1. Assign reading from Frequently Asked Questions about Global Warming and Climate Change by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This is found on the MEECS Climate Change Resource DVD.

2. Using the Gathering the Evidence teacher resource found on the MEECS Climate Change Resource DVD as a procedure guide, have students look at a variety of questions about the connection between human carbon dioxide emissions, the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and the average global temperature as well as projected impacts of climate change through the creation of climate change information statements. A student activity sheet for this activity is also available on the MEECS Climate Change Resource DVD.

3. Students can design a method for determining Earth’s average temperature. Their plan will discuss the challenges and limitations of their method and consider how this is done by researchers. Show the Taking the Earth’s Temperature video in the Other Materials section for this lesson on the MEECS Climate Change Resource DVD.

4. For very advanced groups, consider using the Global Temperatures Lab developed by the Columbia University Earth and Environmental Science Faculty at http://serc.carleton.edu/quantskills/teaching_methods/teachingwdata/examples/GlbTmps.html

5. Have students research how carbon dioxide levels are measured, CO2 emissions are estimated, and the global land-ocean temperature index is created.

6. The Other Materials section of the MEECS Climate Change Resource DVD has animations from the NASA Earth Observatory about what is being tracked by satellites such as land surface temperature.