Educational Resources about Water Resources and Climate Change
This is a list of some of our favorite websites and online resources for teachers and students to learn more about water resources, the hydrologic cycle, and climate change. Please check back as we update the list as we find new favorites.
Environmental Fellowships for Students
ECO Circle International: https://www.ecocircleinternational.org/ A youth-led non-profit bridging environmental education and sustainable action, through international student fellowships and educational platforms. (“ECO Circle International is a fantastic program! I learned a lot about environmental and international issues, and this experience was a big inspiration to develop Students for Sustainable Water.” –Talia, founder of S2H2O)
Educational Resources for Teachers and Students
Environmental Protection Agency – Climate Change Resources for Educators and Students: https://www.epa.gov/climate-change/climate-change-resources-educators-and-students EPA’s homepage for educational resources for teachers and students to learn about climate change and become more resilient to its impacts.
NASA Climate Kids: https://climatekids.nasa.gov/ NASA’s interactive website with educational activities, articles, videos about the science behind climate and how it is affecting the earth.
NASA Climate Kids – Water: https://climatekids.nasa.gov/ NASA’s Climate Kids pages on water, including how sea level is measured, soil water, earth scientists studying glaciers, NASA missions studying water, and much more.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory – Teach: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/tag/search/water NASA JPL teaching resources about science, technology, engineering, and math activities and resources related to water and climate change.
Recommended activities:
- Modeling the Water Budget (Grade levels: 5 – 8): Students use California precipitation totals and evapotranspiration data to calculate and graph water deficits and surpluses. This activity will help students understand droughts and water movement within the water cycle. This activity could be modified to have student forecast changes to the water budget under future climate change. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/modeling-the-water-budget/
- Lessons in Sea-Level Rise (Grade levels: 5 – 12): These teaching resources cover sea-level rise and how it affects society. These teaching resources look at the science behind sea-level rise and offers lessons and tools for teaching students about this important climate topic. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/the-science-of-earths-rising-seas/
- What’s Causing Sea-Level Rise? Land Ice vs. Sea Ice (Grade levels: 2 – 8): Students will learn about sea ice and land ice and the causes of sea level rise. They will observe ice melting on a solid surface near a body of water and ice melting in a body of water. This is a hands-on classroom experiment activity and could be extended to graphing observations using spreadsheet software. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/whats-causing-sea-level-rise-land-ice-vs-sea-ice/
- Cloud Computing: A ‘Pi in the Sky’ Math Challenge (Grade levels: 6 – 12): Students will have a change to take part in recent discoveries while using math and pi just like NASA scientists to calculate the amount of potential rainfall in a cloud. Knowing how much water in a cloud has implications for helping residents and first responders prepare for flooding and mudslide emergencies. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/cloud-computing-a-pi-in-the-sky-math-challenge/
Project WET (Water Education Today): https://www.projectwet.org/ Project WET is a trove of hands-on, science-based water education resources. These resources are designed to encourage responsible stewardship and promote meaningful action to address environmental challenges, climate change, social justice, and sustainability.
Recommended activities:
- Climate Resilience Lesson Plan – High Water History (page 9) (Grade levels: 6 – 8): Students investigate how people are affected by floods and other weather events by calculating economic loss that results from flooding. This activity helps students to concepts like flood frequency and gains insight to careers in hydrology. https://www.projectwet.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/ClimateResilienceLessonPlan_FINAL_07.15.21.pdf
- WASH – Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene. These educational resources are developed as part of a project with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to reduce the spread of preventable waterborne diseases in Africa. Resources include educator guides, informational posters, and other water literacy resources. https://www.projectwet.org/programs/wash
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Education: https://www.noaa.gov/education Stories, news, multimedia, and teaching and educational resources for teachers and students.
Recommended activities:
- Water Cycle: This collection of resources helps teachers to guide their students beyond the classic water cycle diagram and through the complex social and environmental issues that surround water. The activities provide opportunity to explore the water cycle and related science using observational data and models. https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/freshwater/water-cycle
Science Web Sites
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory – GRACE-FO: https://gracefo.jpl.nasa.gov/ NASA JPL’ website about the GRACE-FO Mission. GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) is the follow-up mission to the GRACE twin satellites that tracked Earth’s water movement across the planet. GRACE-FO is capable of monitoring changes in ice sheets and glaciers, underground water storage, and water in large lakes and rivers, and changes in sea level. GRACE was used to identify losses in groundwater storage of some of the planet’s largest aquifers. Read more here.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Climate: https://www.noaa.gov/climate NOAA’s webpages that provide data, tools, and information to help people understand and prepare for climate variability and change.
Climate Change Organizations and Web Sites
The Climate Reality Project: https://www.climaterealityproject.org/ Founded by US Vice President Al Gore, The Climate Reality Project works to catalyze a global solution to the climate crisis by making urgent action a necessity across every sector of society.
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