Climate is an ideal topic for interdisciplinary education. Essential environmental concepts and everyday observations of weather and water offer natural extensions into the physical, chemical, biological, geographical, and social dimensions of Earth System Science. Making these connections enables comprehension of regional and global climate regimes.
In 2007 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its fourth comprehensive assessment of Earth’s Climate. This publication includes the efforts of over 2,500 scientific reviewers, 800 contributing authors and 450 lead authors from 130 different countries.
There are four parts to the report:
The AR4 (IPCC Fourth Assessment Report) Synthesis Report
Working Group I Report "The Physical Science Basis"
Working Group II Report "Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability”
Working Group III Report "Mitigation of Climate Change"
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts, the IPCC laid the foundation for measures that are needed to counteract climate change but left a chasm between the well-documented evidence presented in the report and the public’s ability to comprehend climate change mechanisms. This course will help bridge this climate literacy chasm by clarifying the graphs and topics presented in the summary of Physical Science Basis report developed by Working Group I.
Content development for this course was guided by the Climate Literacy Framework |
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| 1) The Sun is the Source of all energy on Earth | |
| 2) Climate is regulated by complex interactions among components of the Earth system | |
| 3) Life on Earth depends on, is shaped by, and affects climate | |
| 4) Climate varies over space and time through both natural and man-made processes | |
| 5) Our understanding of the climate system is improved through observations, theoretical studies, and modeling | |
| 6) Human activities are impacting the climate system | |
| 7) Climate change will have consequences for the Earth system and human lives | |
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G6-12 science teachers are required to register with the University of Wisconsin-Madison to earn credit for taking this course. However, anyone who logs on and completes all the activities and quizzes from all 16 lessons can generate and print a certificate of completion indicating they spent 20 hours working through this web-based climate course. |
Registration information
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This professional development course for middle and high school science teachers was developed collaboratively by University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty and staff from the following departments:
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2010 revisions and updates made possible by the NASA GCCE program. |
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