Learn more about Teaching Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness»
See how this Simulation/Interactive supports the Next Generation Science Standards»
Grade Level
Online Readiness
Topics
Climate Literacy
This Simulation/Interactive builds on the following concepts of Climate Literacy.
Click a topic below for supporting information, teaching ideas, and sample activities.
- Climate is complex
- Climate is variable
- Our understanding of climate
- Humans affect climate
- Climate change has consequences
Energy Literacy
This Simulation/Interactive builds on the following concepts of Energy Literacy.
Click a topic below for supporting information, teaching ideas, and sample activities.
Notes From Our Reviewers
The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness.
Read what our review team had to say about this resource below or learn more about
how CLEAN reviews teaching materials
Teaching Tips | Science | Pedagogy |
Technical Details
Teaching Tips
- This is pretty advanced for middle school students and possibly for high school students as well if they are not used to working with real-time interactive models. Though an amazing resource that should be utilized, a teacher should make sure their students are ready for this interactive map before letting them loose on it.
- YouTube videos are provided to help with the tutorial of the website.
- This is a great way for students to explore and have self-guided learning of ocean currents and temperature.
About the Content
- This is a very high resolution and accurate model of ocean systems and the impact of multiple aspects of climate change.
- Passed initial science review - expert science review pending.
About the Pedagogy
- This is an extremely high-resolution model of ocean dynamics with many ways for students to experiment with various impacts on oceans and ways of looking at maps to decipher information.
- It does require a fair amount of prior knowledge, so it should be used near the middle or end of a curriculum on climate change.
- The lab is interesting for students, especially because of the real-world application that it provides.
- There is no lesson plan to help describe projects or other questions that may be helpful to lead students to certain outcomes.
- There could be an excellent lesson plan developed with this tool, as well as an opportunity for students to explore on their own to learn more about the ocean, but teachers would need to put in some work to develop this lesson plan from the YouTube tutorials shared.
- This resource engages students in using scientific data.
See other data-rich activities
Technical Details/Ease of Use
- Guidance for teachers is included, but more on technical than pedagogical aspects. If a teacher lacks a strong background in ocean dynamics and graphical representations, it may be difficult for that teacher to use this resource. It does provide an excellent way for educators to brush up on this topic, however, before using it with students.
- Helpful tip videos are provided via the ocean virtual lab YouTube channel, which could serve as a teacher guide. The website is intuitive and helpful in working with datasets and learning how to use tools that scientists use.
