Who Turned Up the Heat?

About this resource

Earth is about 1.2 °C warmer than in the late 1800s, and 2024 was the warmest year on record — yet satellites show no upward trend in the Sun’s energy since 1978. If the Sun didn’t turn up the heat, who did? Ask sharp questions of real data — and find out which factors have warmed Earth over the past century. In this one-week, 5-level Rising Global Temperatures unit for middle school science (NGSS MS-ESS3-5), students investigate a real mystery, then use their evidence to crack the case.

Who Turned Up the Heat? is part of Science Unlocked, a series of mystery-driven lesson sets. Every set opens with a real, surprising phenomenon, builds the science one level at a time, and ends with students solving the mystery in a claim-evidence-reasoning (CER) write-up.

Topics: climate change, human impact, claim evidence reasoning (CER), science phenomenon, review games.

What's included

• Teacher Deck (88 slides, PowerPoint). Answers are highlighted on the slides. Speaker notes tell you what to say and do, what to watch for, and how to support students or push GT students further. Prep slides and answer keys are hidden, so they skip during a slideshow.
• Interactive Student Deck (56 slides, PowerPoint + PDF). Students type in boxes, drag cards and check marks, and rate their confidence. Assign one copy per student in Google Classroom or your LMS.
• Google Slides versions of both decks. Click a button in the Google Slides Links PDF to make your own copy in Google Drive.
• Teacher Guide (27-page PDF). The standard, a week at a glance, a materials list, misconceptions to watch for, a run-of-show for every level, answer keys and sources.
• Student Printable (21-page PDF + a low-ink greyscale copy). The same tasks on paper in 12 pt type, for students without devices, sub days, or anyone who learns better with a pencil. Slide numbers match the Student Deck.
• Self-grading digital activity. SCORM 2004 and SCORM 1.2 packages for an LMS that accepts SCORM uploads, a web package, and a single HTML file that opens in any browser. Notes, sorts, matches, tables and multiple-choice items grade themselves, and students get a copy-and-paste backup of their work. A 2-page teacher quick start is included.
• Two whole-class review games that open in any browser: a Jeopardy-style game (6 categories, 30 clues) and Trashketball, where teams answer on whiteboards and then shoot for points.
• Kahoot! and Blooket import files. 48 review questions, one file per level plus an all-levels file, with a printable answer key.
• Start Here guide, HTML & SCORM how-to guide and Terms of Use, so you know which file to open first.

The 5 levels (about one 45–50 minute class each)

1. Earth’s Fever Chart. Weather vs. climate, the global temperature record, asking clarifying questions. Key activities: Mystery vote, NOAA fever chart, question sort.
2. The Suspect Lineup. Natural factors: Sun, volcanoes, orbit, El Niño, sudden vs. gradual change. Key activities: Suspect Files, Volcano Clue graph, Question the Suspects table.
3. Foote’s Bottle Lab. The greenhouse effect, infrared, questioning a model. Key activities: Greenhouse label model, CO₂-vs-air bottle lab, Lab Conclusion.
4. Follow the Carbon. Keeling Curve, ice cores, human sources, fingerprints, solutions. Key activities: Keeling graph, human-activity sort, fingerprint cards.
5. Crack the Case. Stretch HS-ESS3-5: climate models, forecast, final CER. Key activities: Forecast graph, IPCC case file, Crack the Case CER.

Built for real classrooms

• Every level follows the same routine: "I can" targets with a confidence check, a warm-up, copy-it notes with a word bank, hands-on practice, a checkpoint students must pass to unlock the next step, and an exit ticket. A 10-item Mini Quiz wraps up the week.
• Level 1 opens with a Power-Up on the earlier-grade ideas this standard builds on (K-PS3-1, 3-ESS2-2, 5-ESS2-1, 5-ESS3-1).
• The last level includes a high school Stretch (HS-ESS3-5) that every student tries and advanced students can take further.
• Hands-on lab (Lab: Foote’s Bottle, Remade). Student materials list: 2 identical clear plastic bottles, 2 thermometers of the same type; Clay or tape to seal around each thermometer; Small flask, 1 tsp (5 g) baking soda, 60 mL (¼ cup) vinegar, 1 latex-free balloon; Teacher-set lamp: aluminum dome clamp lamp, ceramic socket, reptile basking bulb, on a ring stand; Timer, goggles, paper towels. Safety notes are on the slides and in the Teacher Guide.
• Support is built in: word banks, sentence starters and support notes on the slides, plus GT extensions.

Standards

• NGSS MS-ESS3-5: Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century. (Kentucky 8-ESS3-5 uses the same wording.)
• SEP: Asking Questions and Defining Problems · DCI: ESS3.D · CCC: Stability and Change
• Stretch: HS-ESS3-5
• CCSS connections: 6.EE.B.6, 7.EE.B.4, MP.2, RST.6-8.1

Try the digital activity first

• Not sure the self-grading activity will work in your LMS? Download the FREE HTML & SCORM Sample and test it with your students before you buy.

Save with a bundle

• Human Impact on Earth (5 sets)
• Middle School Earth & Space Science (15 sets)
• Science Unlocked Mega Bundle (all 89 sets)

Teach next

• Earth’s Treasure Map (MS-ESS3-1)
• Warning Signs (MS-ESS3-2)
• The Wrong-Way Turtles (MS-ESS3-3)
• Outweighed (MS-ESS3-4)

More from Mystery Lab Learning

• See every Science Unlocked set, and follow to hear when new ones are added, at Mystery Lab Learning.

Good to know

• The illustrations in this resource were created with AI image tools, and AI tools helped draft the lesson text. Every slide, answer key and lab step was then fact-checked against the sources listed in the Teacher Guide and proofread.
• Kahoot!, Blooket, Jeopardy!, Google Slides and PowerPoint are trademarks of their owners. This resource is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.
• License: one teacher, for use with their own students. Please buy an additional license for each colleague who uses it.