Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Climate Time Line Information Tool
A tool that summarizes climate history for time spans from 1 year to 100,000 years ago and beyond. It explores the relation between human development, weather, and climate. Students learn how past climate is measured, provides basic...
Encyclopedia of Earth
Encyclopedia of Earth: Climate Change: Ancient
A collection of articles on ancient climatology. They examine past extremes of the Earth's climate, cycles of climate change, and cataclysmic climate-changing events that are believed to have occurred.
Climate Literacy
Clean: Dead Diatoms Do Tell Tales
Students take on the role of climate detectives in this climate investigation. Teams make a model of sediment cores using glass beads and sand, study the core samples, and tell something about the hypothetical paleoclimate that existed...
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Ucar: Paleoclimates and Pollen
In this extensive lesson, students examine and investigate pictures of pollen grains to determine the likely climate at the time the pollen was shed.
Other
Lehigh University: Climate Change
An inquiry-based science unit for middle school students centered on weather and climate. The lessons integrate technology and lab activities while teaching about Earth system energy balance, greenhouse gases, paleoclimatology, and how...
Other
Earth ref.org: Magnetics Information Consortium: Essentials of Paleomagnetism
This is the fifth version of a free textbook on paleomagnetism, published in 2018. The material is advanced but does provide information on many different topics for students doing research. Chapters include problems for students to...
Ohio State University
Byrd Polar Research Center: Ice Core Paleoclimatology Research Group
This site explains the research of the Ice Core Paleoclimatology Group. See how they are coring ice samples all around the world to help better understand Earth's changing climate. Provides links to teaching materials.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Inquiry Into High Resolution Ice Core and Marine Sediment Records
Activity in which questions are provided relating to interpreting paleoclimate data such as characteristics that make sites favorable for paleoclimate records, locating sites using a map, finding patterns and correlations in the data,...
Climate Literacy
Clean: Interactive Geologic Timeline Activity
In this learning activity, students use a web-based geologic timeline to examine temperature, CO2 concentration, and ice cover data to investigate how climate has changed during the last 715 million years. Students will gain an...
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Ucar: Introduction to Climate
A detailed overview of the Earth's climate, with explanations about the difference between weather and climate, dendrochronology, palynology, and how Earth's climate has changed over time. All information is reinforced through pictures,...
NOAA
Noaa: What Is Paleoclimatology?
An introduction from NOAA to the study of Paleoclimatology. Provides link to the NOAA's Paleoclimatology Data page where there is a great deal of more information.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Marine Oxygen Isotopes and Changes in Global Ice Volume
Students explore marine oxygen-isotope records for the past 2 million years using real paleoclimate data. They will discover trends in a time series pertaining to long-term ice volume changes.
PBS
Nova: The Big Chill
Explore some of the explanations for the ice ages that have occurred in the Earth's history. The explanations are all related to conditions caused by plate tectonics.
NOAA
Noaa: Paleoclimatology Program: Astronomical Theory of Climate Change
Use this site to learn how the Earth's not-so-circular orbit around the sun has affected our climate over thousands of years, and continues to affect our climate now.
Climate Literacy
Clean: Getting to the Core of Climate Change
Students investigate climate changes going back thousands of years by graphing and analyzing ice core data from Greenland and Antarctica. They use information about natural and human-caused changes in the atmosphere to formulate...
Other
British Geological Survey: Past Climates Examples
Describes the climates during several periods in the Earth's history.
PBS
Nova: Into Living Things
Paleoclimatologists use information from tree rings, corals and ice cores to learn more about El Nino. See if you can analyze samples of each of these types of evidence to look for past El Nino events.
Northern Arizona University
Land Use History of North America: Fossil Pollen (Palynology)
Use this site to learn why fossil pollen is a useful tool for determining paleoclimates.
National Earth Science Teachers Association
Windows to the Universe: Paleoclimates: Climates of the Past
Learn how climate has changed in the past and how it relates to global warming. Links to related material.