Teaching Middle School Science

This podcast interviews Dr. Monaghan who does climate research in Antarctica.

Dr. Andy Monaghan, researcher at the National Center for Atmospheric Research gives us the lowdown on climate change and it's impact on Antarctica. In doing so, educators can address common questions students might have about climate change and also learn simple ways that we can mitigate our impact on the environment. [10:41]

What is the environmental impact of summer vacations?

How much thought have you given to the environmental impact of your summer vacation plans and those of everyone else you'll meet there? What kind of carbon emissions are you emitting as you jet to your destination? What about that four-wheel drive vehicle you'll rent? And the convenience meals with their excess packaging you'll eat a greater proportion of?

Did it sneak up on you again this year? Kidding aside, Richter Scale Day is April 26, the birthday of Charles Richter (1900-1985), inventor of the Richter scale. Most middle school science curricula include earth science studies in plate tectonics and its related phenomena, including earthquakes. Catastrophic events, such as the recent Italian earthquake, provide teachable moments. What better time to integrate a study of the Richter scale technology with science content?

You didn't miss Richter Scale Day, did you?

This page includes the Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science guide, links to highlighted presentations, and related documents. The guide includes the most important concepts in climate science.

This guide says that humans can take actions to reduce climate change and its impacts. Hope we aren't too late.

With all the news of the Swine flu outbreak and eventhough flu is caused by a virus - here is a really good resource about bacteria on your hands.

This blog post discusses how many bacteria can be found on your hands and that there are differences in men and women. In addition, ideas for integrating these ideas into middle school science classrooms are provided.

In this activity, students will collect weather data over several days or weeks, graph temperature data, and compare the temperature data with averaged climate data where they live. Understanding and interpreting local weather data and understanding the relationship between weather and climate are important first steps to understanding larger-scale global climate changes.

Nice activity where students collect, analyze, and compare temperature data and compare the data to local climate data.

The images and videos you see at the site have been created at the Microscope Imaging Station at the Exploratorium and include everything from cancer cells to dividing sea urchin eggs. Resources for educators are included.