A large and growing proportion of our electricity in the UK comes from renewables, and the amount of electricity generated varies depending on the weather. In this activity pupils watch a film in which Jade Kimpton from the National Grid shows how the flow of electricity in the National Grid is getting more complex...

The jet streams are bands of fast winds high in the atmosphere which are driven by pressure differences. Stormy weather follows the jet stream. In this film, Tim Woollings from the University of Oxford shows how, as the lower atmosphere gets warmer, we need to understand how the patterns of pressure and the jet...

Birmingham Institute for Forest Research (BIFoR) has provided a free online learning platform for schools which includes curriculum linked activities, developed to support secondary school students. These activities provide the opportunity for students to join a growing community of citizen scientists who are...

This unit looks at biofuels and how these relate to the climate crisis, fossil fuels and the food industry and whether they are the future of fuels.

In this unit students consider the relationship between the growing of crops for food or for fuel and conduct independent research to write a policy brief on...

Learners discover the BIFoR FACE (Birmingham Institute for forest research free air carbon enrichment) experiment and the infrastructure associated with it. They are introduced to the arrays, met masts and flux tower and encouraged to think about the research questions that this experiment can answer. Learners are...

This immersive escape room activity introduces the BIFoR FACE (Birmingham Institute for forest research free air carbon enrichment) experiment and encourages learners to consider the impact of climate change on forest ecosystems. Learners work as a group to complete a virtual tour of BIFoR FACE before using...

There are two parts to the DIY Dendrometer resources: 

Part A focusses on how trees grow and their role within both the carbon cycle and the water cycle. Learners are encouraged to take part in a citizen science project which involves creating and installing a DIY...

This set of resources are based on Birmingham Institute of Forest rRsearch (BiFoR) work. The activities provide an innovative way to introduce the issues surrounding the estimation of biomass. For pupils aged between 11 and 14 there are engaging activities to introduce the concept of biomass and pyramids of biomass...

Climate change has increased heat waves and drought on land, and doubled the probability of marine heatwaves around most of Africa. This resource contains a PowerPoint presentation, a graphing skills activity drawing and interpreting line graphs and a spreadsheet containing data. This is a good source of material...

In this Future of Flight challenge pupils explore what we mean by climate change and what greenhouse gases are. They match the molecule diagrams to their descriptions and investigate rising temperature by setting up mini greenhouses. They also explore the lifecycle of an...

In this activity pupils will undertake a controlled experiment to investigate how gases in the atmosphere affect the heat in an enclosed environment, by tracking the change in temperature of a glass jar containing carbon dioxide against a control jar. They will learn about the greenhouse effect and the role of...

This activity highlights...

In this resource students are asked to extract data from a fact sheet on the impact of global warming on the Polar regions and present it in the form of an annotated spider diagram.

In this video, Cathie Wells from the University of Reading talks about how she is helping aircraft conserve fuel which reduces greenhouse gas emissions by making use of high resolution forecasts of three dimensional wind speeds in the atmosphere. In the associated activity, students are asked to calculate the best...

This pack contains all the teaching notes and resources that schools needed to take part in the Polar Explorer Programme run by the National STEM Learning Network in 2019. Although the programme has now finished the resources and activities that were created can still enthuse and engage pupils about STEM subjects...