Students learn about life-cycle assessment and how engineers use this technique to determine the environmental impact of everyday products and processes. As they examine what’s involved in making and consuming cupcakes, a snack enjoyed by millions of people every year, students learn about the production, use and disposal phases of an object’s life cycle. With the class organized into six teams, students calculate data for each phase of a cupcake’s life cycle—wet ingredients, dry ingredients, baking materials, oven baking, frosting, liner disposal—and calculate energy usage and greenhouse gases emitted from making one cupcake. They use ratios and fractions, and compare options for some of the life-cycle stages, such as different paper wrapper endings (disposal to landfills or composting) in order to make a life-cycle plan with a lower environmental impact. This activity opens students’ eyes to see the energy use in the cradle-to-grave lives of everyday products. Pre/post-quizzes, worksheets, activity cards, Excel® workbook and visual aids are provided.

This informational text introduces students to Mt. Erebus, a volcano located on Ross Island, just off the coast of Antarctica. Mt. Erebus is the world's southernmost active volcano. The text is written at a grade two through grade three reading level. This version is a full-color PDF that can be printed, cut and folded to form a book. Each book contains color photographs and illustrations.

This informational text introduces students to Mt. Erebus, a volcano located on Ross Island, just off the coast of Antarctica. Mt. Erebus is the world's southernmost active volcano. The text is written at a grade two through grade three reading level. This is a PDF containing the informational text and a glossary.

This informational text introduces students to Mt. Erebus, a volcano located on Ross Island, just off the coast of Antarctica. Mt. Erebus is the world's southernmost active volcano. Students read about the volcano in a simplified manner. The text is written at a kindergarten through grade one reading level. This version is a full-color PDF that can be printed, cut and folded to form a book. Each book contains color photographs and illustrations.

This informational text introduces students to Mt. Erebus, a volcano located on Ross Island, just off the coast of Antarctica. Mt. Erebus is the world's southernmost active volcano. The reading level is at Kindergarten through grade one. This is a PDF containing the informational text and a glossary.

An illustrated article highlighting the science behind carbon and fossil fuels. Diagrams and graphs help with understanding.

Read about Earth's oceans and the effects that climate have had on the rising temperatures over the past one hundred years. Discover how the Earth's ocean and atmosphere are interlocked so that when one changes, the other is affected.

Links to earth science sites, including safety tips, fun activities, general earth science information, and daily weather reports and more.

University of Maine paleoclimatologist scientists are working to reconstruct the climate history of this area over the last thousand years. They're researching the relationship between the temperatures and precipitation rates, and the response of glaciers in this area to climate changes. [3:40]

Dr. Tony Knap, of BIOS in Bermuda explains how climate change is causing ocean temperatures to rise, and what impacts it may bring around the world. [6:05]

Scientists predict the rise in sea level will only increase, and they're studying changes in the ocean and land to better understand how and why the water is rising. [6:20]

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, animations are used to illustrate how change in the tilt of Earth's axis produces dramatic climate change of what is now the Saharan nation of Djibouti. [3:48]

This article provides background information related to natural resources of the poles, and renewable and non-renewable energy.

In this podcast, learn how to address climate misconceptions and avoid the fear of climate change by using activities that inspire and empower students.

This interactive lesson introduces students to the various ways that people work to understand climate change, particularly in the Arctic.

This interactive tool allows students to gather data using My NASA Data microsets to investigate how differential heating of Earth results in circulation patterns in the oceans and the atmosphere that globally distribute the heat. They examine the relationship between the rotation of Earth and the circular motions of ocean currents and air. Students also make predictions based on the data to concerns about global climate change. They begin by examining the temperature of ocean’s surface currents and ocean surface winds. These currents, driven by the wind, mark the movement of surface heating as monitored by satellites. Students explore the link between 1) ocean temperatures and currents, 2) uneven heating and rotation of Earth, 3) resulting climate and weather patterns, and 4) projected impacts of climate change (global warming). Using the Live Access Server, students can select data sets for various elements for different regions of the globe, at different times of the year, and for multiple years. The information is provided in maps or graphs which can be saved for future reference. Some of the data sets accessed for this lesson include Sea Surface Temperature, Cloud Coverage, and Sea Level Height for this lesson. The lesson provides directions for accessing the data as well as questions to guide discussion and learning. The estimated time for completing the activity is 50 minutes. Inclusion of the Extension activities could broaden the scope of the lesson to several days in length. Links to informative maps and text such as the deep ocean conveyor belt, upwelling, and coastal fog as needed to answer questions in the extension activities are included.

Younger students will love this colorful yet educational site on global warming and climate change. Easy to read factual information is included. Available in many different languages.

Students work in engineering teams to optimize cleaner energy solutions for cooking and heating in rural China. They choose between various options for heating, cooking, hot water, and lights and other electricity, balancing between the cost and health effects of different energy choices.

Examine this graph from FRONTLINE/NOVA: "What's Up with the Weather?" Web site to see dramatic increases in three greenhouse gases over the last two hundred years.

For eons, nature has relied on photosynthesis as a big way to keep carbon dioxide levels from getting out of control. But as we have put more carbon into the air, we've also cut down many of the forests we need to suck that carbon up. So big tree-planting initiatives like #TeamTrees to the rescue, right? Actually, we need to think bigger. Here are three ways trees can help us solve climate change. [10:44]