Climate History and the Cryosphere

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
  Classroom discussion and collaboration among students will help implement the detailed activity. The graph of CO2 and temperature from ice-cores could be used as a discussion point or a think-pair-share opportunity.
• About the Science
  This activity utilizes graphs and interactive Flash objects from reputable science organizations to guide students through an exploration of ideas surrounding the science of paleoclimatology. Constructed graphs are used for interpretation of data concerning changing CO2 levels and global temperature. This EarthLabs chapter is a part of a series of labs that progress though various parts of the cryosphere. The quality of the previous labs was not investigated in this annotation and it is noted that this activity is best used as a part of the series and not as a stand-alone activity. The activity has links to other resources that augment the topics highlighted. Comment from expert scientist: It shows how scientists are able to measure data that can be interpreted to help understand past climate changes beyond our direct measurements.
• About the Pedagogy
  The learning objectives in this activity are aligned with the material in this activity. This activity is a guided exploration utilizing interactive flash animations and graphs along with opportunities for stop and think questions. This activity does not list any prerequisite and is Lab 4 in a series of 6 lab activities.
• Technical Details/Ease of Use
  The data relied upon in the activity are sound. There are no technical barriers in this activity. The preparation time for the implementation of this activity may be an important factor for a teacher to consider.