Teaching Global Climate Change in Your Classroom

Follow National Geographic Explorers to the treetops of the rain forests, the reefs of Mexico, the glaciers of Iceland, and the shores of the Chesapeake Bay as they find solutions to global climate change. Practice innovative ways to visualize the changing climate with your students as we all seek a planet in balance.

Description

Earth’s global climate is changing, bringing numerous changes to the planet and the organisms that live on it. Scientific instruments around the world show that our global temperature increased by over 1°C during the second half of the 20th century. Consequences of this observed warming include substantial melting of glaciers, rising sea levels, and increased risk of drought, wildfires, and plant and animal extinctions.

This online course integrates scientific content and pedagogical practices that are important for teaching global climate change at the middle school level. In particular, this course will help you to:

• Examine your own understanding of global climate change and human impacts working through activities that connect to big climate change concepts,
• Modify existing activities and create new lessons about global climate change to incorporate into your own instruction,
• Develop a library of tools and resources that you can use to inform your future instructional design around climate change,
• Use the NGSS science and engineering practices (constructing explanations and creating models) to develop your own and students’ understanding of the concepts, and
• Analyze student thinking about climate change through video cases.

Credit validation is available for this course from the University of San Diego. This class runs October 2-November 20.