According to Climate Central, 76% of public school students in the largest U.S. cities go to school in “extreme urban heat islands.” Using a scientific approach, the free Cool Surfaces Lesson Plan explores why these heat islands form and how building design choices can affect heat in buildings and communities.

This 2-3 class period lesson integrates well into middle school STEM and environmental coursework. It relates to core concepts such as energy transfer, climate science, human impacts on Earth systems, and building engineering, while connecting learning to students’ individual lived experiences. Browse the key resources below or access the full lesson plan here.

Explore the Cool Surfaces Lesson Plan

Instructional Videos

Experiment Tutorial