Climate Action Projects

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There are 7.8 billion humans on Earth in 2020 and there will be 9.8 billion by 2050. In 30 years the population will increase by 2 billion. How do that many people impact global climate? Even if the answer seems obvious, science still looks for evidence. That evidence is in different forms, for example temperature trends, glacier lengths, and ocean acidity increases.

In this Project students notice trends in carbon dioxide and the temperature of Earth. But describing what’s happening isn’t enough, not for talented problem-solvers. Students will want to know why and help others understand why. That is, they'll want to make a connection between cause and effect.

To help others understand “why”, students will consider different sources of temperature change and the impacts of humans. Remember, knowledge is a work in progress. Students build their understanding during the project. Complex, real-world answers take time. But understanding climate change is worth it! So is our planet.

Link to the Student Instructions

Link to the Teacher Guide

Note: This is a shortened version of the NGSS Chemistry Chapter 9.  The chapter is a more thorough introduction to climate change and does not require any chemistry knowledge. If you have the time, we highly recommend doing the entire chapter, which should take approximately 2 ½ weeks. 

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Sea level rise is already affecting San Francisco annually during king tides.  Water rises up over the sea wall and onto the Embarcadero.  Other areas around the world are flooded even longer during the year. 

In this project students will look at predicted sea level rises in the San Francisco Bay area and consider the consequences on the population that lives in certain neighborhoods that will be impacted the earliest. The goal is to start thinking about the potential impacts on themselves and the city of San Francisco and to make recommendations for action. 

Link to the Student Instructions

Link to the Teacher Guide

Note: This project is at the end of NGSS Chemistry Chapter 10, which introduces the chemistry topics of heat capacity, thermal expansion, and phase changes. 

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Climate change is a concern and combustion of fossil fuels used for both transportation and electricity production contributes a large quantity of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.  The transportation sector produces about 25% of the US’s total greenhouse gas emissions.  The generation of electricity releases even more, 32%.  Reducing the amount of greenhouse gases produced by the transportation and electricity sectors would help significantly combat climate change. 

So what can someone do?  In this project, students investigate possible changes in electricity production. The small, do-able solutions that people can institute in their homes (turning off lights and power strips when not in use; turning down electric heaters at night; only opening the refrigerator door when you need some food) are important -- but they won’t solve the climate crisis! We need to think about systems change at regional, state and national scales. 

The students' goal is to make recommendations for large scale changes in the electricity sector in the form of an infographic.  They learn about infographics in Part A, then create one in Part B.

Link to the Student Instructions

Link to the Teacher Guide

Note: This project is the end of NGSS Chemistry Chapter 13.  The chapter focuses on fuels for transportation and the chemistry topics of the mole and stoichiometry. 

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Acid-base reactions take place in San Francisco Bay and in oceans everywhere.  For millions of years, oceans had a pH around 8.2.  That’s slightly basic. But things have changed.  With increases in atmospheric CO₂ levels, the acid-base balance is changing toward increasing acidity (lower pH).  This impacts all life in the oceans and that impacts all life on Earth. 

In this Project, students learn about acid-base reactions that take place in the ocean and how carbon dioxide is affecting ocean systems.  The students' goal is to use this knowledge to understand ocean acidification and help others understand the impact on their lives.

Link to the Student Instructions

Link to the Teacher Guide

Note: This project is the end of NGSS Chemistry Chapter 16. In the Chapter, students learn about acids and bases and pH and ocean changes.