Earth Science

Climate Discovery, a series of six-week courses for middle and high school educators.

The course offerings include:

 Introduction to Earth's Climate

 Earth System Science: A Climate Change Perspective

 Understanding Climate Change Today

What is an NCAR Online Education course?

The online courses, instructed by science education specialists, incorporate information about state-of-

the-art research and modeling efforts of nationally renowned climate scientists with classroom-tested

science inquiry activities. All activities are classroom-ready. The online course experience features a

high level of interactivity, tools for assessment, and effective community-building interactive

technologies.

Introduction to Earth's Climate: Syllabus

Week

1

Welcome to Moodle and Course Introduction

During the first week you will learn the features of the courseware system used in this online

course. You will practice using the Web site. We will explain the basic "flow" of a typical

week's activities, how the course will be graded, and how we will seek your input on and

feedback related to the course content. You will install and test required software with our

support.

Week

2

What Is Climate and An Overview of Earth System Science

You will refresh your knowledge of the Earth's climate. You will learn about the elements of

climate, such as temperature, precipitation, wind, and insolation, as well the Earth's climate

zones. You will learn the difference between weather and climate, as well as the difference

between climate averages and ranges. You will enhance your knowledge of Earth Systems

Science (ESS), learning about the spheres of the Earth and how they work together to form

the Earth system.

Week

3

Climate Science: How Do We Study Climate?

You will become familiar with the methods used by climate scientists including direct

measurements of climate, indirect measurements, and climate models. You will learn about

the many different scientific disciplines involved in the study of climate, how climate

scientists quantify their record of "the climate," and what sorts of instruments and techniques

they use.

Week

4

Paleoclimate: The Ghost of Climate Past

How do scientists study climates of the past? You will learn about the climate of relatively

recent times through historical records made by humans using instrumental measurements and

their descriptions of past climate preserved in art and writing. Several different "proxy"

indicators of past conditions (such as tree ring and ice core records) and their relationships to

proxies and climactic conditions will also be explored.

Week

5

Earth's Energy Balance and Solar Energy Input

The focus this week is on the Sun's role as the primary energy source driving Earth's climate.

You will learn how the Sun (our "friendly neighborhood star") generates energy and emits it

into space in various forms and wavelengths. You will learn what happens to the portion of

this solar energy that reaches Earth, exploring how solar energy is distributed around our

planet; how it is transmitted through, absorbed by, and reflected from our atmosphere; and

how both spatial and temporal variations in energy distribution influence our planet's climate.

Week

6

Exam and Synthesis

Earth System Science, A Climate Change Perspective: Syllabus

Week

1

Course Introduction & A Moodle Primer

During this week you will learn the features of the courseware system and practice using the

Web site. We will explain the basic "flow" of a typical week's activities, how the course will

be graded, and how we will seek your input on and feedback related to the course content.

You will also install and test required software with our support.

Week

2

The Atmosphere

This week we will study Earth's atmosphere using two specific perspectives: climate change

and Earth systems science. We will look at the behavior of the atmosphere in times (such as

now, but also at various times throughout our planet's history) of climate change. We will

look at how changes in the atmosphere help to drive climate change; we will also discuss the

ways in which changing climate affects Earth's atmosphere. Major topics include:

greenhouse gases and the greenhouse effect, aerosols (small particles, including smoke and

soot) in the atmosphere that may scatter sunlight and serve as cloud nucleation particles, and

feedback loops in the water cycle during periods of changing climate. Employing an Earth

system science perspective, we will also delve into the interactions between the atmosphere

and the other "spheres" of the Earth system: the hydrosphere (oceans, lakes, rivers), the

cryosphere (ice and snow), the biosphere (living creatures), and the geosphere (rocks and

soil).

Week 3

The Hydrosphere

This week we will look at water in the Earth system. As with the atmosphere, we'll focus on

the behavior of the hydrosphere in times of climate change and we'll look at interactions

between water and other major Earth systems. We'll study ocean circulation; how the oceans

store and transfer heat in the Earth system and how major currents are driven by density

variations that arise from differences in salinity and temperature. We'll begin to explore the

ways ice is involved in climate change: the rate at which melting ice sheets increase sea level

and how changes in snow and ice cover alter Earth's albedo and thus its energy balance. We

will also briefly touch upon the chemistry of the oceans as it relates to climate change; we'll

mention ices called methane hydrates that are embedded in the ocean floor which might

trigger a sudden increase in the rate of climate change, and we'll look at ocean acidification

and other aspects of the carbon cycle that interact with the oceans. We will continue our

study of the water cycle begun in the previous week. Finally, we'll discuss important

interactions between the hydrosphere and the atmosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, and

geosphere.

Week 4

The Cryosphere

This week we will become familiar with the various parts of the Earth's cryosphere including

glaciers, ice shelves, icebergs, sea ice, snow, and permafrost. And we'll explore how this

frozen part of the Earth is responding as our planet becomes warmer. The ice melts as the

Earth warms, and, because of feedbacks, more warming occurs when there is less ice,

compounding the problem. Since this type of global change topic can easily dissolve into a

"sky is falling" moment when introduced in the classroom, we will explore and discuss a

variety of methods and tools that can facilitate student understanding of sea ice melt and

global change.

Week 5

The Biosphere

In this week of the course we will examine the Earth’s biosphere and how changes in the

cycling of carbon and nitrogen between the living and non-living parts of the Earth system

are changing climate. We'lll also find out how Earth’s changing climate is affecting aspects

of the biosphere. This week’s classroom activity will put your students into the nitrogen

cycle, and an online interactive will allow them to surf through the carbon cycle. We will

also discuss carbon credits, a topic of current debate among scientists, policymakers, social

scientists, and policy makers.

Week 6

The Geosphere

This week we will examine the connections between the geosphere and climate change.

We’ll start off with a review of some basics about the geosphere processes through resource

readings and a quick quiz about the rock cycle. We will examine this topic from both the

perspective of how climate change affects the geosphere and how processes of the geosphere

affect climate. We will explore the research of one NCAR scientist who is looking at the

correlation between volcanic eruptions, solar variations and the climate shifts during the

Little Ice Age. We will test out some classroom activities that bring these topics to students

through hands-on learning and assess new articles on geosphere topics.

Week 7

Exam and Synthesis

Understanding Climate Change Today: Syllabus

Week

1

Welcome to Moodle and Course Introduction

During the first week you will learn or review the features of Moodle, the courseware system

used in this online course. We will explain the basic "flow" of a typical week's activities,

how the course will be graded, and how we will seek your input on and feedback related to

the course content. You will install and test required software with our support. You will

also participate in introductory activities, such as discussion forums, that will start the

important community-building aspect of this course.

Week

2

Future Climates: Where Are We Heading?

This week we will ponder where we may be heading in the future, climate-wise. We'll take

an in-depth look at the IPCC, the international organization that summarizes state-of-the-art

climate science. To establish a baseline, we'll look at the state of Earth's climate today. Next,

we'll delve a bit into the workings of the climate models that run on supercomputers. Finally,

we'll look at some of the projections about future climate and explore some of the

uncertainties involved in predicting future climate.

Week 3

Changes in Regional Weather & Urban Impacts

During the third week, we'll change our focus from the global scale to a more regional

perspective as we continue to explore the expected impacts of climate change. We'll first

take a look at broad regional trends in climate change, addressing questions like: will the

oceans or the land warm more quickly? are polar regions more susceptible to change than

the tropics? We'll then delve into the emerging field of regional climate modeling, and see

what it has to say about expectations for future climate in specific areas, like Africa, North

America, Europe, and so on. We'll also discuss how certain aspects of climate change

influence various places differently; tropical islands being at risk from both rising sea levels

as well as increased hurricane frequency, for instance. We will also explore how changes in

the urban environment, such as the heat island effect and air pollution, affect climate on a

regional scale.

Week 4

Impacts of Warming – Two Case Studies

In this week of the course we will take an up-close look at two different impacts of climate

change. We will investigate ways in which climate change is affected, and will continue to

affect human health – including the impacts of extreme heat events, flooding, vector-borne

diseases, and water availability. In the second case study we will focus in on the Greenland

ice sheet – a massive layer of ice that covers most of the world’s largest island.

Week 5

Impact on Environments – Two Case Studies

This week we will focus on two more case studies of the impacts of climate change.

Specifically we will be looking at how global warming and associated global changes are

affecting ecosystems. First we will explore the relationship between climate change and

phenology—the science that measures the timing of life cycle events for all organisms. For

the remainder of the week, we will look underwater on the impacts of global change on coral

reef ecosystems.

Week 6

Mitigating the Impacts of Changing Climates: What Can We Do?

We will explore the relationship between climate change adaptation & mitigation, focusing

on adaptation strategies to reduce the effects of climate change, as well as mitigation efforts

to reduce its causes. We will also evaluate classroom activities that students can use to

explore how human activities affect the earth system.

Week 7

Exam and Synthesis

Special Curriculum from NASA These activities do not appear in the normal Windows to the Universe format. They are full units (many

lasting more than a week) that NASA has offered that may be helpful in the classroom.

Charting the Planets Using charts to discover planet characteristics

Galileo Curriculum Module Activities based on the Jupiter Galileo mission including many puzzles,

math activities, questions and answers

 Contents, Crossword Puzzle

 What do you know already?

 Volume Calculation Exercise

 Planet Structure & Interior

 Jupiter's Monstrous Magnetosphere

 Catch a Wave

 What does the Galileo Spacecraft Look Like?

 Jupiter's Weather Forecast

 The Moons of Jupiter

 Data Handling Techniques

 Hearing Galileo's Whisper Across the Solar System

 Answer Key

Solar System Puzzle Kit Comprehensive activity in which students make an eight cube version of the

solar system.

Space Based Astronomy Teacher's Guide Activities, experiments, and readings dealing with NASA's

space based astronomy

 Contents

 The Atmospheric Filter

 The Electromagnetic Spectrum

 Collecting Electromagnetic Radiation

 Down to Earth

The Whole World in Your Hands Activities dealing with hydrology, scientific observation and data

gathering

 Acknowledgements

 Filling in the Gaps/Math Excursion

 Soda Bottle Hydrology Activity

 How When Affects What

 Cover Mapping Land

 ACCESSING AN EOSDIS DAAC/Technology Excursion