---
title: "What scientists know - and what's still open"
course: "ENVR 200 · Climate change, explained"
unit: "How the climate system works"
lesson: 9 of 19
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/climate-change-explained/what-scientists-know-and-what-s-still-open
publisher: Maestro College
---

# What scientists know - and what's still open

Lesson 9 of 19 in **Climate change, explained** (ENVR 200), unit "How the climate system works". An open lesson from Maestro College.

## What the learner will be able to do
- Identify the specific, testable claims that constitute the climate science consensus (warming is happening, it is primarily human-caused, it carries serious risk).
- Distinguish quantified scientific uncertainty (a confidence range around a well-supported finding) from manufactured doubt or genuine ignorance.
- Recognize where settled findings end and genuine open questions begin inside climate research.

## Teaching notes
Closes the science unit. Emphasize that the consensus is a few specific claims, and that uncertainty is a strength of careful science, not a weakness. The manufactured-doubt move named here returns in u2l9.

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.

## When the lesson is done
The lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed above. Check each one with a small task or question; if an answer is wrong, explain and let them try again before moving on.
When every outcome is covered:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson 9 complete: What scientists know - and what's still open."
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, "A living world under change" (lesson 10 of 19), and give the learner its link: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/climate-change-explained/a-living-world-under-change.md. Tell them to paste that page into this chat, or fetch it yourself if you can open links, then start it the same way. Do not start teaching the next lesson's topic until the learner has it.

Previous lesson: The fingerprint of modern warming
Next lesson: A living world under change