In this hands-on lab activity, you will test the greenhouse potential of two easily acquired greenhouse gas samples: water vapor, carbon dioxide.

This unit will introduce the basics of the carbon cycle. Students will learn how carbon moves throughout the different components of the carbon cycle and where carbon is stored in the Earth's system. Using case studies, NASA visualizations, current research, and interactives, students will explore how living things on land, in soils, and in our oceans regulate the carbon cycle. Because carbon and climate are tightly coupled, students will analyze the effect of carbon dioxide on the Earth's thermostat and our climate. Finally, students will seek possible solutions to a warming climate.

In this lab students will investigate the questions: What are the complex forces that are driving this weather and, ultimately, climate? How do they work together? Students will develop an understanding of the complexity of the interacting forces that work together to create the predictable patterns that we know as climate.

In this activity series students will learn more about global, regional, and local weather (and climate) drivers. This particular activity focuses on clouds, ways that the ocean and atmosphere combine to move moisture and heat energy around the globe, and wind and pressure.

In this activity students will learn about air masses, fronts, pressure systems, and wind patterns in relation to regional weather.

In this lab students will see how variable weekly weather can be, and you will consider the factors that make it so changeable. Students will also download and analyze temperature and precipitation patterns for one city over a number of years and see how climate patterns emerge from many years worth of weather data.

In this activity students will experience the human view of coral reefs through the eyes of ocean explorers and underwater filmmakers Howard and Michele Hall, as you watch the IMAX film Coral Reef Adventure. This video did not have a link on the site, but is available through the internet.

In this activity students will exam coral reef samples provided by the teacher. Students will then answer questions and engage in discussion about their findings. Students will also have the opportunity to examine a living coral reef system.

This unit will introduce students to many of the complex issues surrounding coral reefs. The 8 investigations in this unit incorporate some of the most current research data and visualizations available. Using data from a variety of sources, students will learn about the influences of both humans and the environment on the health and vitality of coral reefs.

In this unit students will learn about specific dangers of storms and hurricane hazards. Students will also look at safety precautions.

In this unit students will learn about specific dangers of storms and hurricane hazards. Students will also look at safety precautions.

In this unit students will learn about specific dangers of storms and hurricane hazards. Students will also look at safety precautions.

In this unit students will learn why it is important to study drought.

In this activity students will learn about the Dust Bowl, powerful dust storms carrying millions of tons of stinging, blinding black dirt swept across the Southern Plains–the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, western Kansas, and the eastern portions of Colorado and New Mexico.

In this activity students will learn about the spatial variability of drought in the United States.

In this activity students will watch a video and learn where hurricanes form. Students will also learn how hurricanes form.

Hurricanes move in generally predictable patterns. This part of the investigation focuses on these patterns for hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean. First you'll examine the movie again to see if you can identify the patterns empirically. Then you will try to tie your observations together with information about global wind patterns.

In this unit, students will develop an understanding of climate change and how it is different from climate variability. Students will read articles and access data, maps, and graphs of trends. They will also view several short video clips and learn about and compare climate models. Students will see how climate impacts life and life impacts climate in both short and long timescales.

In this activity students will learn about global wild weather. Students should be able to define and describe the evidence of climate change; describe "extreme" weather events and define climate variability; and investigate climate models and predictions for future climate and weather patterns, especially temperature changes and explain the concept of "anomaly".