Heating up
These questions focus on observations about Earth's surface temperature over time and reasons behind the changing climate.
Educator Guide: 2016 Shattered Earth’s Heat Record
About this guide
The article “2016 shattered Earth’s heat record” describes the record high global average temperature and record low global sea ice extent during 2016, and places that data within the larger context of climate change. Students can focus on trends that climate scientists are recording as described in the article, follow connections to earlier articles about climate change, explore cross-curricular connections to other major science topics and work in groups to study and report on various aspects of climate change science. Check out Science News for Students for more stories on weather and climate.
This Guide Includes:
Alarm bells for planet Earth
Students can search the Science News archive for the earliest stories on climate change and for techniques to combat it.
Our changing planet
These discussion prompts cover radiant energy coming to and from Earth, the effects of global warming on the land, ocean, atmosphere and on species, and possible methods of averting or adapting to climate change.
Analyze the climate change data
Students will work in groups to explore available data and research various aspects of climate change and then present their findings to the class.