Alan Sills, PBS Newshour
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Activity has 5 conceptually linked activities that take about five 45-minute class periods if each part is assigned. For part of the activity, a computer lab is required, for some other parts, access to a science lab room is needed.Discuss this Resource»
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About Teaching Climate Literacy
Other materials addressing 2b
4.1 Humans transfer and transform energy.
4.7 Different sources of energy have different benefits and drawbacks.
Various sources of energy are used to power human activities .
Excellence in Environmental Education Guidelines
Other materials addressing:
A) Processes that shape the Earth.
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Benchmarks for Science Literacy
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Teaching Tips | Science | Pedagogy |
- Ideally the teacher would research more recent Arctic climate data for the students to work with. The data sets that are provided end at 2003.
- A good, short, visualization-type activity to add if time allows is "Exploring Global Ocean Currents" (See Part II of Extension Activities).
About the Science
- Very well designed activity that fosters an in-depth understanding of the thermohaline circulation and the implications that any changes in the system might have in the future.
- Temperature data for the Arctic that is included with the activity is unfortunately only until 2003; including the most recent warming trends would strengthen the message of the activity.
- Definition of cryosphere is not correct. Cryosphere does not have to be covered by frozen ice but rather any part of the Earth where water is present in frozen state of aggregation.
About the Pedagogy
- Nicely arranged suite of hands-on activities, videos, readings, and discussion questions that will engage students with different learning styles through graphing, reading, lab experiments and interpretation of data).
- Carefully designed activity, with great guiding questions and answer keys for educators.
- Great extension activities that also include solutions for anthropogenic climate change (energy awareness): Alternative Fuels and Alternative Cars.
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