Climate Change and the Water Cycle

10-hour Unit

Target audience: 6th-12th Grade Students

Increased temperatures and altered precipitation will make water, a limited resource in the arid southwestern United States, even scarcer in many locations. With the aim of fostering climate literacy in our future citizens, we partnered with the USDA Southwest Climate Hub to create an engaging, fun, and scientifically rigorous education unit for 6-12th grade students. It is aligned with Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards.

Click the icons below to watch brief instructional videos to learn how to conduct select lessons from the Climate Change and the Water Cycle Unit.

Insulating You, Insulating Earth: Examining the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect

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Weather or Climate? You Decide!

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Understanding the Difference: Do the American Public and Media Understand Weather and Climate?

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Evaporation Investigation setup

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The Water Cycle Game

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Streams and Steam: Effects of Climate Change on the Water Cycle

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Ready, Set, Grow: How Does Climate Change Affect Primary Producers?

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Rainout Shelters: How Does the Availability of Water Affect Plant Growth in the Desert?

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Climate Data Jam: Communicating Climate Data to Non-scientists

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Spanish Handouts

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Climate Change and the Water Cycle

10-hour Unit

Target audience: 6th-12th Grade Students

Click the icons below to watch brief instructional videos to learn how to conduct select lessons from the Climate Change and the Water Cycle Unit.

Insulating You, Insulating Earth: Examining the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect

To model the enhanced greenhouse effect, students conduct an experiment using their own body heat, thermometers, towels, and space blankets.

Educator guide (PDF)

Insulating You, Insulating Earth handout (PDF)

Insulating You, Insulating Earth presentation (PowerPoint)

Insulating You, Insulating Earth (instructional video)

Weather or Climate? You Decide!

Students use their understanding of the definitions of weather and climate to identify which of the two concepts is better represented by several figures that are presented during the activity.

Educator guide (PDF)

Weather or Climate? You Decide! handout (PDF)

Weather or Climate presentation (PowerPoint)

Activity figures (PDF)

Understanding the Difference: Do the American Public and Media Understand Weather and Climate?

Students read a short article and examine selections from the media to determine whether the American public and media tend to understand the difference between weather and climate.

Educator guide (PDF)

Understanding the Difference handout (PDF)

Evaporation Investigation setup

This activity is completed over four days. Students conduct an experiment to investigate the effects of various factors on the rate of evaporation.

Educator guide (PDF)

Evaporation Investigation handout (PDF)

Evaporation Investigation (instructional video)

The Water Cycle Game

Students play the roles of reservoirs and hydrologic processes to illustrate the movement of water in the water cycle.

Educator guide (PDF)

Water Cycle diagram color (PDF)

Water Cycle diagram black and white (PDF)

Bin labels color (PDF)

Bin labels black and white (PDF)

Water Cycle Game presentation (PowerPoint)

Water Cycle Game (instructional video)

Streams and Steam: Effects of Climate Change on the Water Cycle

Students play a Chutes-and-Ladders-style board game to understand the effects of climate change on the water cycle.

Educator guide (PDF)

What is Happening to Our Water? handout (PDF)

Streams and Steam handout (PDF)

Streams and Steam game board color (PDF)

Streams and Steam game board black and white (PDF)

Water Cycle diagram color (PDF)

Water Cycle diagram black and white (PDF)

Streams and Steam presentation (PowerPoint)

Streams and Steam Extension Activity (PDF)

Ready, Set, Grow: How Does Climate Change Affect Primary Producers?

Students play the roles of water-intensive and drought-tolerant plants to understand the impacts of climate change on water, primary producers, and the food web.

Educator guide (PDF)

Ready, Set, Grow handout (PDF)

Drought-Tolerant Plant nametags (PDF)

Water-Intensive Plant nametags (PDF)

Carbon Dioxide Resource cards (PDF)

Water Resource cards (PDF)

Game graph (Excel)

Ready, Set, Grow instructional video

Rainout Shelters: How Does the Availability of Water Affect Plant Growth in the Desert?

Students analyze data from a desert field experiment to examine the effect of water availability on plant growth.

Educator guide (PDF)

Rainout Shelters handout (PDF)

Asombro Institute informational video

Climate Data Jam: Communicating Climate Data to Non-scientists

This activity is completed over four days. Students analyze and then showcase climate data by developing a creative project to communicate data trends to nonscientists.

Educator guide (PDF)

Climate Data Jam handout (PDF)

Climate Data Jam presentation (PowerPoint)

Climate Data Jam Scoring Rubric (PDF)

Precipitation Map

Maximum Temperature Map

Spanish Handouts

PDF: Cambio climatico y el ciclo del agua

PowerPoint: Como aislarte y como aislar la Tierra

PowerPoint: Tiempo o clima: tu decides

PowerPoint: El ciclo del agua

PowerPoint: Corrientes y vapor

Excel: Grafica del juego (En sus marcas, listos, a crecer)

PowerPoint: Data Jam Climatico