Climate Change and the Water Cycle

Notes from our reviewers

The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness. Read what our review team had to say about this resource below or learn more about how CLEAN reviews teaching materials.

• Teaching Tips
  Robust extension activities and resources for further research are included with each lesson. A Spanish version of the curriculum is available on the website: [link http://asombro.org/climate/]
• About the Science
  This resource focuses on topics such as climate change, the water cycle, and the effects of the changing climate on water resources. These diverse lessons each give thorough background information and use real data and up-to-date science studies to address the issues around climate change. Passed initial science review - expert science review pending.
• About the Pedagogy
  Each of the activities is highly engaging through the use of games, science experiments, investigations, role-playing, research, and creating a final project to showcase learning. The activities can be taught together or independently. Teaching them in sequence will aid students in the understanding of climate data and the effects of climate change on our earth. Students collect their own data in many activities and are encouraged to develop their reasoning skills. This collection of activities provides a variety of multi-media approaches including the hands-on activity, PowerPoint presentations, YouTube videos, and worksheets, that may appeal to an assortment of learning styles. Each activity provides an additional video and/or PowerPoint to support the educator in meeting the objectives of the activity. Vocabulary, video demonstrations, handouts to record data, comprehension questions, discussion questions, an answer key, and final grading rubrics are also provided. Insulating the Earth, Insulating You: Students conduct an experiment where they model the greenhouse effect using their own body heat, thermometers, towels, and space blankets. Weather or Climate: This activity facilitates the understanding of the difference between weather and climate using videos and examples. Good discussion questions are included. Evaporation Investigation: Students conduct an experiment to understand what factors affect the rate of evaporation in soil. This takes several days to complete. The Water Cycle Game: Students play the role of reservoirs and hydrologic processes to illustrate the movement of water in the water cycle. Very active basketball-type game. Streams and Steam: Chutes and Ladder style board game to understand the effects of climate change on the water cycle. Good extension reading activity at the end. Ready, Set, Grow: Students play the roles of water-intensive and drought-tolerant plants to understand the impacts of climate change on water, primary producers, and the food web. Great video that models how to set this game up in your classroom. A graphing activity and game variations are included for student engagement. Rainout Shelters: Students follow the scientific process by delving into the research project in New Mexico that shows how changes in precipitation affect desert plant growth. Climate and Data Jam: This activity has students analyze climate data in their own county and develop a creative project to communicate this data to others. It includes great examples and scoring rubrics.
• Technical Details/Ease of Use
  These seven lessons are well scaffolded, appeal to a wide range of learners, are clearly explained, and are complete. These activities are easy for a teacher to implement in a classroom, and most can be performed using typical classroom and household objects. To download the Powerpoints, the facilitator may need to open links in a new tab or go to [link https://swclimatehub.info/education/climate-change-and-water-cycle] to download the Powerpoints.