Trends in Atmospheric Methane
Data, Graphs, and Maps
Grades6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12Earth and Space Sciences
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 →
Provided by NOAA
What it is
- This site allows users to interact with graphs and datasets depicting global average methane amounts in the atmosphere.
- There is text describing the data and how it was gathered.
Teaching tips
Positives
- The graphs on this site are pretty straightforward and allow for interactivity.
Additional Prerequisites
- Teachers may want to provide some background about methane's relationship to climate change. This video could be played for students.
- Students will likely be unfamiliar with units like mole fraction and parts per billion. Teachers should address these.
- The data is downloadable in CSV files.
Differentiation
- The reading is very technical and is probably most appropriate for upper high school students.
- Students can work independently or in a small group to create a list of noticings and wonderings about the data.
- Some related data about methane include methane emissions, per-capita methane emissions, and methane emissions by sector.
- Check out this lesson for middle school students or this lesson for high school students to explore greenhouse gases.
From the scientist review
There is no contradiction in the resource. This resource is recommended.
How we review resourcesReady to use it?
Hosted on esrl.noaa.gov
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