Recommended Educational Materials


Walker Glacier, AlaskaThe activities on this page were developed by Wright Center staff and teachers that participated in one of the International Environmental Change teacher workshops and have been reviewed and recommended by the Digital Library of Earth Science Education (DLESE), WGBH and Carleton College. Stars indicate the award-winning status of an activity (see table below). You can also find a complete list of all the Wright Center and teacher activities IECWS materials web page .

These Wright Center workshops were developed to provide an opportunity for K-12 international teachers to participate in scientific field experiences around the country. Each workshop focused on environmental change from a different "sphere"of Earth System Science: the Cryosphere, the Biosphere, and the Hydrosphere.

For more information on the workshop series, to view images and videos from the workshop series, and/or to access presentations made at each workshop please visit the IECWS web site.  For more information on the Wright Center for Science Education and its programs, materials, and additional workshops please visit us on the web. These web pages are constantly being updated to include information for current workshops.  We appreciate your comments, suggestions, and questions.

1. Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2: A record of climate change***

2. Grinnell Glacier Activities**

3. Climate Time Machine** - Students will look for "simulated pollen in lake sediment". Based on actual pollen data collected from Battleground Lake in southwest Washington, students track how the climate has changed 20,000 years ago to the present.

4. Determining Pore Space and Measuring Permeability*

*WGBH Teacher's Domain

Teachers' Domain is an online educational service with two related components - collections and courses - that help teachers enhance their students' learning experiences and advance their own teaching skills. The Teachers' Domain collections include classroom-ready multimedia resources for use in lessons or independent study, and the Teachers Domain Professional Development courses utilize many of the same resources along with videos of exemplary classroom practice.

*Carleton College's Science Education Resource Center (SERC) Top 40 Climate Change Resources

A suite of 40 digital library resources, the Climate Change Collection has been reviewed and ranked by the review team who considered the scientific accuracy, currency and effective and efficient educational potential. Using a five star rating system, all resources included in the collection have an average rating of at least 3.5 stars from two or more reviewers.

*Digital Library of Earth System Education (DLESE)

DLESE is the Digital Library for Earth System Education, a geoscience community resource that supports teaching and learning about the Earth system. DLESE is funded by the National Science Foundation and is being built by a distributed community of educators, students, and scientists to support Earth system education at all levels. DLESE provides:

  • Easy access to quality teaching and learning resources about the Earth as a system for a wide range of learners
  • Services to help users effectively create, use and evaluate digital learning resources
  • Interfaces and tools to allow student exploration of Earth data
  • A community center that fosters interaction, collaboration and sharing