Thank you for your interest in teaching your students about climate change and other environmental issues! Luckily there are many - almost too many - resources for teachers. On  this page you will get an overview over some of the more interesting and important websites.

For German language materials for schools, please go here.

 

 A special recommendation by Janet´s Girl Scout Group:

 A kids guide to recycling glass and plastic.

 

General materials
A great resource for the exchange of general teaching materials among all European schools is at ICT.

General Information for and exchange among teachers can be found at the teachers corner.

Global Climate Change Websites at ClimateChangeNorth.
A collection of websides that all have a world focus – to help students understand what climate change means for the planet as a whole.

Resources for communicating about climate change at BGCI

A great resource for materials opn teaching climate change can be found at the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN)

 

Networks for educators

 Global System Science - Lifeline.

This is a project to establish a network of practicing high school  teachers actively using climate change curricula. The key aim of the  project will be creation of professional learning communities (PLCs) of  teachers who, through a series of remote meetings and workshops,  maintain ongoing communication and sharing of best practices among  colleagues to strengthen knowledge and promote effective teaching  strategies during and beyond the actual grant period. Workshop subject  matter will emphasize incorporating analysis of NASA Earth observation  data by students in classrooms.

 

 Websites

 All About Birds

Alliance for Climate Eduaction
The Alliance for Climate Education  is working with students around the country to deepen their awareness  about climate change and promote strategies for reducing greenhouse gas  emissions.

BBSRC. Bioscience for the future
A UK website with teaching resources to download for primary and secondary school science education, and information on school-scientist links.

Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears
Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears is an online professional  development magazine which focuses on preparing elementary teachers to  teach polar science concepts while also integrating inquiry-based  science and literacy instruction. The project draws on research showing  that an integrated approach can improve student achievement in science,  as well as in reading comprehension and oral and written discourse  abilities. Ultimately, the project seeks to bring the polar regions  closer to home for elementary teachers and their students.

Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle
Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle is an online professional  development magazine which focuses on preparing elementary teachers to  teach climate science concepts while also integrating inquiry-based  science and literacy instruction. The project draws on research showing  that an integrated approach can improve student achievement in science,  as well as in reading comprehension and oral and written discourse  abilities. Through the Beyond Weather and Water Cycle project,  we propose to increase elementary teachers’ understanding of climate and climate change, increase the amount and quality of science taught in  elementary classrooms, and build a virtual professional learning  community of practice around the teaching of climate and climate change. These goals will be accomplished by contextualizing and adapting  existing developmentally-appropriate digital resources delivered through an online magazine format including differentiated, engaging  informational texts; developing an online climate literacy course for  elementary teachers; and utilizing Web 2.0 tools to provide interactive  experiences and to facilitate virtual, collaborative professional  development. Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle is modeled on an award-winning NSF-funded project Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears: Integrating Literacy and Science in K-5 Classrooms.

Climate Action Center
Climate change is a serious and real threat to children's well being. In many  areas of the world children's lives are being disrupted by the shifts in temperatures and increasingly severe weather conditions. Today, they  are few areas of the world that are not being impacted by climate change and these changes can also have a significant impact on a child's  ability to attend school. Very sadly severe climate changes may also  support conditions that impact a child's ability to survive.

ClimateChangeEducation
We are a volunteer organization. Most of us are either docents and interns at  California science centers and museums. Or... students, scientists and  staff at the University of California, Berkeley.. Hands-on science  demonstrations is our specialty--our principle contribution to the body  of original educational material.

ClimateChangeIsElementary
Climate Change is Elementary is intended to help schools and families to begin to take meaningful  action toward understanding and solving the Climate Crisis.

Climate Change Life
Welcome to the ClimateChangeLIVE distance learning adventure!  The U.S.  Forest Service, Prince William Network and partners bring climate  learning to you through our series of webcasts, webinars, and online  climate education resources!

Climate Change Solutions Campaign
Earth Day  Network's Climate Change Solutions Campaign is a three year global  campaign to educate and motivate all levels of the global community  including k-12 and college students, governments, corporations, and  religious institutions.

Climate Change, Wildlife, and Wildlands Toolkit.
The new Climate Change, Wildlife and Wildlands Toolkit for Formal and Informal Educators is an update of the popular, award-winning Climate Change, Wildlife and Wildlands Toolkit  for Teachers and Interpreters. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with seven other federal agencies, developed the kit for classroom teachers and informal educators in  parks, refuges, forest lands, nature centers, zoos, aquariums, science  centers, etc., to teach middle school students about how climate change  is affecting our nation's wildlife and public lands and how everyone,  even kids, can become a climate steward.

Climate Choices
Climate Choices - Children's Voices is aimed at teachers of children  aged 9-11 years ( UK years 5 and 6) who want to help children begin to  understand the challenging and complex issue of climate change.

Climate classrom
ClimateClassroom.org helps educate children about global climate change in accurate, developmentally appropriate, and hopeful ways. Sections designed for parents and K-12 educators provide talking points, attractive visuals, instructional guidelines, and helpful resource links for investigating the topic with children. An additional section for  school-age children offers quality learning experiences and realistic  suggestions for becoming part of the global-warming solution. Links to webpages for teachers: National Wildlife Federation

Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN)
The CLEAN project, a part of the National Science Digital Library,  provides a reviewed collection of resources coupled with the tools to  enable an online community to share and discuss teaching about climate  and energy science.

Cloud Institute
The Cloud Institute equips school  systems K-12 and their communities with the core content, competencies  and habits of mind that characterize education for a sustainable future. We do this by inspiring teachers and engaging students through  meaningful content and student-centered instruction. Inspiring young people to think about the world, their relationship to it, and  their ability to influence it in an entirely new way.

Climate Science Toolkit from the American Chemical Society
Global climate change, whether a result of natural variability or of  human activity, is a vital issue for life on Earth and involves many  processes and concepts related to chemistry. Engaging with this issue in deliberative discourse with colleagues and others requires  understanding the fundamental science that determines Earth’s climate.  This fundamental science is the core content of the ACS Climate Science  Toolkit.

CO2Connect
Pupils need wide competencies to meet the challenges of sustainable development - including climate change. The CO₂nnect activities are designed to support learning that can provide pupils  with abilities, skills, attitudes and awareness as well as knowledge and understanding of the issues.

Cool the Earth
Cool The Earth is a ready-to-run  program that educates K-8 students and their families about global  warming and inspires them to take simple actions to reduce their carbon  emissions. The program is successful because it’s fun and empowering for the kids, and their enthusiasm is contagious!

Council on Foreign Affairs
Academic Modules ”featuring teaching notes by the authors of CFR publications”are designed to assist  educators in creating or supplementing a course syllabus. The modules  are customized packages built around a primary CFR text, such as a book  or report, and include teaching notes; additional readings; video,  audio, and transcripts of CFR meetings; Foreign Affairs articles; and other online resources. Use of these modules is free of charge. They may be used in part or in their entirety.

Dream of a Nation
Dream of a Nation offers hundreds of ideas and examples of how smart, committed, and daring we can be.” Offering a laser-focus on solutions,  Dream of a Nation restores faith that we can solve our current looming environmental, economic and societal challenges.

Ecokids
Started in 1994, EcoKids is a free, environmental education program that offers curriculum-linked materials and activities for Canadian elementary  schools to engage in environmental action. Our award-winning EcoKids web site - the centrepiece of the program - is an interactive  environmental web site for children, their families, and educators in  Canada and around the world. It offers topical information about the  environment through interactive, fun, educational games and activities  that utilize participants' willingness to learn. Children are encouraged to form their own opinions, make decisions, get involved and understand the impact their own actions have on the environment. Designed to  inspire children to become life-long environmental stewards, EcoKids is  an invaluable resource for educators, youth group leaders and parents.

Ecological Society of America
Educational information by the ecological society

Global Warming Discovery Demo
A favorite at science centers and museums, in K 12 schools, UC classes, and at large community events. Much of our work is bridge-building,  encouraging partnerships in education. The California Catalog is a web  version of this.

Global Education
The objective of the Global  Education Website is to increase the amount and quality of teaching of  global education in Australian primary and secondary schools. The strategy of the project is to  provide an Internet Site and curriculum material that is of high professional standard, is attractive, teacher friendly; and accessible.

Globe
GLOBE (Global Learning and  Observations to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide hands-on,  primary and secondary school-based science and education program.  GLOBE'svision promotes and supports students, teachers and scientists to collaborate on  inquiry-based investigations of the environment and the Earth system  working in close partnership with NASA and NSF Earth System Science  Projects (ESSPs) in study and research about the dynamics of Earth's environment.

Go Green Initiative
The Go Green Initiative is a simple, comprehensive program designed  to create a culture of environmental responsibility on school campuses  across the nation. Founded in 2002, the Go Green Initiative unites  parents, students, teachers and school administrators in an effort to  make real and lasting changes in their campus communities that will  protect children and the environment for years to come.

How we know what we know about climate change.
A wonderful book for kids and adults on climate change. "This is a necessary book. It  treats kids with respect--they deserve to know what's going on. But they also deserve to know that there's much that can be done and much that  is being done. In a word, It's empowering!" Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

Kids Gardening
Help kids learn about and love nature by promoting gardening.

Kids Global Climate Change Institute
An  online learning community designed to bring scientists, students and  teachers from around the world together to communicate, collaborate, and contribute towards solutions to global climate change.

Kids Growing Strong
We are on a journey to inspire  children and their families to discover and adopt healthy lifestyles  through proper nutrition and exercise while motivating them to actively  learn about themselves and the environment. Through hands-on,  science-based activities, we encourage kids to become energetic &  engaged, build a strong knowledge-base and develop the measurable  lifetime skills necessary to lead healthy lives and make informed  decisions.

My wonderful world
Give kids the power of knowledge about their world. My Wonderful World is a National Geographic-led campaign backed by a coalition of national business and non-profit organizations to expand geographic learning in school, at home, and in communities. We want to give kids the power of global knowledge.

National Center for Science Education
The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) is a not-for-profit,  membership organization providing information and resources for schools, parents, and concerned citizens working to keep evolution and climate  science in public school science education. We educate the press and  public about the scientific and educational aspects of controversies  surrounding the teaching of evolution and climate change, and supply  needed information and advice to defend good science education at local, state, and national levels. Our 4500 members are scientists, teachers,  clergy, and citizens with diverse religious and political affiliations.

New York Times
Materials on teaching climate change

NOAA Education
Advancing Environmental Literacy. Materials here are designed for the teacher to use in the classroom or as background reference material.

NASA - Material for educators
NASA's Education Materials Finder  will help teachers locate resources that can be used in the classroom.  Users may search by keywords, grade level, product type and subject.  With hundreds of publications and Web sites indexed, the finder is the  best way to locate NASA educational resources. More material on global climate change from NASA is here.
Great site by NOAA on Paleoclimatology is here.

PBS.
Great teaching materials on evolution.
Also, look at PBS Learningmedia

Science in school
Science in School aims to promote inspiring science teaching by encouraging communication between teachers, scientists, and everyone  else involved in European science education.

Sprout
Sprout is an e-course for young people who want to grow their social or environmental project idea and learn to create lasting change that takes root in their communities. Sprout exists to help make this process simpler, more practical and  less intimidating by guiding you through the project management process  step-by-step.

Teachers Domain
Teachers' Domain is a free digital media service for educational  use from public broadcasting and its partners. You’ll find thousands of  media resources, support materials, and tools for classroom lessons,  individualized learning programs, and teacher professional learning  communities.

The Better Life Index.
This could be a fun actitvity at school to see which country fits best to you and why. Your Better Life Index is designed to let you visualise and compare some of the key factors like education, housing, environment, and so on that contribute to well-being in OECD countries. It´s an interactive tool that allows you to see how countries perform according to the importance you give to each of 11 topics that make for a better life.

Tide Global learning.
Tide global learning is a network of teachers and educators coming together to respond to the educational  challenges of global dimensions, development perspectives and human rights principles.

The Prince's Rainforest Project
Resources for schools on rainforest protection with videos, life webcams, fun activities and much more.

Further links are here.

Games

Have kids play with climate models to better understand which factors have which effect.---> Playing with climate models

Modeling

Here are a few websites that are great to teach students the basics in modeling.

Arizona State University - Modeling Instructions

American Modeling Teachers Association