Clue Into Climate ~ Curriculum Cache

      “The earth continues to get warmer, yet it’s feeling a lot colder outside. Over the past few weeks, subzero temperatures in Poland claimed 66 lives; snow arrived in Seattle well before the winter solstice, and fell heavily enough in Minneapolis to make the roof of the Metrodome collapse; and last week blizzards closed Europe’s busiest airports in London and Frankfurt for days, stranding holiday travelers. The snow and record cold have invaded the Eastern United States, with more bad weather predicted.
       All of this cold was met with perfect comic timing by the release of a World Meteorological Organization report showing that 2010 will probably be among the three warmest years on record, and 2001 through 2010 the warmest decade on record.
        How can we reconcile this? The not-so-obvious short answer is that the overall warming of the atmosphere is actually creating cold-weather extremes. Last winter, too, was exceptionally snowy and cold across the Eastern United States and Eurasia, as were seven of the previous nine winters.”                                                        

~ Quoted from Judah Cohen’s “Bundle Up, It’s Global Warming” article in the New York Times, published December 25th, 2010 (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/opinion/26cohen.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general)

In a winter such as this--in a warming world such as this--it definitely gets you thinking about the best way to teach about Climate Change to our global youth. (That same global youth that will be our leaders and decision makers in 15 year or so!)

Lucky for all of us, we don’t need to reinvent the wheel…or “climate change curriculum!!” The Internet comes to the rescue once again and will lead you to a great resource to use to teach about climate change. Click on the title above, or go to http://www.kqed.org/education/educators/clue-into-climate/ for everything you need.  Aligning with both state and national science standards for grades 4-8, Clue into Climate hits these 4 major strands:

• Increased Greenhouse Gases Contribute to Climate Change
• Climate Change Affects Ecosystems and the Distributions of Organisms
• Climate Change Affects the Water Cycle
• Climate Changes Can be Mitigated by Using Renewable Energy Sources

For an added bonus... 
 
Also on this website, you can go to http://www.kqed.org/education/educators/eco-literacy-resources.jsp to find out about a "Journey of the Plastic Bottle." The video is eye-opening, giving detail about our "Garbage Super Highway"…also known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch!!! Plus, you will also find there are a bundle of other videos (& lesson plans associated with them) so you can incorporate all sorts or info about climate change, pollution, green eating, and other aspects of the environment into your classroom (or with your own eco-minded children at home.).

PS..Don’t forget to read Judah Cohen’s entire article at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/opinion/26cohen.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general. There, you’ll see the how the snow of Siberia plays a substanatial role in our winter weather worldwide.