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Listed under:  Science  >  Earth and space  >  Atmosphere
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Designing urban carbon sinks lesson

In this lesson, students learn about the role of vegetation as carbon sinks, conduct field work to evaluate local carbon sinks and explore urban design issues. Students asses their own carbon footprints using the carbon footprint calculator, learn about carbon offset, carbon farming and carbon storage programs. Students ...

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A Little Atmosphere

This activity invites students to model the scaled thickness of the atmosphere on a globe using sheets of transparency material. The activity includes a list of tools and materials required, what to do and notice, an explanation for the underlying science of what students observe and suggestions for further activities.

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Four Corners: Megafires

Are we approaching the 'age of megafires'? It might sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but some scientists believe there is cause for concern. Watch this clip to find out how bushfires as we know them are changing. Discover why.

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Catalyst: Chemical pollutants toxic to whales

Explore how chemical pollutants affect the Antarctic food web. A scientist shows that baleen whales are consuming Antarctic krill contaminated by accumulated residues of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from pesticides and industrial chemicals. Find out why these pollutants are concentrated at the Earth's polar regions.

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Four Corners: Increasing threat of megafires

Many scientists believe we are already experiencing megafires and that they will continue to increase in the future. In this clip you will hear from Australian scientists at the forefront of fire research. Discover what they have to say about the causes, projections, and consequences of an increased megafire threat.

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Four Corners: Fire management strategies

What role do fire-behaviour specialists and ecologists have in fire management? Watch this clip to find out about issues relating to fire management in Australia, in particular prescribed burning.

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Catalyst: Plants and increased levels of carbon dioxide

We know that most plants use carbon dioxide to make their own food. So what might plants look like in 100 years if carbon dioxide levels continue to increase - will they become enormous and overtake our backyards? View the possible effects of changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide on plants and, in turn, humans and other animals.

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Daisies describe an ecosystem

Ecosystems are affected by many factors including increasing temperatures, which many scientists believe threaten natural systems on Earth today. This creative clip uses a theoretical world of black and white daisies to show how changes to the natural reflectivity of a planet's surface impacts temperatures and populations. ...

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EarthViewer - iTunes app

Journey through geological time and discover changes on Earth from the Hadean time, more than 4.5 billion years ago, through to today. Find out about plate tectonics, continental movement, atmospheric conditions, life on Earth, extinction events, fossil sites and much more. Contains many features which include allowing ...

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Climate science analysis from The Conversation

This is a collection of articles about climate science. It includes articles about modelling, explanations about heat trends, predictions about sea level rise, and why the science about climate change is clear. The articles are written in plain language and are authored by experts from universities in Australia and around ...

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Colourful Weather, Ep 1: What shape is a rainbow?

All you need is water, the sky and sunlight and you’ve got something that’s colourful – with a pot of gold at each end. What is it? A rainbow! Find out what happens to sunlight inside a raindrop, why rainbow colours are always in the same order and the real shape of a rainbow. Tip: it’s not an arch!

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Four Corners: Ecological effects of bushfires

Did you know that Australia is the most flammable continent on Earth? Watch this clip to discover how bushfires impact natural ecosystems, and how the increasing global threat of bushfires may affect Australia. Australian scientists explain the ecological consequences of fire and a US expert describes his concerns for the future.

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Oresome world

This interactive resource takes students on a journey of discovery in the energy and mining world. Oresome world contains five games or modules: Coal, Energy, Gas, Low emissions and Mining, and within each of these there are several facilities to explore, such as the Underground mining site, Hydroelectric power station, ...

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Recent evapotranspiration

This resource is a Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) web page with a map of Australia showing daily reference evapotranspiration and also tables of daily transpiration for each Australian state and the Northern Territory. Monthly data is available via the location links in the tables for each state.

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Water: learn it for life! - year 7 science

This PDF unit of work is one of a series of resources accessible by searching the list in the series.It includes two teaching and learning sequences: 'Water journeys' focuses on the water cycle, and 'Pure water' focuses on the processes and people involved in creating and managing drinkable water. It provides Australian ...

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Food for thought: learn resources for science

This is a rich resource for teachers about the impact of climate change on small-scale farmers. It includes two sets of resources, one for the primary level and the other for the secondary level. Each set of resources includes: a teacher guide with learning activities; worksheets for students; crop cards; and a PowerPoint ...

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Forest learning: How is carbon stored?

This resource is a ten-page pdf produced by Forest and Wood Products Australia about the role forests play in reducing climate change. It includes sections on: properties of carbon; how carbon is cycled in ecosystems; the chemical formula for photosynthesis; and calculating CO2 stored in trees. The resource also includes ...

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Chemicals on the Great Barrier Reef

This program deals with a range of human impacts on the Great Barrier Reef. Herbicides from land runoff have been traced to algae and sea grasses in river mouths and coastal zones along the Great Barrier Reef. Effects include retardation of photosynthesis and growth of corals. Other pressures on the reef include high water ...

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Science Talk 2007: Jack Bacon

An interview with Dr Jack Bacon, NASA engineer and futurist. Jack talks to a teacher from Sydney Girls High School about his experiences on the Vomit comet and his research into alternative energy sources. Jack also shares with us his predictions for the future of science, space travel and energy sources.

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Solar thermal electricity

This program gives an update on research into solar thermal electricity. Liddell Power Station in the Hunter Valley, NSW is a hybrid power station using solar energy to pre-heat water and so reduce the use of coal and the production of carbon dioxide. Some scientists claim that harnessing the solar heat in an area 50km ...