparing the benefits and drawbacks of each.
• 

  The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge

  3-5  |  Video
  This lesson should help students understand both the physical forces behind climate change, and the social responses to it as a means to preserve the health of people, the state of cities, island nations, and organisms.
• 

  Power Up!

  3-5  |  Interactive
  In this lesson, students compare and contrast different energy sources and the trade-offs of using them.
• 

  True Green Kids: 100 Things You Can Do to Save the Planet

  3-5  |  Hands-On
  This lesson shows that products and objects have lifespans so we need to recycle, reuse, and re-imagine new purposes for them.
• 

  Endangered Species 2: Working to Save Endangered Species

  6-8  
  This lesson focuses less on the science and more on the actual work of saving endangered species.
• 

  Energy for You

  6-8  
  In this lesson, students will learn about the sources of the energy that supply their community.
• 

  Grasslands and Climate Change

  6-8  |  Video
  This lesson provides students with an opportunity to explore the climate change concept in greater depth.
• 

  How We Know What We Know about Our Changing Climate

  6-8  |  Audio
  The lesson introduces students to the scientific basis of climate change.
• 

  Renewable Energy Sources

  6-8  |  Website
  In this lesson, students will use Internet resources to investigate renewable sources of energy.
• 

  Abrupt Climate Change

  9-12  
  In this lesson, students explore how scientific knowledge changes in the context of abrupt climate change.
• 

  Green Roof Design

  9-12  
  In this student-centered learning model, students work collaboratively in small teams to design a heat- and water-conserving “green roof” of plant material for an urban apartment building.
• 

  Simulating Climate Change Research in Grasslands

  9-12  |  Video
  In this lesson, students learn about organism interactions and how those interactions shift in response to climate change, especially in grassland communities.

Tools

• 

  Communicating and Learning about Global Climate Change

  6-12  |  Video
  This 12-minute video produced by AAAS features a number of experts on global climate change talking about its impacts to our planet.
• 

  Going Green: An Earth Day Bibliography

  K-12  |  Teaching Aid
  SB&F has put together a list of our top environmental books to help the consumer make informed, eco-friendly choices and to encourage children to take an active role in saving the environment.
• 

  NASA's Climate Kids

  K-8  |  Video
  NASA's climate change site for kids asks and answers important questions relating to climate change as well as providing entertaining career insights, online games, videos, and hands-on activities.
• 

  Power Up!

  3-8  |  Interactive
  This interactive challenges students to think about the positive and negative consequences of various types of power.
• 

  Project BudBurst App

  6-12  |  Interactive
  Project BudBurst is part of a citizen science program designed to encourage local participation in a national research effort.
• 

  WeatherSchool @ AAAS

  6-8  |  Interactive
  Explore how different factors work together to produce both your local community's day-to-day weather and the overall climate for your region of the world.
• 

  What We Know

  9-12  |  Video
  What We Know is an assessment of current climate science and impacts that emphasizes the need to understand and recognize possible high-risk scenarios.
• 

  Women in Science: Forging New Pathways in Green Science

  6-12  |  Website
  This booklet focuses on women in five areas of "green science": environmental responsibility, biotechnology, biodiversity, sustainability, and medicines.

Science Updates

• 

  Ascending Plants

  6-12  |  Audio
  As climate change heats up the world's ecosystems, many species of plants and animals, from songbirds to whales, are leaving their time-tested home ecosystems for uncharted territory. This Science Update looks at how some plants are changing altitude to find a cooler place to live.
• 

  Carbon Emissions

  6-12  |  Audio
  Carbon gases are prime culprits in global warming. One study suggests we're making even more of them than we thought. You can learn why in this Science Update.
• 

  Changing Oceans

  6-12  |  Audio
  According to a landmark study in the journal Science, climate change is transforming the world's oceans, at a potentially huge cost. You'll hear more about it in this Science Update.
• 

  Climate and Conflict

  6-12  |  Audio
  Climate change may precipitate violence, according to a historical analysis.
• 

  Climate Change & Conflict

  6-12  |  Audio
  Earth’s changing climate may already be playing a role in today’s conflicts.
• 

  Early Climate Change

  6-12  |  Audio
  Human activities like farming have contributed some amount of greenhouse gas to the atmosphere for ages
• 

  Fossil Fuel Switch

  6-12  |  Audio
  Learn about a thirty-year plan to replace 70 percent of our fossil fuels, using only current technologies like storable solar power, safer nuclear plants, and methanol from crop waste.
• 

  Mountain Rain

  6-12  |  Audio
  This Science Update explores why pollution from cities could dry out nearby mountains.
• 

  Nitrogen Pollution

  6-12  |  Audio
  In this Science Update, learn why human sources of nitrogen may be just as environmentally costly as carbon emissions.
• 

  Siberian Permafrost

  6-12  |  Audio
  Once the Earth warms to a critical temperature, permafrost in Siberia will melt, releasing massive amounts of carbon.
• 

  Soil & Global Warming

  6-12  |  Audio
  One of the biggest environmental worries is global warming, which is caused by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. In this Science Update, you'll hear how dirt might help fight it.
• 

  Thoreau's Plants

  6-12  |  Audio
  In this Science Update, hear how researches are using Henry David Thoreau's plant journals to study climate change.

Videos

• Climate Change Research in California (Part A)

  6-12  |  Video
  This video was made by Danielle Balistrieri, a college student who participated in grasslands research in California.

• Climate Change Research in California (Part B)

  6-12  |  Video
  This video was made by Danielle Balistrieri, a college student who participated in grasslands research in California, and discusses the results of their research.

Collections

• 

  Earth Day

  K-12  
  This collection of Science NetLinks lessons and resources will help teachers and students prepare for the celebration of Earth Day.
• 

  Earth Hour

  K-12  
  These resources help students explore the ideas of light pollution, energy conservation, and global climate change in your classroom and beyond.
• 

  The Science of Weather

  K-12  
  This collection focuses on different types of weather and the natural forces that cause them.