Recommended Resources for Teachers

Link: http://www.realclimate.org/

RealClimate is a commentary site on climate science by working climate scientists for the interested public and journalists.  Their aim is to provide quick responses to developing stories and provide the context sometimes missing in mainstream commentary.  The discussion is restricted to scientific topics and does not get involved in any political or economic implications of the science.

* * * * *

Educational Resources
U.S. Global Change Research Program

Link: http://www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/education/default.htm

This portal provides K-12 educators with links to global warming resource lists supplied by the Center for International Earth Science Information Network, the Global Change Data & Information System, and Global Change Research Information Office. It also links to several basic question-and-answer pages about global warming; lesson plans from the media, including the New York Times and National Geographic; and educational sites sponsored by government agencies, including NASA, EPA, DOE, NSF, and NOAA.

 * * * * *

Earthguide
Part of the Geosciences Research Division at Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Link: http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/

Although this interactive educational resource offers articles, maps, diagrams, and animations related to the effects of climate change, its mission is a much larger one. The site is designed to present K-12 educators with information, lesson plans, and curriculum standards on Earth, oceans and the environment in general. The site does everything well, and it’s fairly easy to hone in on the global warming resources. It’s also helpful to know that the site’s curriculum standards and resources focus heavily on the state of California

* * * * *

Global Change Master Directory of Educational Materials Information Websites
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Link: http://globalchange.nasa.gov/Resources/pointers/edu.html

This site links educators to approximately 20 federal agency sites that provide quality information and learning activities related to different aspects of global warming. Some sites are designed for educators to use with elementary level children; others are for use with high school students. Activities include an online project on cloud observation, opportunities (via the NASA Earth Observatory’s remote sensing equipment) to monitor regional and global changes as they happen, an examination of ocean color from space, and activities on polar meteorology.

* * * * *

Global Change and Environmental Education Resources
U.S. Global Change Research Information Office

Link: http://www.gcrio.org/edu.html

This is a collection of nearly 100 global change and environmental resources provided by government agencies, educational publishers, the media, and more. Materials cover a variety of formats for educators and students at all levels (K-12 and higher education), librarians, citizens, and community groups.

* * * * *

Warning from the Ice
NOVA Online

Link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/warnings

This is the companion site for the NOVA television program "Warnings from the Ice," which documents how over the last half-century the coastal ice on the Antarctic Peninsula has been gradually disappearing. Access to a video of the program is not necessary. The site is primarily written to help educators in grades 312 discuss the science behind the topic with their students. Despite the program’s title, the material is not presented in a fashion that would cause fear in most children. The information is thorough and straightforward, however. And the site provides some interesting online features that educators may want to show their students. These include a clickable ice core timeline, an Antarctic almanac, and a typography map that illustrates hypothetical melting of the Antarctic ice sheet. Although these features are interesting, they do have a very adult look and would probably work best with older students.

* * * * *

Green Schools Program
Alliance to Save Energy

Link: http://www.ase.org/section/program/greenschl

This section of the Alliance to Save Energy’s Web site focuses on its Green Schools Program, a program that engages students in creating energy-saving activities in their elementary and secondary schools. Designed for educators and community activists, the section provides case studies on some of the program’s 200 schools, as well as: 1) great tips for implementing a school-wide energy efficiency program anywhere; 2) solid ideas on how to involve students in saving energy in their school; and 3) free, downloadable lesson plans on energy and energy-saving. The lesson plans are fun and skillfully executed. Titles include: Energy Hog Challenge, Draft-o-Meter, How Big Is Your Footprint? and Watt Does It Cost to Use It?

 * * * * *

Global Warming 101
Global Warming 101 is an initiative of the Will Steger Foundation

Link: http://www.globalwarming101.com/

Polar explorer Will Steger dispatches reports from his expeditions, the "front lines" of climate change. The site includes lots of multimedia information and resources, as well as quality lesson plans.

Teachers' Guide to High Quality Educational Materials 
on Climate Change and Global Warming
Supported by the Center for Integrated Study of the Human Dimensions of Global Change, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University

Link: 
http://hdgc.epp.cmu.edu/teachersguide/teachersguide.htm#teachersguida

This guide begins with "Top Ten Things You Need to Know about Global Warming," and then points K-12 educators to the center’s pick of the best sites for teaching about climate change. Several of these sites offer solid background material, and others (such as the DOE’s ARM program) include detailed lesson plans and experiments. Overall, it is more like a small portal than a guide. The information is solid, although a bit dated in parts. The last update seems to have been in 2002.