Climate and Ecosystems

Sustainability connections to the Colorado Academic Standards

• Climate describes patterns of typical weather conditions over different scales and variations; historical weather patterns can be analyzed.
• A variety of weather hazards result from natural process; humans cannot eliminate weather-related hazards but can reduce their impacts.

Lessons

• The Weather House - Design and Construction
• Sweltering Summer - Measuring Weather

Sustainability connections to the Colorado Academic Standards

• Earth has changed over time.
• A variety of hazards result from natural process; humans cannot eliminate natural hazards but can reduce their impact.

Lessons

• Bottle Biospheres
• Outdoor Clay Mapping
• Oil Spill Clean-up
• Earthquake-Proof Building
• Understanding, Testing, and Analyzing Dams

Sustainability connections to the Colorado Academic Standards

• Earth’s major systems interact in multiple ways to affect Earth’s surface materials and processes.
• Most of Earth’s water is in the ocean, and much of Earth’s freshwater is in glaciers or underground.
• Societal activities have had a significant impact on the land, ocean, atmosphere, and even outer space.

Lessons

• Exploring Daily Shadow Changes
• Rotation and Revolution of the Earth Around the Sun
• Big Book of Environmental Issues
• Modeling the Distribution of Water on Earth
• Hydrosphere: Why Oceans are Salty
• Investigating Erosion Control Methods
• Polluting the Earth
• Does Technology Help or Harm the Earth?

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• 5th Grade ESS Lessons
• ClimateKids
• NASA Article: Space Debris and Human Spacecraft
• NOAA Weather Observations Resources
• NOAA Weather Systems Resources
• Ocean Pollution: 30 Facts That Will Blow Your Mind
• Teaching Climate Change
• USGS Map of Real-Time Global Earthquake Activity
• USGS Map of Real-Time Global Volcanic Activity

Sustainability connections to the Colorado Academic Standards

• Ecosystems are dynamic in nature; their characteristics can vary over time. Disruptions to any physical or biological component of an ecosystem

Lessons

• Say Cheese! Journaling with Live Web-Cams
• Going, Going, Gone — Species Conservation Through PBL
• Ocean Zone Project
• Abiotic & Biotic Factors in Yellowstone National Park
• The Function of Plant Structures
• More Than Manure — Soil Analysis Lab
• The Frogger Project
• Investigating Renewable Energy and Impacts on Biodiversity
• Photosynthesis Runs the World

Lessons

• Say Cheese! Journaling with Live Web-Cams
• Going, Going, Gone — Species Conservation Through PBL
• Ocean Zone Project
• Abiotic & Biotic Factors in Yellowstone National Park
• The Function of Plant Structures
• More Than Manure — Soil Analysis Lab
• The Frogger Project
• Investigating Renewable Energy and Impacts on Biodiversity
• Photosynthesis Runs the World

Sustainability connections to the Colorado Academic Standards

• Adaptation by natural selection acting over generations is one important process by which species change over time in response to changes in environmental conditions.
• Complex interactions determine local weather patterns and influence climate, including the role of the ocean.
• Human activities have altered the biosphere, sometimes damaging it, although changes to environments can have different impacts for different living things.
• Human activities affect global warming.  Decisions to reduce the impact of global warming depend on understanding climate science, engineering capabilities, and social dynamics.

Lessons

• Say Cheese! Journaling with Live Web-Cams
• Going, Going, Gone — Species Conservation Through PBL
• Ocean Zone Project
• Abiotic & Biotic Factors in Yellowstone National Park
• The Function of Plant Structures
• More Than Manure — Soil Analysis Lab
• The Frogger Project
• Investigating Renewable Energy and Impacts on Biodiversity
• Photosynthesis Runs the World

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• 6th Grade Life Science Lessons
• Database of Species
• Every School Can Be A Green School
• Middle Life Science Lessons
• Middle School ESS Lessons
• NOAA Resource Collections
• Teaching Climate Change

Sustainability connections to the Colorado Academic Standards

• Earth’s systems, being dynamic and interacting, cause feedback effects that can increase or decrease the original changes, and these effects occur on different time scales, from sudden (e.g., volcanic ash clouds) to intermediate (ice ages) to very long-term tectonic cycles.
• The role of radiation from the sun and its interactions with the atmosphere, ocean, and land are the foundation for the global climate system. Global climate models are used to predict future changes, including changes influenced by human behavior and natural factors.
• The biosphere and Earth’s other systems have many interconnections that cause a continual co-evolution of Earth’s surface and life on it.
• Global climate models used to predict future climate change continue to improve our understanding of the impact of human activities on the global climate system.

Lessons

• High School Earth & Space Science Lessons
• HHMI Interactive
• NASA High School Activities
• NOAA Resource Collections
• High School Life Science Lessons
• Wisconsin Fast Plants from Carolina Scientific

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• BioInteractive
• Sustainability Library
• Teaching Climate Change
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