Introduction to Earth's Climate - Content Pages from Web-based Course

Tree ringsNCAR Online Education offers web-based courses for teachers seeking professional development opportunities. Click here to see a current list of courses and to get more information about them.

We are making the content pages (text with images, videos, animations, and interactive multimedia) from those courses available on the Windows to the Universe web site. This will allow course graduates to access the materials after the course has ended, and will also allow them to provide their students with access to the course materials as they see fit.

This page provides links to the content pages from the course "Introduction to Earth's Climate".

Introduction to Earth's Climate (content pages)

  1. What is Climate & An Overview of Earth System Science
    1. Weather and Climate Basics
    2. Introduction to Climate (Project Learn)
    3. Differences Between Weather and Climate
    4. Introduction to Systems & the Climate System (Moodle only)
    5. What is Climate?
    6. What Controls the Climate System?
    7. ESS in a Nutshell
  2. Climate Science: How Do We Study Climate?
    1. Keeping Track (The Rough Guide to Climate Change, Robert Henson, pp. 171-192)
    2. Direct Measures of Climate (Moodle only)
    3. Making Direct Climate Measurements (Moodle only)
    4. Indirect Evidence of Climate Change (Moodle only)
    5. Making Models of the Climate System (Moodle only)
    6. Scientists Who Study Climate (Moodle only)
    7. Climate Change 2007 from the IPCC
    8. The Physical Science Basis (Summary provided by Windows the Universe)
    9. Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability (Summary provided by Windows the Universe)
  3. Paleoclimate
    1. The Ghost of Climate Past
      1. The Long View (The Rough Guide to Climate Change, Robert Henson, pp. 193 - 226)
      2. How to Investigate Climates of the Past (Moodle only)
      3. The History of Earth's Climate (Moodle only)
    2. Case Study 1: Tree Rings and Climate
      1. "Build a Tree" Dendrochronology Activity
      2. Align tree ring core samples
    3. Case Study 2: Paleoclimates and Pollen
      1. "Paleoclimates and Pollen" Activity
  4. Earth's Energy Balance & Solar Energy Input
    1. The Sun - how far? how big?
    2. The Solar Furnace
    3. The Multispectral Sun
      1. "Infrared - More Than Your Eyes Can See" Video
    4. Solar Variation
    5. Solar Radiation at Earth
    6. Solar Energy in Earth's Atmosphere
Last modified February 2, 2010 by Dennis Ward.

You might also be interested in:

Traveling Nitrogen Classroom Activity Kit

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

What is Climate?

Climate in your place on the globe is called regional climate. It is the average weather pattern in a place over more than thirty years, including the variations in seasons. To describe the regional climate...more

What Controls the Climate?

A factor that has an affect on climate is called a “forcing.” Some forcings, like volcanic eruptions and changes in the amount of solar energy, are natural. Others, like the addition of greenhouse gases...more

Global Warming: Scientists Say Earth Is Heating Up

Earth’s climate is warming. During the 20th Century Earth’s average temperature rose 0.6° Celsius (1.1°F). Scientists are finding that the change in temperature has been causing other aspects of our planet...more

Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability - Present and Future

A new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlights how natural environments and human communities are coping with changing climate, how vulnerable they are, and whether they...more

Giant Impact Theory of the Origin of the Moon

This article summarizes calculations that simulate what may have been the most violent event that has ever occurred to the Earth, its collision with the next largest body that was present in its region...more

Fall 2005 Chicago NSTA Schedule

Windows to the Universe offered numerous workshops at the upcoming NSTA meeting in Chicago, Illinois. Workshops included: November 10 "Climate Change: Classroom Tools" - Explore the scientific foundations...more

Spring 2006 Anaheim NSTA Schedule

Windows to the Universe will offer numerous workshops at the upcoming NSTA meeting in Anaheim, California. Workshops include: April 6 "Bring Writing and Reading into Your Earth Science Classroom: Innovative...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA