11 Greenhouse Gas Effect and Global Warming Lesson Plans

People tend to think about the greenhouse gas effect and global warming as science-only topics, but climate change is a problem that reaches into all parts of our lives. That’s why SubjectToClimate has created this list of 11 Greenhouse Gas Effect and Global Warming Lesson Plans that span academic subjects from math to social studies. These climate change lesson plans provide teachers with standards-aligned lessons that will help students understand the basics and complexities of the greenhouse gas effect and global warming in any of their classes!

Subjects: Science, Earth and Space Sciences, Math

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

Inquire

Students look at a global temperature anomaly graph and discuss how this graph shows a trend of warming temperatures due to human activities.

Investigate

Students analyze real-world temperature data from a city by creating a data table and scatter plot, understanding the impact of changing climates.

Inspire

Students connect what they discovered about their city to the overall trend of rising temperatures and the effects of climate change.

In this SubjectToClimate’s global warming lesson plan, students will get a feel for how mathematicians and scientists use data analysis and statistics to determine how much our planet is warming due to global climate change. Students will create a data table and scatter plot, then use linear regression to make predictions.

The lesson includes an easy-to-follow Google Slides presentation as well as a student spreadsheet for students to create their data table and scatter plot. The activity allows students to use data from the National Weather Service to prove that their community is getting warmer, and then practice discussing climate change with people who might be skeptical or misinformed. The lesson also includes a wonderful video that uses a simple metaphor to explain linear trends on a scatter plot.

Teachers can modify their approach to the lesson based on the student’s skill level. Less experienced students can use the same city (use the city from the example graph if you want to ensure a positive association); more experienced students can look at multiple cities in different regions of the United States and compare their scatter plots.

Subjects: Science, Art, Engineering

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

In this greenhouse gas effect activity by ClimateScience, students will learn that building construction produces a large amount of greenhouse gases, which contribute to global warming and climate change. Students will design an earthship - a self-sustaining shelter made from natural and upcycled materials, promoting renewable energy and sustainable living.

This interesting lesson plan allows students to combine their knowledge of science and engineering with creativity and art. As they research the topic, students will learn that people are building structures that are self-heating and self-cooling so that they do not contribute to global warming. The Earthship designs will include sustainable plans for food, energy, water, heating/cooling, ventilation, and waste.

While the lesson plan includes sources for student research, teachers may also want to share information about the Earthship community in New Mexico. Students can complete this activity individually, in pairs, or in small groups. Teachers can extend this activity into a project by having students make slideshow presentations or small-scale models of their Earthships. 

Subjects: Science, Earth and Space Sciences

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

Inquire

Students reflect on what they know about photosynthesis and how plants transform carbon dioxide into oxygen, emphasizing the carbon cycle.

Investigate

Students learn about the greenhouse effect and calculate their ecological footprint, understanding the impact of climate change.

Inspire

Students generate ideas on how to reduce their carbon footprint and impact on the environment, encouraging climate action.

In this SubjectToClimate greenhouse gas effect lesson, students will review the concept of photosynthesis before learning about greenhouse gases. Students will have a chance to calculate their own carbon footprint and identify ways that they can reduce their personal greenhouse gas emissions, promoting climate literacy among younger students.

The Google Slides presentation makes it easy to implement all aspects of this lesson. Students will watch short videos, learn new vocabulary, answer discussion questions, and use an interactive Ecological Footprint Calculator to calculate their carbon footprint. This lesson proactively introduces elementary students to the greenhouse gas effect in a meaningful way.

While the lesson can be used on its own, it also offers a great jumping-off point for a six-part StC unit on green transportation. Teachers can use parts of the lesson throughout multiple class sessions or complete the entire lesson in one session. Aspects of the lesson can be modified to suit the student’s needs. For example, questions on the ecological footprint calculator quiz can be read aloud to students and taken as a whole class. Explore the Green Transportation Unit below.

Green Transportation Unit

Lesson Plans Guide

Subjects: Science, Chemistry, Physics, Earth and Space Sciences

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

This interactive lesson for high school students is the third of nine lessons in Explaining Climate Change, a series from the King’s Centre for Visualization in Science. Students learn about the chemistry of the greenhouse effect as they work independently through the slides. Students will learn about temperature and energy in the Earth's atmosphere, properties of gases, absorption and emission of radiation, atmospheric molecular interactions, lapse rate, Earth's radiative energy balance, and the differences between different types of greenhouse gases. The lesson includes learning tools, visuals, questions, and examples.

This lesson is completely self-paced, making it ideal for students who work at different speeds. Students can work through the sections for several class periods, or they can complete the work independently for homework. This would also be a great lesson for teachers to assign when they have a substitute. The lesson brings chemistry and physics concepts together to give students a full picture of the greenhouse effect.

Teachers may want to assign one key idea at a time and check for understanding before proceeding to the next one. The concepts and vocabulary are challenging, so teachers should encourage students to click on any bold words with which they are unfamiliar to reveal their definitions. Students could work through the slides in pairs or small groups, with stronger students assisting their peers.

Subjects: Science, Earth and Space Sciences

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

This simple ClimateScience lesson is the perfect way to introduce younger students to the greenhouse effect. Students will watch a brief video on the greenhouse effect and then perform a short experiment to compare the temperature of the air with the temperature inside a plastic bottle. 

Teachers will love how the teacher guide walks them through each step of the lesson. The teacher guide includes a link to the video, a script for explaining the greenhouse effect, and steps for the experiment. The student handout prompts students to answer simple data questions as they work their way through the experiment. The hands-on activity is engaging and allows students to practice collecting and interpreting data. The “sources” section links to several excellent student resources for further learning.

Teachers can reiterate that the experiment shows how Earth’s atmosphere traps a small part of sun’s extreme heat to keep the planet warm and then ask students what would happen if more greenhouse gases were added to the atmosphere. As a visual, the teacher could put on a light sweater and explain that a sweater helps to trap our body heat so that we don’t get too cold. The teacher could add another sweater on top and ask students if the second sweater will make a difference to the person wearing it. The teacher could then add a third sweater and a coat and ask students how these extra warming layers might affect the person wearing them. Explain that the atmosphere is like a nice sweater for Earth, but if humans burn fossil fuels and add more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, it begins to warm the planet too much, resulting in harmful global warming.

Subjects: Science, Earth and Space Sciences

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson plan includes detailed directions for an experiment on the effect of carbon dioxide on Earth's atmosphere, information on the greenhouse effect, and conclusion questions for students.  Students will create three environments inside of beakers, hypothesize which environment will result in the greatest temperature change, collect data using temperature probes and computer graphing software, analyze the data for each environment, and draw conclusions about the greenhouse effect. 

This is a perfect hands-on learning experience for middle school students to learn about the greenhouse effect! In the experiment, students will create three environments inside different beakers.  A control group environment will contain soil and no plastic wrap, the second environment will contain soil and plastic wrap, and the final environment will have soil, plastic wrap, and increased carbon dioxide levels. Students will monitor the temperature in each environment as the beakers sit under a lamp, and record the data in two tables. The results will help students to see how greenhouse gases are causing global warming.

The lesson plan instructs students to use Lab Pro software to record the temperatures of each environment, but students could also monitor and record the temperatures manually. If students are reading the temperatures manually, one student should be the timekeeper, one should check the temperature, another should verify the temperature, and a fourth student should record the temperature. 

Subjects: Science, Chemistry, Earth and Space Sciences, English Language Arts

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

In this Project Look Sharp media literacy activity, students will watch three short videos on refrigeration gasses and climate change. The activity plan provides teachers with a variety of decoding questions that are designed to help students analyze the videos' goals and messages. 

This lesson plan teaches about the climate risks of refrigeration gasses by developing media literacy skills to decode the goals and messages in the videos.  The questions require students to think about the intention behind the videos, not just their content. Teachers will appreciate how the Project Look Sharp lessons help students evaluate and question all sources of information instead of accepting it at face value. 

Teachers can use this lesson for whole class, small group, or partner discussions. The activity plan provides questions for social studies, English language arts, science, and media literacy classes; many of the questions could be used for writing prompts. Teachers could have students fact-check the videos by researching information on refrigeration gasses and alternative coolants.

Subjects: Social Studies, Social-Emotional Learning

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read an article from the Yale Program for Climate Change Communication on Global Warming's Six Americas. The article explains that most Americans’ views on climate change fall into one of six profiles. Students will learn common traits, beliefs, and effective communication strategies for each of the six profiles. 

This interesting lesson teaches students about the nuances of climate perceptions. Students will learn that Americans have a wide range of beliefs and feelings about climate change and that learning about those perceptions can help students effectively communicate climate science to many different types of people. Because of the format of the student pages, teachers can use them as handouts or posters.

The educator pages include a section titled “Tips for success,” which gives teachers several ideas (e.g., gallery walks, note-taking sheets) for how to use the article in the classroom. Teachers could also use the article in a discussion about respectful communication. Students could discuss why people have certain beliefs and why they might feel attacked if someone disagrees with them. 

Subjects: Social Studies, Economics, Civics, Engineering

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson plan about carbon pricing, cap-and-trade, and carbon taxes includes a podcast, article, and climate simulation activity. Students will learn about this government-level solution and will try out a variety of real-world scenarios to see their effects on concentrations of carbon in the atmosphere. 

This fascinating lesson will get students thinking about carbon in terms of economics. After listening to a podcast on carbon pricing, students will have the chance to work with the En-Roads climate solutions simulator. Students will try to keep global warming under 2°C by manipulating the levels of greenhouse gas emissions allowed in different sectors.

Teachers could have students listen to the podcast for homework before the lesson to get students thinking about carbon pricing. Civics, social studies, or geography classes could extend the lesson to examine carbon tax and cap-and-trade models used in different parts of the world and think about which models might work in the United States.

Subjects: Science, Social Studies, Earth and Space Sciences, Geography

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

In this activity, students will examine an article and videos that explain how warmer ocean temperatures occurring during an El Niño year cause extreme weather. The resource includes a lesson plan, two video MP4 files, a student worksheet, and a student handout. 

Teachers will appreciate how the questions in the student worksheet guide students through the NOAA article about El Niño. The fact-based article explains how warm temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific cause changes in precipitation patterns. The second half of the lesson is designed to help students learn how media messages can affect the way that people understand a topic. The two video clips from Voice of America and CBS News also present information about El Niño, but the decoding questions in the activity plan will help students to see that the video producers have different goals from the NOAA.

Though weather topics like El Niño are traditionally grouped into science or social studies classes, the activity plan offers decoding questions for English language arts, media literacy, science, and social studies classes. This would be a perfect lesson for school librarians, ELA teachers, or research skills teachers to use as a cross-curricular complement to a science unit on weather patterns or climate change. 

Subjects: Science, Social Studies, Biology, Earth and Space Sciences

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson plan from the National Center for Science Education provides an overview of climate change and scientific credibility that can be used as a stand-alone lesson or an introduction to the NCSE climate change curriculum series. Students will discuss their current understanding of climate change and biodiversity loss in a non-judgemental capacity, evaluate an example of media reporting on a scientific paper, learn about common misconceptions and the scientific process, graph and analyze data, and think critically about Earth’s climate misinformation. 

Teachers will begin the lesson with a hook about a scientific study that found that eating chocolate promotes weight loss; they will then show examples of how the media covered the study.  Students will be surprised at the amount of media coverage a single scientific study received! This powerful example will help students understand the need for independent data, analysis, and review, providing teachers with an easy segue into the scientific consensus on global warming and climate change. As students examine the abundance of independent scientific studies from around the world spanning decades, they will begin to see the difference between scientific consensus on climate change and the single chocolate study.

Five core principles about climate change guide the lesson - it's real, it's us, it's bad, experts agree, and there's hope. The lesson provides videos, data, activities, scientific papers, Google Jamboards, and articles for teaching each of the principles. This lesson can be used as a mini-unit, or the chocolate example and five core principle sections could be used independently for different lessons or connections to other classroom materials.

Finding the time to create full lesson plans is tough! These lesson plans about the greenhouse gas effect and global warming give teachers everything they need to teach fun and engaging lessons with minimal planning. These lesson plans offer teachers a small preview of the hundreds of resources on global warming and the greenhouse effect that SubjectToClimate has available for teachers. SubjectToClimate provides a range of materials suitable for different grade levels, aligning with science standards and making the process of teaching climate-related topics easier for educators. Be sure to check out the amazing videos, activities, experiments, podcasts, articles, and more to help your students understand how Earth’s changing atmosphere affects life on our planet and what we can do to stop it.

About the Author

Emily has a bachelor’s degree in English and French and a master’s degree in library and information science. She spent seven years teaching information evaluation and research skills as a school librarian in K-8 public schools. As a lifelong resident of Southern Louisiana, Emily has a particular interest in how climate change affects coastal regions. She hopes to connect educators with resources that will help them to teach their students about the disproportionately adverse effects of climate change on historically marginalized communities.