MIT Climate Primer: Solutions

Articles/Websites

Grades9, 10, 11, 12Earth and Space Sciences, Engineering

Scientist Reviewed

Provided by MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative

Open Resource

What it is

This interactive resource discusses solutions to the risks of climate change including cutting emissions, removing carbon, adaptation, and geoengineering.
Students will learn about nature-based solutions, modern technologies, and potential future technological advancements that can help mitigate the climate crisis.

Teaching tips

Positives

It is encouraging for students to learn about the answers that already exist and upcoming innovations in green technology.
It is engaging, interactive, and applicable to a diversity of learning styles due to the variety of media presented.

Prerequisites

Students should be at a high school reading level and have a baseline ability to interpret and analyze data.
For the most complete context, students should first visit the previous three pages on climate science, climate change, and risks.

Differentiation & Implementation

Students can create a level-appropriate design for a climate solution of their choice.
At the end of the page, there is an option to "go deeper," which includes a nine-question quiz, Q & A, and links to more MIT Climate resources.
This resource can be taught in tandem with MIT Climate Primer: Risks.
The figures and charts are all downloadable and there is a PDF version of the entire webpage.
The read-along feature provides highlighted text as the audio file plays, which may be helpful for some learners.
Other resources on this topic include How Empowering Women and Girls Can Help Stop Global Warming, Big Climate Problems Require Even Bigger Global Solutions, and En-ROADS Climate Solutions Simulator.

From the scientist review

This resource is an interactive webpage that includes text, audio, video, and interactive components that gives an excellent overview of climate solutions, including examples of the three main strategies: mitigation, adaptation, and geoengineering. These topics are presented clearly. This is a very well-produced and well-executed webpage that effectively conveys both the basics and the nuance of climate science solutions without overwhelming nor insulting the intelligence of students. This resource is recommended for teaching.

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Hosted on climateprimer.mit.edu

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At a glance

Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences, Engineering
Other types: Videos, Data, Graphs, and Maps, Interactive Media, Podcasts, Ebooks
Format: PDF
Language: English
Location: Earth
Provider: MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative
Authors: MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative
Published: November 12, 2021
Last updated: July 16, 2026
: Reviewed by our climate scientists How we review

Standards alignment · D4.6.9-12 + 8 more

Core

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards

D4.6.9-12Use disciplinary and interdisciplinary lenses to understand the characteristics and causes of local, regional, and global problems; instances of such problems in multiple contexts; and challenges and opportunities faced by those trying to address these problems over time and place.

Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.10By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.4Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term or terms over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

HS-LS2-7.Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.
HS-ESS2-E.The many dynamic and delicate feedbacks between the biosphere and other Earth systems cause a continual co-evolution of Earth’s surface and the life that exists on it. (HS-ESS2-7)
HS-ESS3-D.1.Though the magnitudes of human impacts are greater than they have ever been, so too are human abilities to model, predict, and manage current and future impacts. (HS-ESS3-5)

New Jersey Climate Education Hub

English Language Arts

RI.CI.9–10.2Determine one or more central ideas of an informational text and analyze how it is developed and refined over the course of a text, including how it emerges and is shaped by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
SL.II.11–12.2Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.

Science

HS-ESS3-4.Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.

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