MIT Climate Primer: Climate Change
Provided by: MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative|Published on: November 12, 2021|Last updated: September 26, 2026
Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12
Type: Articles/Websites
Subjects: Chemistry, Biology, Earth and Space Sciences
Authors: MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative
Location: Earth, Polar Regions
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- This interactive resource contains information about historic climate conditions on Earth, factors that affect global climate, and future predictions of global climate change based on climate models.
- Students will be engaged with readings, animated graphs, read-aloud features, videos, and questions to check for understanding.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- It is engaging, interactive, and applicable to a diversity of learning styles due to the variety of media presented.
- It has a vast historical scope and will encourage students to think broadly about our impact on the global climate.
Prerequisites
- Students should be at a high school reading level and have a baseline ability to interpret and analyze data.
- Students should have basic knowledge of Earth's motions, biological evolution, and the greenhouse effect.
Differentiation & Implementation
- There are three videos over ten minutes in length, so you could have students get in groups to watch one and then have someone from each group present the information to the class.
- Interdisciplinary connections can be made between the changing chemistry of the atmosphere and the biological impacts that resulted.
- The figures and charts are all downloadable and there is a PDF version of the entire webpage.
- The read-along feature provides highlighted text as the audio file plays, which may be helpful for some learners.
- Other related resources include MIT Climate Primer: Climate Science and Global Climate Change Model: Making Predictions About Future Climate.
This resource is an interactive webpage that includes text, audio, video, and interactive components that gives an excellent overview of our current understanding of our changing climate. There are several ~10-minute videos that explore particular aspects of our climate. This is a very well-produced and well-executed webpage that effectively conveys both the basics and the nuance of climate science without overwhelming nor insulting the intelligence of students. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
Learn about our review process →
