In this online course, students will discover the laws and history of thermodynamics and how they relate to the history of the atmosphere, the carbon cycle, anthropogenic climate change, and climate change solutions.
Students have access to an online textbook, coding labs for each chapter, and three problem sets.
This course is for advanced 11th and 12th-grade, AP, or college level students.
Students looking for a challenge will be satisfied with this course.
The coding labs add a hands-on approach to this course.
The textbook's call to action is inspiring and empowering, conveying the gravity and urgency of the climate crisis and the responsibility of those with knowledge to contribute to a solution.
Prerequisites
Students should have taken calculus and a physics or chemistry class, and should be familiar with Python programming language.
Students should have a basic understanding of climate change, its causes, and its impacts.
Downloading the course using the button is not necessary, as the downloaded content are html files taking you to pages already linked on the site.
The solutions for the problem sets are available on the same page as the problem sets themselves.
Differentiation & Implementation
This course can be used for advanced science students wishing to do independent study, though many students will need group and teacher support.
Science classes discussing climate change can read the first chapter to understand the history and creation of our atmosphere. To demonstrate their understanding of this section, students can create a timeline of the events outlined in the chapter.
Learning about and discussing climate change can spark uncomfortable emotions in students. Teachers may want to use the Climate Emotions Wheel to help students work through these feelings.
In Chapter 2, students can refresh their calculus skills by working through the equations individually or as a class.
Teachers can group students based on strengths, making sure each group has students strong in coding, calculus, and reading comprehension and summarization skills.
Scientist Notes
Teaching Tips
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Resource Type and Format
About the Partner Provider
MIT OpenCourseWare
MIT OpenCourseWare is a free and open collection of material from thousands of MIT courses, covering the entire MIT curriculum. Since 2001, MIT OpenCourseWare has been creating new opportunities for millions of learners and educators, sharing Open Educational Resources (OER) from MIT and helping to lead a global revolution in free access to knowledge.
Related Teaching Resources
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