Transcript Climate Education Resources National Center for Atmospheric

Climate and Global Change: A
Toolkit for Teaching About our
Ever-Changing World
Roberta Johnson, Jennifer Bergman, and David
Mastie
UCAR Office of Education and Outreach
Commonly Accepted Definitions
Weather refers to the current atmospheric conditions
(including temperature, precipitation, wind,
humidity, barometric pressure) at a particular
time and place.
Climate refers to the general weather patterns expected in
a given area (sometimes based on the 30 year
average weather). Climate may also be applied
more generally to large-scale weather patterns in
time or space (e.g., an Ice Age climate or a tropical
climate).
Or, in the words of a middle school student….
"climate tells you what clothes to buy, but weather
tells you what clothes to wear."
Please Graph…
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Average high
Average low
Mean temperature
Daily temperatures – highs and lows
For February 1-10
All temperatures are in Fahrenheit
You decide scale, axes, and so
on…all on the same graph.
Natural Forcing
Classroom Activity - Earth’s
Energy Cycle: Albedo
• Earth’s Energy
balance is
determined by
incoming, reflected,
re-emitted, and
absorbed radiation.
• The albedo gives the
fraction of radiation
that is reflected from
a surface
Biogeochemical Cycles and
Climate
Classroom Activity: CO2 Sources
and Sinks
Classroom Activity: Carbon Cycle
Online Game
Classroom Activity: The Nitrogen
Cycle Game
Carbon Dioxide – Sources and Sinks Activity
Materials for each small group:
Test tube rack and 4 test tubes
1 – vinegar
2 – BTB
1 – covered in foil
One hole stopper with tubing
Cotton balls
Baking soda and vinegar
Aluminum foil
Straws
Carbon
Dioxide –
Sources and
Sinks Activity
Part 1:
Detecting
Carbon
Dioxide Gas
1. Make a small "boat"
out of foil and fill 1/2 full
of baking soda.
2. Carefully slide the foil
boat inside the vinegar
test tube without spilling
baking soda from the boat.
Plug the test tube with the
stopper and tubing.
3. Place the free end of
the tubing into BTB. Place
a cotton ball at the neck of
the BTB tube. Mix the
vinegar and soda gently.
What happened?
Carbon Dioxide – Sources and Sinks Activity
Part 2: Are animals a source of CO2?
1. Place a straw in a test tube of BTB.
2. Place a cotton ball in the test tube opening.
3. Gently blow in the straw.
Part 3: Are plants a source of CO2?
1. Place a sprig of Elodea into a test tube of BTB.
2. Wrap the tube in foil so that no light can get in.
3. Place in test tube rack and leave for at least 24 hours
Part 4: Do plants take up CO2?
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Place unwrapped test tube with Elodea from Part 3 in light.
Carbon Dioxide – Sources and
Sinks Activity
Part 5: Are fossil fuels a source
of CO2?
1. Carefully untwist the tie of the exhaust filled
balloon while pinching the balloon neck so the
gas does not escape.
2. Insert a straw into the neck of the balloon up to
the Pinched portion while still preventing the
gas from escaping.
3. Insert the other end of the straw into a test tube
of blue BTB.
4. Insert a cotton ball at the top of the test tube.
5. Gently release air from the balloon by slowly
untwisting the neck.
The Global C Cycle
The Global N Cycle
Effects of Climate Change:
Physical
Classroom Demo: Thermal Expansion
Classroom Activity: Mapping Ancient
Coastlines
Classroom Activity: Where have all
the Glaciers Gone?
Classroom Demonstration or Activity:
Thermal Expansion and Sea Level Rise
Materials:
Conical flask
Rubber stopper- 2 holes
Glass tube
Thermometer
Lamp
100-150 Watt bulb
Water with blue food coloring
400,000 years of Sea Level Change
A
(last interglacial)
B
Global sea level extracted, via a hydraulic model, from an oxygen isotope
record for the Red Sea over the past 470 kyr.
Source: Siddall et al., Nature, 423, 853-858, 2003.
A: the last interglacial
Key Largo, Florida
129 thousand years ago,
sea level > 4-6 m
above present
Photo: Dan Muhs
B: before the last retreat of
the ice
Cosquer
Cave
18,000-27,000 years ago
Dramatic proof of profound
Historical climate change,
sea level change - and
human adaptation
Mapping Ancient Coastlines Classroom Activity
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/teacher_resources/teach_bathymetry.htm
Mapping Ancient Coastlines Classroom Activity
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/teacher_resources/teach_bathymetry.htm
Glaciers are Retreating Globally
In Switzerland…
In Alaska…
What tools do scientists use
to study past, present, and
future climates?
• Past –
–Recent past – weather records
–Distant past – ‘proxy data’– fossils,
ice cores, tree rings, pollen
• Present – Sensors on satellites,
sensors on towers
• Future – Computer models
Effects of Climate Change:
Flora and Fauna
Classroom Activity: Paleoclimates
And Pollen
Materials for each small group:
Sample of each ‘sediment’ layer (1 – 5)
Pie pan and toothpicks
Student Handout sheet
Alpine sagebrush found in woody,
low-growing shrub at high altitude,
cold sites.
Mixed meadow species found in areas of warm
summer temperatures and summer drought.
Oak tree found in warm, temperate
sites characterized by dry, warm
summers.
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Above center, Alder tree, prefers abundant water and can grow in
cool climates. Widespread in the Pacific Northwest.
Above right, grasses found in very cool alpine/subalpine meadows
that are cool in summer, harsh in winter, with short growing season.
Above left: Englemann spruce is found in cold, usually sub-alpine
sites.
At right: Western Cedar
found only in temperate,
very moist climates.
At left: Douglas Fir
prefers moderately cool
to warm sites & grows
best in temperate,
somewhat moist
conditions.
Lodgepole Pine found in very cool
climates often at high altitudes
(above 3500) at present.
Building Decision Making
Skills
Classroom Activity - CO2:
How much do you spew?
Classroom Activity – The
Green Mile1
1©2006 Produced by Topics Education, Participants Productions, All rights reserved
Source: World Resources 2000-2001
Time Magazine – 9 April 2001
Climate Education Resources
National Center for Atmospheric Research
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
• Windows to the Universe
www.windows.ucar.edu
• Project LEARN
www.ucar.edu/learn
• NCAR Kids’ Crossing
www.eo.ucar.edu/kids
• Climate Discovery Teacher’s Guide
www.eo.ucar.edu/educators/ClimateDisc
overy