Subtopic: Climate

Alaska Native Teens Help Researchers
In this video adapted from KUAC-TV and the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska Native students contribute to research on how their environment is changing as a result of global warming.

Antarctica: A Challenging Work Day
What happens when the ground under your feet is ice and it's moving? This video segment adapted from NOVA features some of the dangers faced by scientists conducting research in Antarctica.

Antarctic Ice: Sea Level Change
What would happen if a portion of the Antarctic Ice Sheet were to melt? This video segment adapted from NOVA uses animations to show the effect of a 6-meter sea-level rise on coastal cities across the world.

Arctic Climate System
Learn how the Arctic is a part of a global climate system in this video segment adapted from the National Film Board of Canada.

Arctic Sea Ice Satellite Observations
In this interactive activity produced for Teachers' Domain, learn how Arctic sea ice has changed over the past 25 years in terms of maximum winter extent, concentration, and the timing of breakup each spring.

Capturing Carbon
In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, a scientist, inspired by his daughter's science fair project, develops a synthetic "tree" to remove excess carbon dioxide from the air.

Carbon-Fiber Car of the Future
In this video segment adapted from NOVA, find out how cars made of a material stronger than steel and half the weight can help combat climate change.

Changing Arctic Landscape
In this video adapted from the Arctic Athabaskan Council, learn how warmer temperatures in the Arctic are transforming the landscape, triggering a host of effects such as permafrost thawing and insect infestations.

Climate Change Impacts Alaska Glaciers
This video adapted from KTOO takes a look at Earth's warming and cooling cycles and the current atypical trend of warming that is impacting the glaciers in Alaska's Inside Passage.

CO₂ Concentrations at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaiʻi
This resource, adapted from the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, provides a graph of monthly average carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration from 1958 to 2000 at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaiʻi.

Documenting Glacial Change
This collection of comparative glacier images adapted from the National Snow and Ice Data Center shows substantial changes in five Alaskan glacier positions over periods of 60 to 100 years.

Earth's Cryosphere: Antarctica
Learn about the different features of snow and ice in Antarctica using satellite imagery in this video segment adapted from NASA.

Earth System: El Niño
This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center describes El Niño, how it forms, and the chain reaction of consequences it triggers around the globe.

The Effects of Global Warming in Alaska
In this media-rich lesson, students learn how global warming is changing the Alaskan environment and examine the consequences of climate change on the region's human and wildlife inhabitants.

Fastest Glacier
In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, scientists in western Greenland explain how a glacier there is shrinking and moving faster due to increased melting.

Global Climate Change: Understanding the Greenhouse Effect
Students study past climate change, explore the effect of greenhouse gases on Earth's atmosphere today, and consider human impact on global warming.

Global Warming: Carbon Dioxide and the Greenhouse Effect
This video segment adapted from NOVA/FRONTLINE demonstrates the physical property of carbon dioxide that causes the greenhouse effect.

Global Warming: The Physics of the Greenhouse Effect
This video segment adapted from NOVA/FRONTLINE examines the greenhouse effect, its role in keeping Earth habitable, and the industrial changes that have led to an increase in the planet's average temperature.

Global Warming Threatens Shishmaref
In this video segment adapted from Spanner Films, visit the Alaska Native village of Shishmaref, and learn how an entire town may be forced to relocate because of warmer temperatures, melting sea ice, and coastal erosion.

Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2: A Record of Climate Change
Using images and graphs, this interactive resource illustrates scientists' efforts to study Earth's climatic history for the last 250,000 years by drilling into the Greenland Ice Sheet and examining ice cores. Adapted from the Wright Center for Science Education, Tufts University.

How the Arctic Ecosystem Might Change
In this video segment adapted from the National Film Board of Canada, learn why the unique Arctic ecosystem may be replaced if global warming continues to melt sea ice.

How to Build A Road
Geology and weather introduced a variety of unexpected problems when construction crews were building the Alaska Highway. In this interactive activity from the American Experience Web site, see how Army engineers improvised solutions to blaze a trail through the wilderness.

Ice Shelf and Ice Sheet Simulation
In this interactive activity adapted from Texas A&M University, a block of melting ice simulates ice shelves and ice sheets and their differing effects on global sea level.

Jet Streams and Weather
Students learn about jet streams and explore the effects of the polar-front jet stream on weather conditions in North America.

Life Before Oxygen
This video segment adapted from Interactive NOVA features evidence of life on Earth before the atmosphere contained a rich supply of oxygen.

Mass Extinction
In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, learn about a chain of events, including ancient volcanoes, global warming, and deadly gases, which may have caused Earth's greatest mass extinction 250 million years ago.

Melting Permafrost
In this video adapted from the International Institute for Sustainable Development, see melting permafrost and hear Alaska Native peoples and Western scientists discuss its impact on Inuit culture and resources.

Mountain Weather
In this interactive activity from NOVA Online you can move an air mass over a mountain and see how several distinct microclimates are created.

Natural Climate Change in Djibouti, Africa
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 over thousands of years.

Observe Images of Different Climate Zones
Interact with this world map from McDougal Littell/TERC to highlight different climate zones and see a photograph of each one. Ten climate zones are represented, including tundra, desert, humid subtropical, and others.

Ocean Temperatures and Climate Patterns
This animation from The New Media Studio illustrates how the atmosphere and ocean together shape wind, current, and rainfall patterns in the tropical Pacific.

People of the Arctic
This video segment adapted from the National Film Board of Canada explores how the Inuit people have adapted their traditions and ways of life to changing environmental realities. The video features archival footage and interviews in Native languages.

Samoa Under Threat
In this video segment adapted from Bullfrog Films, a local climatologist talks about the Pacific island of Samoa, which is under threat from an increasing number of intense storms possibly related to global warming.

Snapshot of U.S. Energy Use
This video segment adapted from NOVA/FRONTLINE looks at American energy consumption and the resulting production of greenhouse gases.

Solar Magnetism
This video segment adapted from NOVA describes how the Sun's magnetism can have an effect here on Earth, from dramatic auroras to a mini-Ice Age in the 1600s.

Solar Panels for Your Home
In this video segment adapted from NOVA, take a look inside a solar panel to see how it works, and hear firsthand about the benefits from homeowners who are using this technology.

Students Measure Changes in Lake Ice and Snow
In this video adapted from KUAC-TV and the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, students provide field measurements that researchers need in order to understand how lakes in Alaska are changing as a result of climate change.

A Subsistence Culture Impacted by Climate Change
This video adapted from the Arctic Athabaskan Council explains how warmer temperatures in the Arctic are transforming the ecosystem and threatening the subsistence culture of the Athabaskan people.

Tracking Polar Bears
In this interactive activity adapted from the USGS Alaska Science Center, track the movements of a polar bear as it migrates across the changing Arctic sea ice and compare the paths of four different polar bears.

An Unpredictable Environment
In this video segment adapted from the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Inuit observers describe how their traditional understanding of weather patterns is being challenged by unpredictable weather behaviors.

Warmer Oceans Affect Food Web
In this video adapted from KTOO, scientists discuss how ocean warming may be responsible for the decline in the seabird, seal, and sea lion populations of Prince William Sound, Alaska.

When Did the First Americans Arrive?
In this video segment adapted from NOVA, recent archeological evidence leads scientists to revise existing theories about human migrations into the Americas around the time of the last ice age.

You Can Die Here – Death Valley California
This Nature lesson will help students to evaluate how the interactions of air, moisture, wind, and topography combine to create the extreme environment found in Death Valley, California.