Climate Change Lesson 7 : Climate Models Making Global Predictions

1. Carbon Connections is a three-unit, online curriculum for grades 9-12 that was designed to improve students’ understanding of the carbon cycle and the science of Earth’s climate. Each of the three units includes five lessons. Each lesson includes focus questions, hands-on activities, virtual field trips, and interactive models. The concepts covered in the lessons span all science disciplines. (http://carbonconnections.bscs.org/)

2. For advanced groups, a week-long module on climate modeling from the online Earth Exploration Toolbook could be used. The Educational Global Climate Modeling Suite (EdGCM) is used to visualize how temperature and snow coverage might change over the next 100 years based on various scenarios. See http://serc.carleton.edu/eet/envisioningclimatechange/index.html.

3. Another option for a diagram of inputs to a climate model has been developed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. There is an interactive model of this available. For an explanation of all of the input parameters within the model, see https://www2.ucar.edu/news/backgrounders/ complexity-climate-modeling-text-version

4. Have students run Great Lakes Climate Scenarios from the Pileus website found at http://www.pileus.msu.edu/climate/

5. Use Climate Wizard to look at future climate scenarios in various parts of the United States. See http://www.climatewizard.org/

6. For further exploration of models, show the Climate Models and Climate in a Box videos found on the MEECS Climate Change Resource DVD.