8

Celebrate Wilderness

Learn the value and importance of the The Wilderness Act of 1964 with this online activity from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Why is CO₂ increasing in the atmosphere? Who is doing it? Many people think that CO₂ is “pollution,” so that clean burning should be a way to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. In this demonstration, we review basic chemistry (see illustration) to realize that producing CO₂ is an inevitable product of burning any fossil fuel.

Chocolate Rock Cycle

How sweet is this activity? It’s an introduction to the rock cycle using chocolate!

Citizen Science

How are people affecting your local environment? How is our planet changing? Join the “citizen science” movement, and you can help discover the answers.

Citizen science is a form of open collaboration in which members of the public participate in the scientific process to address real-world problems. Volunteers can work with scientists to identify research questions, collect and analyze data, interpret results, make new discoveries, develop technologies and applications, as well as solve complex problems.

Clear as Black and White

What are some of the factors that might unnecessarily exclude people from learning about or working in the geosciences? Culture? Ethnicity? Sex? Language? A disability? Where they live? How much they earn? Something else?

Climate and Temperature

Learn how Earth's climate effects soil types all over the planet.

Climate Change and Resilience

The United Nations advocates for 17 Sustainable Development Goals (https://sdgs.un.org/goals), one of which includes taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Climate resilience is the capacity of a community, business, or natural environment to retain essential functions before, during, and after changes to climate occur.

Collecting Real World Data

Scientists collect data to understand Earth and how it changes. Quantitative data involves taking measurements, while qualitative data are observations and descriptions of phenomena. When it comes to climate, scientists try to collect as much and as many types of data as possible to be able to analyze how climate is changing and what effects it is having. Because climate affects all areas of the world, collecting this data is a large undertaking. This is where you can help.

Connect the Spheres

This activity will provide you with an introduction to a series of lessons — Survivor Earth — about water resources on Earth. You’ll investigate Earth systems by making observations in nature and identifying systems in the natural world. Ultimately, you will understand how the four spheres, or systems, on Earth — biosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere — are interconnected.

Connecting With Nature

Go on an adventure with the Blue Goose, the symbol of the National Wildlife Refuge System!

Earth Science Week

8