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How Much Heat Can We Handle?

Summers are getting hotter. Use this guide to help students explore the science of heat and its effects on the body, and then apply what they learn through diagramming.

Spread the word

In this quick activity, students will create a social media post to raise awareness of a public health issue. They will consider how to craft an engaging message that communicates the issue while also appealing to the public.

Feeling the heat

Students will answer questions about the Science News article “Humans may not be able to handle as much heat as scientists thought,” which explores the effects of extreme heat on the body and what that means for us as heat waves intensify around the globe. A version of the article, “How much heat can we handle?” appears in the August 27, 2022 issue of Science News.

Earth May Be Hiding Thousands of Tree Species

In this guide, students will learn about scientists’ efforts to estimate how many tree species Earth has, analyze a related data visualization and discuss the implications the research has for conservation.

Mapping biodiversity

Students will look at data from a primary research article to explore how tree biodiversity differs across continents and biomes.

Counting Earth’s tree species

Students will answer questions about the online Science News article “Earth may have 9,200 more tree species than previously thought,” which describes researchers’ efforts to estimate the number of tree species on Earth. A version of the article, “Earth may be hiding thousands of tree species,” appears in the March 12, 2022 issue of Science News

Look to the Outliers

In this guide, students will learn about outliers and why some social scientists study them in an effort to improve people’s lives.

Defying expectations

Students will answer questions about the online Science News article “Why do some people succeed when others fail? Outliers provide clues,” which describes how research into communities that defy expectations can reveal ways to help others.

All about outliers

Students will define what an outlier is and discuss why outliers occur, how to identify them and how they can be useful for science and society.

Reimagining plastics recycling

Students will evaluate experimental methods for recycling plastics, gather data about the types of plastics they use at home, research plastics recycling in their community and write a letter to local officials that advocates for improving plastics recycling.

Earth Cannot Avoid a Warmer Future

In this guide, students will learn about a United Nations assessment that concludes human-caused climate change is behind extreme weather events. Then, students will discuss and compare climate scenarios and visualize some of the data.

Visualizing climate change scenarios

Students will learn about climate scenarios, analyze a chart of climate change impacts under four scenarios and create a data visualization for one climate change impact.