Climate Change and Water Cycle Activities

(Updated: 2/2/16)

From Stephanie Haan-Amato, Asombro Institute for Science Education

Students participating in curriculum activity

Students conducting an experiment with different insulating materials and their own body heat to model the enhanced greenhouse effect in the Insulating You, Insulating Earth activity. Photo courtesy of Asombro.

Increased temperatures and altered precipitation will make water–a limited resource in the arid southwestern United States–even scarcer in many locations.

With the aim of fostering climate literacy in our future citizens, the USDA Southwest Regional Climate Hub partnered with the Asombro Institute for Science Education to create an engaging, fun, and scientifically rigorous education unit for 6-12th grade students. It is aligned with Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. Each activity was reviewed by an educator for educational practices and a scientist for scientific accuracy.

The Climate Change and the Water Cycle unit consists of nine activities, and we designed it to be conducted over 10 days (or 10 hours). Each activity can also stand alone, however, and the unit need not be completed in its entirety.

Materials for the activities can generally be purchased at a household goods store. Many activities use items that educators often have available; very few specialized supplies are needed.

At the conclusion of the unit, a Las Cruces middle school student commented: “I loved all of the activities! They are fun and help us understand about what goes on in the world.”

An educator, who conducted the activities said, “The entire curriculum is great, but I was particularly impressed with the progression of ideas and the variety of lessons.”

Another commented, “Students could see the relevance and importance of these real life issues.”

The curriculum is free to download at http://swclimatehub.info/education/climate-change-and-water-cycle. We simply ask that educators create a quick account by supplying some basic information for internal tracking purposes. We hope that EEANM educators and students will try and enjoy these fun new activities!