Looking to tackle climate change and climate science in your classroom? This timely and insightful book supports and enables secondary science teachers to develop effective curricula ready to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) by grounding their instruction on the climate crisis. Nearly one-third of the secondary science standards relate to climate science, but teachers need design and implementation support to create empowering learning experiences centered around the climate crisis. Experienced science educator, instructional coach, and educational leader Dr. Kelley T. Le offers this support, providing an overview of the teaching shifts needed for NGSS and to support climate literacy for students via urgent topics in climate science and environmental justice – from the COVID-19 pandemic to global warming, rising sea temperatures, deforestation, and mass extinction. You’ll also learn how to engage the complexity of climate change by exploring social, racial, and environmental injustices stemming from the climate crisis that directly impact students. By anchoring instruction around the climate crisis, Dr. Le offers guidance on how to empower students to be the agents of change needed in their own communities. A range of additional teacher resources are also available at www.empoweredscienceteachers.com.

This nine-session module is written to be practical and accessible. It provides both extensive background and step-by-step instructions for using three-dimensional methods to explore this complex subject. It fits easily into a middle or high school curriculum while addressing the Next Generation Science Standards.

Climate change is occurring, is very likely caused by human activities, and poses significant risks for a broad range of human and natural systems. Each additional ton of greenhouse gases emitted commits us to further change and greater risks. In the judgment of the Committee on America's Climate Choices, the environmental, economic, and humanitarian risks of climate change indicate a pressing need for substantial action to limit the magnitude of climate change and to prepare to adapt to its impacts. A principal message from the recent National Research Council report, America's Climate Choices, this brief summary of how climate change will shape many aspects of life in the foreseeable future emphasizes the vital importance of preparation for these changes. The report points to the importance of formal and informal education in supporting the public's understanding of those challenges climate change will bring, and in preparing current and future generations to act to limit the magnitude of climate change and respond to those challenges. Recognizing both the urgency and the difficulty of climate change education, the National Research Council, with support from the National Science Foundation, formed the Climate Change Education Roundtable. The roundtable brings together federal agency representatives with diverse experts and practitioners in the physical and natural sciences, social sciences, learning sciences, environmental education, education policy, extension education and outreach, resource management, and public policy to engage in discussion and explore educational strategies for addressing climate change. Two workshops were held to survey the landscape of climate change education. The first explored the goals for climate change education for various target audiences. The second workshop, which is the focus of this summary, was held on August 31 and September 1, 2011, and focused on the teaching and learning of climate change and climate science in formal education settings, from kindergarten through the first two years of college (K-14). This workshop, based on an already articulated need to teach climate change education, provided a forum for discussion of the evidence from research and practice. The goal of this workshop was to raise and explore complex questions around climate change education, and to address the current status of climate change education in grade K-14 of the formal education system by facilitating discussion between expert researchers and practitioners in complementary fields, such as education policy, teacher professional development, learning and cognitive science, K-12 and higher education administration, instructional design, curriculum development, and climate science. Climate Change Education in Formal Settings, K-14: A Workshop Summary summarizes the two workshops.

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- 1 Why Teach about Climate Change in English Language Arts? -- 2 Getting Started in Teaching about Climate Change -- 3 Creating a Climate Change Curriculum -- 4 Literature and the Cli-Fi Imagination -- 5 Writing about Climate Change -- 6 Critical Media/Digital Analyses of Climate Change -- 7 Using Drama and Gaming to Address Climate Change -- 8 Interdisciplinary Teaching about Climate Change -- 9 Acting in the Present: Changing the Future -- Index

Apply high-quality project-based learning strategies to create lessons and units that help students solve a variety of urgent environmental problems. Environmental science (ES) education is essential to preparing today’s students for the future. We must create opportunities for hands-on investigations that explore complex environmental problems in order to find solutions and meet the challenges of our changing world. Educators looking to bring ES-focused experiences to their students can turn to technology and social-emotional learning (SEL) strategies to connect students with real-world situations and citizen science opportunities, while fostering empathy and a love for the natural world. Project-based learning (PBL), with its emphasis on inquiry and authentic challenges, can be an effective approach to teaching ES. Those new to PBL may not feel they have adequate training. Likewise, teachers who haven’t taught ES may question how to incorporate it into their curriculum. This book addresses both situations, providing practical guidance for teachers, along with examples of technology-rich, learner-centered student projects addressing timely topics such as sustainability, human impact and climate change. This book: • Helps teachers design learning experiences that model authentic problems and processes practiced by scientists and engineers, to prepare students for future careers in science. • Addresses diversity, equity and inclusion in ES, and shares resources and strategies for addressing racial equity in ES. • Introduces facilitation techniques that redefine the teacher’s traditional role as one that supports increased student agency, the development of critical thinking skills and an expanded awareness of their place in the global community. • Includes a chapter that focuses on applying the principles and strategies shared in the book in an online learning environment. • Addresses Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) topics in environmental science and is aligned to the ISTE Standards for Educators. PBL is one of the best ways for students to explore complex processes and concepts, and this book will help teachers leverage this approach to empower students to take action toward a better future and world.

"What if you could challenge your sixth graders to come up with a way to help tackle climate change in their own community? With this volume in the STEM road map curriculum series, you can! Human impacts on our climate outlines a journey that will steer your students toward authentic problem-solving while grounding them in integrated STEM disciplines. Like the other volumes in the series, this book is designed to meet the growing need to infuse real-world learning into F-12 classrooms. This interdisciplinary, three-lesson module uses project- and problem-based learning to help students investigate aspects of climate change that have been driven by the rise in global temperatures over the past century. Working in teams, students will use an engineering design process to identify a local environmental problem, develop a model to help monitor and minimise its impact and create a presentation about their findings." -- back cover.

This book provides assistance to teachers who struggle with the question of how to appropriately present complex subject matter to students who are just learning to speak English.