The Climate Clues Found in LA's Natural History Museum Specimens

• This video features scientists at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County discussing how fossils, specimens, and artifacts at the museum show climate history. The museum uses this information to answer questions about climate change today. 
• Students will learn about scientists who specialize in plants, marine life, birds, and humans. 

Positives

• A short article links to several interesting sources. 
• Students will enjoy seeing the museum's fossils and specimens as the scientists discuss them.

Additional Prerequisites

• Students should be familiar with concepts such as endangered species, habitat loss, sea level rise, and ocean acidification.

Differentiation

• Biology classes could use this video to show the effects of climate change on ecosystems and species.
• Psychology, sociology, anthropology, or history classes could discuss why humans from the past behaved differently, and sometimes more violently, in reaction to changes in the climate. Students could debate whether or not the phenomenon persists in today's world.
• Other resources on this topic include this Khan Academy video on extinction, this interactive map on the habitats of endangered species, and this video on saving the world's coral reefs.