This interactive groups Hub resources into key science and teaching concepts. The article Climate change resources – planning pathways provides pedagogical advice and links to the New Zealand Curriculum. Click on the labels for links to supporting articles, media and student activities.
This interactive diagram provides a selection of pathways that allow for differing approaches and starting points using some of our climate change resources. The aim is to assist educators with their planning of lessons and units of work by providing options that cover multiple science concepts.
Background image courtesy of Christine Zenino, Creative Commons 2.0
Download a PDF file of the transcript here.
Transcript
Evidence and models
To understand how the climate is changing and to support the claim that changes are due to human actions, scientists gather and interpret data as evidence. They use this data to build and validate complex climate models.
Related articles
- Carbon dioxide and climate
- Clues to the past
- Collecting data in Antarctica
- Ice ages unearthed
- Carbon dioxide in the ocean
- Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
- Climate models
- Measuring greenhouse gas emissions
- Measuring gases using eddy covariance
Related media
- The ocean, CO2 and climate change – timeline
- Models in marine science
- Why study ice from Antarctica?
- Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide
Video: Thin Ice/University of Waikato
Greenhouse effect
The greenhouse effect is the natural warming of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Related article
Related media
Related activity
Image: University of Waikato
The role of the oceans
The oceans play an important part in controlling climate. They also act as carbon sinks – holding more carbon from the atmosphere than they give up.
Related articles
- The ocean in action – introduction
- Argo project
- Carbon dioxide in the ocean
- The ocean and the carbon cycle
- Ocean dissolved gases
- The Southern Ocean’s ecological richness and significance for global climate
Related media
- Carbon dioxide and the oceans
- Southern Ocean carbon sink
- Ocean acidification
- The ocean, CO2 and climate change – timeline
Related activities
- Ocean acidification and eggshells
- Temperature, salinity and water density
- Investigating sea level rise
Image: Kim Currie
Antarctica
Antarctica is an ideal location to study local-to-global scale climate change. Experts use clues from the past to study the impact of greenhouse gases and use this knowledge to make predictions about climate change.
Related articles
- Antarctica and global climate change
- Discovering the secret past of Antarctica
- Adventure and innovation on the ice
- Collecting data in Antarctica
- Climate change, melting ice and sea level rise
- Antarctica tipping points
- Trapped in ice
Related media
Related activities
Image: Dr Adrian McDonald
Melting ice and sea level rise
One implication of climate change is sea level rise. The rising global temperature is causing both land ice and sea ice to melt. Land ice and sea ice are not the same. They form differently, and the consequences of their melting affect the planet in different ways.
Related articles
- Climate change, melting ice and sea level rise
- Satellites measure sea ice thickness
- Glaciers provide global climate puzzle
- Disappearing glaciers
- Rising seas – a Connected series article
Related media
Related activities
Image: Pseudopanax@Wikimedia, licensed under Creative Commons 3.0
Pedagogy and the nature of science
Climate change is a rich and relevant context. The following resources provide suggestions for scaffolding learning pathways.
The nature of science is interwoven through many of the resources featured throughout this interactive – in the articles listed below and in the activities.
Related articles
- Climate change – a wicked problem for classroom inquiry
- Thin Ice in the classroom
- Climate change literacy links
- Climate change, science and controversy
- Climate action
- Adventure and innovation on the ice
- Climate change – challenging conversations
Related activities
Image: Public domain
Thin Ice resources
The film Thin Ice – The Inside Story of Climate Science provides a look at our planet’s changing climate, with a range of Science Learning Hub resources designed to support its use in the classroom.
Related articles (with embedded media)
- Climate change, science and controversy
- Climate action
- Adventure and innovation on the ice
- Carbon dioxide and climate
- Clues to the past
- Climate models
- Disappearing glaciers
- Climate change, melting ice and sea level rise
Related activities
Video: Thin Ice/University of Waikato
Finding solutions
Climate change is a wicked problem, but it is also an opportunity to get involved and take action. Thousands of scientists worldwide are looking for ways to slow or mitigate the effects of climate change. We can all do our part to help out.
Related articles
- Climate action
- Renewable energy sources
- New Zealand’s National Science Challenges
- Environmental benefits of potato plates
- The environmental footprint of electric versus fossil cars
Media
Image: Yarruta, licensed through 123RF Ltd
Useful link
Returning to a green Antarctica is a comic by Simone Giovanardi and Bella Duncan. It explains why Antarctica once looked more like South Island’s West Coast beech forests than the frozen continent we know today.
