Hands on Climate Change Explorations in the Classroom MEES March 2, 2011 Marie Silver Rob Snyder STEM Education Institute University of Massachusetts Amherst

A wide range of Climate Change Education curriculum materials were developed for International Polar Year Summer Institutes at UMass Amherst. They are available at

Climate Change Education developed for the IPY summer Institutes provides opportunities for students to: 1.Develop Spatial Thinking Interpret maps, diagrams, graphs, charts, animations and models. 2.Develop Temporal Thinking Understand how the history of climate change is discovered and future changes predicted. 3.Understand Earth as a Complex System Explore feedbacks that occur between and among components of Earths Climate System. 4.Learn in the Field Collect and analyze real time data and observations. How Geoscientists Think and Learn, Kastens et al., EOS,Transactions, American Geophysical Union; August 4, 2009, p. 265

IPY Curriculum Materials on the web site include: Student activity documents. Teachers guides that include related state and national science learning standards. PowerPoint presentations that accompany many of the activities. PowerPoint presentations by climate researched at UMass Amherst and by guest climate researchers. Lists of sources of materials for activities. References to webs sites and literature.

Sets of activities available today focus on three aspects of climate change. Earths Albedo: Sunlight is either absorbed or reflected from Earths surface Carbon Dioxide Measurements: CO 2 can be measured and its pathways can be simulated. Changes in Sea Level: Melting land and sea ice will have different impacts on coastal lands as sea levels rise.

Paints trays can be used to demonstrate the impacts of rising sea levels. Different parts of the world will experience a variety of changes in sea level. Source:

In one activity you can compare your CO 2 measurements with measurements obtained from ice core data.

In another activity, you can learn how a light meter can be used to measure albedo. Snow cover affects Earths albedo.

Explore some of the IPY activities at the tables.