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Climate Change and the Water Cycle - A 10-Hour Curriculum Unit for 6-12 Grade Students

Welcome!  Thank you for your interest in the USDA Southwest Climate Hub’s curriculum unit on Climate Change and the Water Cycle.  Increased temperatures and altered precipitation will make water, a limited resource in the arid southwestern United States, even scarcer in many locations. We partnered with the Asombro Institute for Science Education (asombro.org [1]) to design an engaging, fun, and scientifically rigorous education unit aligned with Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards.

The Climate Change and the Water Cycle curriculum unit consists of nine activities and was designed to be conducted over 10 days (or 10 hours).  Each activity can also stand alone, however, and the unit need not be completed in its entirety.

You may download the entire curriculum at the link below, choose the resources you need from the list below, or click on the day pages in the left column, which contain links to the supporting materials for each activity organized by day taught.

 

To download curriculum:

  • Select day/lesson from left column, or
  • Download Climate Change and the Water Cycle Unit [2] complete guide (in PDF), or
  • Download Spanish Version [3] of the Climate Change and the Water Cycle Unit (en Espanol), or
  • Select from the list of educator guides and digital resources by day listed below

 

Additional documents:

  • Curriculum Introduction [4]
  • Next Generation Science Standards Activity Charts [5]
  • Common Core State Standards Activity Charts [6]
  • Copyright Information [7]
  • Acknowledgements [8]

 

Interested in learning more about teaching these activities?  Please help us organize an educator workshop in your area!  Email information@asombro.org [9] for more information about this opportunity.

 

[10]

 


 

List of educator guides and digital resources by day

 

Day 1 - Insulating You, Insulating Earth

  • Educator guide [11] (PDF)
  • Insulating You, Insulating Earth handout [12] (PDF)
  • Insulating You, Insulating Earth presentation [13] (PowerPoint)
  • Insulating You, Insulating Earth [14] (instructional video)

 

Day 2  - Weather or Climate? You Decide!

  • Educator guide [15] (PDF)
  • Weather or Climate? You Decide! handout [16] (PDF)
  • Weather or Climate presentation [17] (PowerPoint)
  • Activity figures [18] (PDF)

  Understanding the Difference

  • Educator guide [19] (PDF)
  • Understanding the Difference handout [20] (PDF)

  Evaporation Investigation setup

  • Educator guide [21] (PDF)
  • Evaporation Investigation handout [22] (PDF)
  • Evaporation Investigation [23] (instructional video)

 

Day 3  - The Water Cycle Game

  • Educator guide [24] (PDF)
  • Water Cycle diagram color [25] (PDF)
  • Water Cycle diagram black and white [26] (PDF)
  • Bin labels color [27] (PDF)
  • Bin labels black and white [28] (PDF)
  • Water Cycle Game presentation [29] (PowerPoint)
  • Water Cycle Game [30] (instructional video)

[2]

 

Day 4 - Streams and Steam: Effects of Climate Change on the Water Cycle

  • Educator guide [31] (PDF)
  • What is Happening to Our Water? handout [32] (PDF)
  • Streams and Steam handout [33](PDF)
  • Streams and Steam game board color [34] (PDF)
  • Streams and Steam game board black and white [35] (PDF)
  • Water Cycle diagram color [25] (PDF)
  • Water Cycle diagram black and white [26] (PDF)
  • Streams and Steam presentation [36] (PowerPoint)
  • Streams and Steam Extension Activity [37] (PDF)

 

Day 5 - Ready, Set, Grow

  • Educator guide [38] (PDF)
  • Ready, Set, Grow handout [39] (PDF)
  • Drought-Tolerant Plant nametags [40] (PDF)
  • Water-Intensive Plant nametags [41] (PDF)
  • Carbon Dioxide Resource cards [42] (PDF)
  • Water Resource cards [43] (PDF)
  • Game graph [44] (Excel)
  • Ready, Set, Grow instructional video [45]

 

Day 6 - Rainout Shelters

  • Educator guide [46] (PDF)
  • Rainout Shelters handout [47] (PDF)
  • Asombro Institute informational video [48]

 

Day 7 - 10 - Climate Data Jam

  • Educator guide [49] (PDF)
  • Climate Data Jam handout [50] (PDF)
  • Climate Data Jam presentation [51] (PowerPoint)
  • Climate Data Jam Scoring Rubric [52] (PDF)
  • Precipitation and maximum temperature maps [53]

 

     

 


Source URL: https://swclimatehub.info/education/climate-change-and-water-cycle

Links
[1] https://asombro.org/
[2] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/ClimateChangeAndTheWaterCycleGuide.pdf
[3] https://swclimatehub.info/spanish-climate-change-and-water-cycle/
[4] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/Introduction.pdf
[5] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/NGSSActivityCharts.pdf
[6] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/CCSSActivityCharts.pdf
[7] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/CopyrightInformation.pdf
[8] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/Acknowledgments.pdf
[9] mailto:information@asombro.org
[10] https://www.asombro.org
[11] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/InsulatingYouInsulatingEarthEducatorGuide.pdf
[12] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/InsulatingYouInsulatingEarthHandout.pdf
[13] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/InsulatingYouInsulatingEarthPresentation.pptx
[14] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUuRVDIJ5AE
[15] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/WeatherOrClimateEducatorGuide.pdf
[16] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/WeatherOrClimateHandout.pdf
[17] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/WeatherOrClimatePresentation.pptx
[18] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/WeatherOrClimateFigures.pdf
[19] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/UnderstandingTheDifferenceEducatorGuide.pdf
[20] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/UnderstandingtheDifferenceHandout.pdf
[21] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/EvaporationInvestigationEducatorGuide.pdf
[22] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/EvaporationInvestigationHandout.pdf
[23] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqHherOValw
[24] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/WaterCycleGameEducatorGuide.pdf
[25] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/WaterCycleDiagram_Color.pdf
[26] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/WaterCycleDiagram_BW.pdf
[27] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/BinLabelsColor.pdf
[28] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/BinLabelsBW.pdf
[29] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/WaterCycleGamePresentation.pptx
[30] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ignAY4VXmAQ
[31] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/StreamsAndSteamEducatorGuide.pdf
[32] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/WhatsHappeningToOurWaterHandout.pdf
[33] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/StreamsAndSteamHandout.pdf
[34] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/StreamsAndSteamGameBoardColor.pdf
[35] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/StreamsAndSteamGameBoardBW.pdf
[36] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/StreamsAndSteamPresentation.pptx
[37] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/StreamsAndSteamExtensionActivity.pdf
[38] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/ReadySetGrowEducatorGuide.pdf
[39] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/ReadySetGrowHandout.pdf
[40] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/Drought-TolerantPlantNametags.pdf
[41] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/Water-IntensivePlantNametags.pdf
[42] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/CO2ResourceCards.pdf
[43] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/WaterResourceCards.pdf
[44] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/ReadySetGrowGameGraph.xlsx
[45] https://swclimatehub.info/education/download/climate-change-and-water-cycle/day5
[46] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/RainoutSheltersEducatorGuide.pdf
[47] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/RainoutSheltersHandout.pdf
[48] https://swclimatehub.info/education/download/climate-change-and-water-cycle/day6
[49] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/ClimateDataJamEducatorGuide.pdf
[50] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/ClimateDataJamHandout.pdf
[51] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/Section_I-ClimateDataJam.pptx
[52] https://swclimatehub.info/system/files/ScoringRubricClimate.pdf
[53] https://swclimatehub.info/education/climate-change-and-water-cycle/day7-10