Coastal Climate Science – Activities and Experiments
Ages 12 +
Coastal Climate Science – Activities and Experiments
Educator Guide
https://sites.google.com/view/coastal-climate-science
MIT “Coastal Climate Science Activities and Experiments” (CCSAE) is a set of hands-on experiments, real-life scenarios, academic references, and visualizations that explain and teach the interwoven connections between increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the resulting harm to marine, terrestrial, and human life.
This educational tool is designed to explain environmental problems that students have most likely heard of: rising sea level, ocean acidification, extreme and changing weather, harmful algal blooms, and changes to the Atlantic Ocean circulation. The learning experiences are quick, easy, qualitative, and impactful.
The overall goal is for students to create the "big picture" of climate change for themselves. Through a series of explorations, students learn the mechanisms and environmental phenomena, piece together the framework, and ultimately start on a path to make a positive difference in a world facing the challenges of climate change.
The CCSAE tool is targeted to middle and high school teachers of any subject (not only science!) and their students.
The backbone of this tool is a novel framework that illustrates the cause and effect pathways between atmospheric carbon dioxide and harm to marine and terrestrial life (see image). The framework can be understood as a set of five cause-and-effect pathways. Each pathway documents a well-known environmental issue, showing how the problem is caused, how it is measured or studied, and how the ocean and related ecosystems are affected. The environmental issues in the pathways are:
Each highlighted pathway consists of text boxes connected by arrows.
The text boxes are the “nouns” labeling the environmental conditions that are occurring and have been scientifically documented.
The arrows are the “verbs” representing the processes or mechanisms (physical, chemical, or biological) that connect Cause conditions to Effect conditions.
The number on the arrow identifies an experiment or analysis that students carry out to see the mechanism in action.
Recommended way to use the CCSAE resources:
Example: Rising Sea Level pathway
Step 1, 2
Select an environmental issue (choose a Pathway that fits the interest, time, and materials).
Make a plan for the lesson or use suggested plan.
Result:
Choose Rising Sea Level. Review Expt’s and Analyses for Rising Sea Level and Explainers for Rising Sea Level
Make or adapt a plan.
Plan: Rising Sea Level pathway
Experiment: Observe greenhouse effect in a jar. 30 min
Explainer:increasing CO2 in atmosphere.
(20 min concurrent)
Explainer:
Warmer air
20 min
Analysis: Investigate the impact that warmer air is having on the oceans. 20 min
Analysis: Investigate the impact that warmer air is having on glaciers and ice sheets. 20 min
Map it, notes
Map it, notes
Map it, notes
Explainer:
Warmer ocean water 20 min
Explainer:
Melting glaciers and ices sheets 20 min
Experiment: Compare the effects of melted ice from the land and from the sea. 40 min
Map it, notes
Explainer:
Rising sea level 20 min
Experiment: Observe thermal expansion of water with a water bottle 40 min
Map it, notes
Analysis: Investigate the impact that the rising sea level is having on land.
20 min
Map it, notes
Explainer:
Harm to human and terrestrial life 20 min
Time | Experiment, notes and framework placement | Analysis, notes and framework placement, | Environmental Explainer |
30 min | Observe the greenhouse effect in a jar. (#2) | | Increasing CO2 in the atmosphere. |
20 min | | | Warmer air |
20 min | | The impact of warmer air on the oceans (#4) | |
20 min | | | Warmer ocean water |
20 min | | The impact of warmer air on glaciers and ice sheets (#5) | |
20 min | | | Melting glaciers and ices sheets |
40 min | Melting glaciers vs melting ice sheets (#6) | | |
40 min | Observe thermal expansion of water with a water bottle (9) | | |
20 min | | | Rising sea level |
20 min | | Investigate the impact that the rising sea level is having on land. (#21) | |
20 min | | | Harm to human and terrestrial life |
Lesson Outline for Rising Sea Level pathway
Suggested order for all elements.
Adapt this to your own needs by eliminating activities or by doing direct instruction.
If the experiment involves waiting, do an Environmental Explainer while it is going on.
Total 4 hrs 30 min + Reflection
Time | Experiment, notes and framework placement | Analysis, notes and framework placement | Environmental Explainer |
30 min | Observe the greenhouse effect in a jar. (#2) | | Increasing CO2 in the atmosphere. |
20 min | | | Warmer air |
20 min | | The impact of warmer air on the oceans (#4) | |
20 min | | | Warmer ocean water |
20 min | | The impact of warmer air on glaciers and ice sheets (#5) | |
20 min | | | Melting glaciers and ices sheets |
30 min | Combine Warmer air, Warmer ocean water, and Melting glaciers + ice sheets into 1 lesson | ||
40 min | Melting glaciers vs melting ice sheets (#6) | | |
40 min | Observe thermal expansion of water with a water bottle (9) | | |
20 min | | | Rising sea level |
20 min | | Investigate the impact that the rising sea level is having on land. (#21) | |
20 min | | | Harm to human and terrestrial life |
Shortened Outline for Rising Sea Level pathway
Total 3 hrs 0 min + Reflection
Step 3
Do an activity or experiment on the Pathway.
If the experiment involves waiting, do an Explainer while it is going on.
Example: Rising Sea Level pathway
Experiment: Observe the greenhouse effect in a jar
Time: 50 minutes
Level: Beginner
Step 4
Match the conclusion to a connection on the Framework.
Resource:
Rising Sea Level student worksheet
Example: Rising Sea Level pathway, Greenhouse experiment
Conclusion:
Carbon dioxide gets hotter in the sun
It fits connection #2
Environmental Explainer Time: 20 minutes
Step 5
Learn about its Cause and Effect conditions (Explainers). Go to Explainers page, click on the Cause and Effect boxes for connection #2, and select resources to read, watch, or interact with.
Example: Rising Sea Level pathway, Explainer pages for connection #2
Step 6
Repeat steps 3, 4, 5 until the Pathway is complete.
Check off experiments and explainers on worksheet and go to Experiments and Analyses for Rising Sea Level page
Example: Rising Sea Level pathway
2
x
x
Back to Step 3.
Do an experiment or analysis on the Pathway.
Example: Rising Sea Level pathway
Analysis: Investigate the impact that warmer air is having on the oceans Time: 20 min
Step 5
Learn about its Cause and Effect conditions (Explainers).
Environmental Explainer Time: 20 min
Step 4
Map it on Framework
Conclusion:
Warmer air makes the oceans warmer
It fits connection #4
Iteration 2
Back to Step 3.
Do an experiment or analysis on the Pathway.
Example: Rising Sea Level pathway
Analysis: Investigate the impact that warmer air is having on glaciers and ice sheets Time: 20 min
Step 5
Learn about its cause and effect conditions (Explainers).
Environmental Explainer Time: 20 min
Melting glaciers and ice sheets
Step 4
Map it on Framework
Conclusion:
Warmer air makes the oceans warmer
It fits connection #4
Iteration 3
Step 3
Do an experiment or analysis on the Pathway.
Example: Rising Sea Level pathway
Experiment: Compare the effects of melted ice from the land and from the sea
Time: 40 minutes
Level: Beginner
Step 5
Learn about its cause and effect conditions (Explainers).
Skip on this iteration, do after next experiment.
Step 4 - Map it on Framework
Conclusion:
Warmer air makes the oceans warmer
It fits connection #6
Iteration 4
Example: Rising Sea Level pathway
Step 5
Learn about its cause and effect conditions (Explainers).
Environmental Explainer Time: 20 min
Step 4
Map it on Framework
Conclusion:
Warmer air makes the oceans warmer
It fits connection #9
Experiment: Observe thermal expansion of water with a demonstration in a water bottle
Time: 30 minutes prep, 20 min expt
Level: Intermediate
Step 3
Do an experiment or analysis on the Pathway.
Iteration 5
Example: Rising Sea Level pathway
Step 5
Learn about its cause and effect conditions (Explainers).
Environmental Explainer Time: 20 min
Harm to human and terrestrial life
Step 4 - Map it on Framework
Conclusion:
Warmer air makes the oceans warmer
It fits connection #21
Analysis: Investigate the impact that the rising sea level is having on land. Time 20 min
Step 3
Do an experiment or analysis on the Pathway.
Iteration 6 (last)
Step 6
Repeat steps 2, 3, 4 until the Pathway is complete.
Check off experiments and explainers on worksheet.
Example: Rising Sea Level pathway
2
6
x
x
x
x
9
x
21
4
5
x
Step 7
Reflect on your learning. Review the information through a class conversation, activity, etc.
Example: Rising Sea Level pathway
Students now have an awareness of the scientific pathway from increased CO2 levels to harm to human life, through a rising sea.
Students might try to put the process into their own words, or make a drawing, or otherwise express this understanding.
See the resources on the Why it needs to be taught page to deal with the anxiety that students are likely to feel.
More information about the CCSAE and other ways to use it the resources in the classroom:
All curriculum materials are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 4.0 International License.