Educational+Resources


 * PCEP is developing several classroom resources to support learning and teaching about climate change -- **
 * videos, several mini-labs, project-based learning templates, and more.** ** Check it out! **

//We have also collected some great resources developed by other organizations. These additional resources can be found on our Pinterest page.//

toc =Climate Change in the Pacific= Special Collection on Teacher's Domain @http://www.teachersdomain.org/special/pacific/

This media collection, developed by WGBH in partnership with PCEP, examines the impact of climate on the ecosystems of low-lying atolls and high islands of the Pacific. Videos are accompanied by background essays, discussion questions, and teaching tips.

=Project-Based Learning= Project-based learning, or PBL, provides a framework for teachers to implement meaningful, relevant, and engaging learning experiences for students. Students in PBL engage in their own learning by participating in a series of inquiry-based activities to answer question, solve problems, and overcome challenges that they have identified. PBL provides authentic means for students to develop and deepen important 21st century skills, such as creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and problem-solving. Through PBL, teachers immerse students in authentic language and literacy learning opportunities, scientific practices, civic engagement, crosscutting academic and real-world concepts.

PREL staff has been heavily involved in exploring and applying PBL strategies in different learning contexts in the Pacific region through //Learning through Technology// (LTT) webinars, an online professional learning community. The sharing and learning that took place through LTT helped PREL identify some important elements of PBL. PREL has now made resources available on this Wiki for your use. We hope that it will help you navigate the nuts and bolts of PBL, and that teachers and students will develop in-depth understanding of core ideas of project work and experience its full benefits. Click on the file named "Lessons Learned from the Pacific" below for tips from PREL staff on planning and implementing PBL.



Click here to access sample PBL planning tools and templates developed by PREL staff, project ideas, and additional PBL resources. The link will take you to our online repository through Livebinders.

=Mini Lab Activities= These hands-on activities are adapted based on ideas from the PCEP Climate Education Framework for Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, and Grades 9-10.

Building Your Own Rain Gauge
//Grades 3-5// CEF reference(s):
 * (3-5Climate.A.1a) Weather changes from day to day and over the seasons. Weather can be described by measurable quantities such as temperatures, amount and kind of precipitation, and wind direction and speed.
 * (3-5Climate.A.1b) Scientists record the patterns of the weather across different times and areas so that they can make predictions about what kind of weather might happen in the next couple of days.



Water Thermometer (Thermoscope) Activity
//Grades 6-12// CEF reference(s):
 * (6-8Energy.A.2b) Energy moves from hotter regions or objects to colder ones by the processes of conduction, convection, and radiation. In conduction, the objects must be in direct contact with each other. In convection (such as hot air rising), moving molecules transfer the thermal energy from one location to another. In radiation, electromagnetic waves travel through the air or through space and transfer the energy from one location to another.
 * (6-8Climate.B.3) The scientific evidence is that USAPI sea levels will continue to rise and ocean water continue to become more acidic. The average temperatures of air and water are also projected to continue increasing.
 * (9-12Climate.B.3.b) In general for the USAPI, the average air temperature and sea surface temperature are both projected to continue to increase. The frequency and intensity of extreme weather events (e.g., typhoons and droughts) will probably change in currently unpredictable ways, except that extreme rainfall days will probably occur more often. Sea levels will continue to rise and the ocean acidity will continue to increase.
 * (9-12ImpactsB.1a) When energy is added to matter, the molecules making up the matter move faster. If the matter can occupy a larger volume, heating it will cause the volume to expand. This thermal expansion of matter causes ocean volume to increase and sea level to rise when oceans are warmer. Global sea level is also rising due to the melting of land-based ice in mountain glaciers and polar ice sheets.



Bean Exercise: Happy Plants Love the Rain...in Moderation
Grades K-2 CEF reference(s):
 * (K-2Matter.B.2a) Plants and animals (including humans) need water, air, and resources from the land, and they try to live in places that have the things they need. Humans use natural resources for everything they do: for example, they catch fish for food, use soil and water to grow food, and use wood to build shelters, and extract materials such as iron from the Earth to make cooking pans
 * (K-2Life.A.1b) Plants also have different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) that help them survive, grow, and produce more plants.



Supporting Materials
Teaching Academic Vocabulary & Word Wall Activities

=Send Us Your Resources!= Have you found a helpful climate-related classroom resource? Is your organization developing climate education materials? Share it with PCEP by leaving a comment on our Facebook page!