Additional Climate Change Resources

Use these resources to better your understanding of climate change and its impacts to the Indiana Dunes.

 

Clarifying Climate Change and Related Scientific Concepts

• Our Climate Future
  • This is an award-winning video series that is science-packed, kid-friendly, and up-to-date. It has videos (all of which are well-labeled) that would provide excellent support during any climate change unit.

• National Geographic
  • Filled with beautiful visualizations and easy-to-read passages, this article breaks climate change down into 7 digestible pieces of information.

• YouTube
  • This video addresses some of the largest misconceptions about global warming using gentle humor.

• NASA
  • NASA has a wide range of videos, graphics, activities, and data that can aid in teaching a unit on climate change.

• Climate Change Basics
  • A list of frequently asked questions and there answers about climate change and concepts taught within climate change units can be located at this site. This would be helpful for teachers who have questions, and a good resource to help provide clarification to students when needed.

• Faces of Climate Change
  • Students are given a profile. This activity asks student to reflect on the social, political, and economic effects of climate change.

• Impacts of Climate Change
  • Students are asked to explore different cause and effect relationships. In doing so, students aren’t just thinking about environmental change, but social, economic, and cultural costs.

• Changes in Phenology
  • Science jargon usage puts this article as a high school reading level. This article discusses the effect of climate change on blooming and migration patterns.
    

Information about Climate Change and the National Parks

• Climate Change and Parks
  • Article lays out how climate change is impacting/will continue to impact National Parks. Clear call for action.

• Smithsonian Magazine
  • This article explains the importance behind drafting different climate scenarios based off different levels of carbon dioxide emissions. This strategy gives us the best chance at considering and preparing for different outcomes.

Climate Change in the Midwest Region

• Climate Indicators
  • Database with graphics, graphs, and maps about climate indicators in the United States (temperature, precipitation, ice cover, etc.).

• University of Michigan
  • Awesome graphs with historical and projected climate science data.

• Midwest Changes
  • Science jargon usage puts this article at a high school (likely AP Environmental Science) reading level. The article focuses on the effects of climate change in the midwest region.

• Great Lakes Region
  • This article walks through how the Great Lakes are impacted by climate change, addresses some species that will struggle and benefit from these changes, and highlights positive actions people can make to mitigate the effects of climate change.
    

Climate Change & the Indiana Dunes

• Indiana Dunes Climate Change Adaptation Plan
  • A copy of the official Indiana Dunes Climate Change Adaptation Plan. It is jargon-heavy, but contains graphics and examples that could be of use to students.

• Implications of climate change for tourism and outdoor recreation: an Indiana, USA, case study

• The Butterfly Effect
  • A video by Notre Dame on Jessica Hellmann’s research on the Karner blue butterfly, an endangered species. In the video, Hellmann, professor of ecology at the University of Minnesota and past fellow of the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study (NDIAS), discusses the research she undertook on climate change adaptation for the butterfly species at the Indiana Dunes while at the NDIAS.

• Wetland Flood Protection
  • Explains why wetlands are unique and the role they can play in mitigating the effects of climate change, if we choose to protect them. Highlights Northwest Indiana for their variety of unique wetlands.
    

Resources for Other Climate Change Activities and Projects:

• Climate Interactive
  • This link directs you to a World Climate Mock Summit. It puts students in the role of advocating for different countries around the world and models how everyone isn’t equally impacted by climate change, in turn touching on social justice issues.

• Field Museum
  • If teachers/students are inspired to start projects in their community, this action plan provides helpful steps to help individuals brainstorm and plan projects.

• National Phenology Network
  • Will make individualized graphs and maps of citizen science data. This data is for sightings of plants and animals at different stages of their life cycle.
    

Other:

• Interacting with Your Audience
  • This powerpoint describes 6 different stances citizens tend to take during discussions on climate change. This would be a helpful resource in helping teachers come up with strategies for meeting the needs of students with different backgrounds and beliefs on the relationship between science and society.

• Climate Change Communication
  • This link directs you to an interactive map that gives information about citizens’ stance on climate change. This would be helpful in conversations about citizen responses to the scientific community.