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The Edutopia Poll
by Sara Ring
Let's face it: Climate change can be a scary topic. Lessons about its impact on the planet -- food and water shortages, catastrophic natural disasters, animal extinctions -- are appropriate causes for alarm. Add to that the guilt factor that comes from humanity's complicity in global warming, and teaching this subject to young students can be a daunting task. Yet in some schools, students as young as kindergartners are getting an introduction to the costs of climate change (such as endangered plant life) and ways they can help (conserving water, for instance). A proposed bill in California calls for the mandatory inclusion of climate change in the science curriculum of all state public schools, though it does not say in which grade these lessons must start. Is it ever too early to teach children about climate change, or is the sooner the better? Tell us what you think!
Are we really teachers...
Submitted by Andy (not verified) on July 7, 2008 - 09:50.
Are we really responsible teachers if we spread half truths and propaganda? I am not that old, but remember hearing news reports of global cooling when I was young and remember stories of glaciers that would soon cover major civilized areas. Now we are hearing about global warming, with sea levels that will rise and swallow all the coastal areas. When are we going to learn that we teach by example... we cannot teach our students to be responsible if we are not responsible ourselves. Who is being quoted when a person cries about global warming? We continually hear that "scientists say..." but there is not any real peer-reviewed evidence to support, and the "scientist" who does the saying is never identified. If I taught any of my subjects by quoting unidentified sources (or just as bad - if my students turned in papers using unidentified - in other words plagiarized - sources and I accept them) I should get fired for incompetence. We have so many cases of cheating and sloppy standards that we need to focus on, why mess with something that is so political.
As for the actual science on the issue, isn't science supposed to be based on observation and experimentation? If I only observe a few years, how can I draw a conclusion? If we adhere to either idea on the origin of the universe - either God created it 6000 years ago, or it evolved over billions of years, we have such an incredibly small observable time frame that we cannot draw any legitimate conclusions from the data. Common sense tells us that from the past couple of hundred years of observed cyclical weather patterns, we must be viewing a cycle of warming and cooling. Archaeological evidence (Greenland, Northwest Passage, etc.) proves that we are in a COOLER part of the overall cycle rather than a warmer part.
There is great debate over whether carbon dioxide does anything but help the environment. Besides, isn't carbon dioxide necessary for plants to grow, and isn't the growth of plants necessary for oxygen production so that animals (and humans) can breath?
Since the global warming debate is a political not scientific one, I will continue to teach my students to be responsible not wasteful and take care of the great renewable gift we have been given. I think of it more as conservationism as opposed to environmentalism. - Just my 2 cents worth! Maybe I'm all screwed up, I've only been at this science teaching thing for 17 years!
Being responsible - using facts
Submitted by robert (not verified) on July 10, 2008 - 14:44.
"..an incredibly small observable time frame that we cannot draw any legitimate conclusions from the data."
Really? When were thermometers invented? Record keeping? Ice cores? Tree-rings?
"Archaeological evidence (Greenland, Northwest Passage, etc.) proves"...
And those sources would be? You do mention
"We continually hear that "scientists say..." but there is not any real peer-reviewed evidence to support, and the "scientist" who does the saying is never identified."
Really? Again no examples. Actually most newspaper articles (and the fact that you're citing newspapers in denying AGW is somewhat telling in itself) do cite not only the scientist' name, but also their affiliation as well as often citing the name of the paper and where it is published. Even Time for Kids cites the study!
"...but there is not any real peer-reviewed evidence to support..." IPCC? (Intergovernmental Panel on Science Change) Science? Any of dozens of journals publishing reports and studies in dozens of fields? Nothing? Really? An easy start would be Google Scholar or Web of Knowledge. And your building's librarian should be able to point anyone to databases and journals.
"...quoting unidentified sources ..." or even better apparently, not citing anything at all. FYI, these denier memes are well covered at Skeptical Science: Examining the Science of Global Warming Skepticism.
We teach about responsibility and consequences in K, we teach about basic science in K, we encourage curiosity in K, we work on concepts of society, sharing, being a good citizen in K.
Time to acknowledge global warming is real
Submitted by Maryann (not verified) on July 10, 2008 - 12:31.
Anyone who wastes time by saying there is no evidence of climate change or global warming should re-direct that energy. Get the facts:
Check out real-time information at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology to see what's happening.
Five scientists independently collected data to indicate serious climate change and put it together in an "event" called Polar-Palluza! to educate the public.
If you don't think it's time to examine what we've done to the home planet (and figure out how we're going to fix it) you are in serious denial.
Science, social studies and climate change
Submitted by MIchael Joseph Matteucig (not verified) on July 2, 2008 - 17:13.
As an educator who is very much influenced by "Reggio Emilia--I Bambini dei Cento Linguaggi" (Children of A Hundred Languages--ways of learning), I firmly believe in allowing children, as young as possible, to:
1. Explore their environment;
2. Interact with their environment;
3. Learn to care for their environment; and,
4. Discover new ways to diminish climate change.
It is possible for an educator to facilitate these principles through age-appropriate Socratic-thinking techniques which are worded with Transitive Verbs such as: protect; and Intransitive Verbs, such as care, love--modeled through place/project-based activities such as planters, flower gardens (in-class), model assembly (Kibri, Faller, Vollmer model kits) of Solar Energy plants, etc.
To this very day, I have students, build (ibn-class) high-speed model train layouts based on the French "TGV"--Train a Grand Vitesse.
Childen should not be limited by lack of adult creativity. To this end, child exploration is "de riguer."
What does one tell them about climate change?
Submitted by Bob (not verified) on July 2, 2008 - 16:56.
What does one tell them? There is no scientific agreement as to what causes the fluctuation of the Earth's temperature. The original studies were admitted to be falsified by their authors, which of course undermines the credibility of many of the studies that followed. It is possible that we are in a climatic upswing in temperature. There is no evidence that this is due to man's interaction with the planet, but it is possible the the temperature is climbing. This is something to make our students aware of. This can be supported scientifically. However, if we look at the last century in the context of the history of the Earth, it is too small to be measured. So many of the graphics used to illustrate "possibilities" base wild predictions for the centuries to come on such a small set of data it is irresponsible.
Bob, St. Louis, MO
Response to teaching about climate change
Submitted by Ken Oyer (not verified) on July 3, 2008 - 09:44.
Here, here, Bob! I totally agree. 40,000 years ago where we live was under a huge continental glacier. Global warming is a reality, however, how much man is affecting the changes is definitely not clear at this point. We must teach about conservation and doing what we can to preserve natural resources as a matter of good sense.
What's the right age to start teaching students about climate ch
Submitted by Don Verkow (not verified) on July 2, 2008 - 07:09.
Let us not confuse the Al Gore panic doctrine with facts about how climate changes. And let us not fill our children with mis-information about "man-made" climate change. This is another foolish notion that will fade, in time, like the other Chicken Little end-of-world fables before this.
Yes, climate change can be scary
Submitted by T. Brown from New Jersey (not verified) on July 2, 2008 - 03:52.
Yes, climate change can be scary. And that is probably what opponents of this bill will say about teaching it. But for once could we think about the children? Just as we only talk about sex with children in age appropriate ways, we can talk about climate change as a natural phenomena (which it is, to them) that happens very slowly (as it does, in "child-time") that we can affect if we choose to (which we can.) We need to insure that our children are prepared to deal with this horrendous problem, which we as adults have so far chosen to ignore. They need to grow up with a perspective that will let them adapt to this changing environment and include into their basic worldview the goal of preserving their world. 60 years of experience has taught me that "ignorance" is never "bliss" -- that particular un-true-ism is simply the overstated rationalization of a criminal hiding his/her crime.
Right age to start teaching about climate change
Submitted by D. Best (not verified) on July 1, 2008 - 17:13.
I find it ridiculous that people don't talk in front of their children, with their children or suggest their child provide their thoughts and input on such topics. People can only deal with the realities of the world if they are informed, openly communicative about the topic which in turn will hopefully lead to recognition of the problem and subsequently corrective action is developed and implemented. I have never been one to avoid the harsh realities of life ... we don't live in a Walt Disney world.
Speaking to Kindergarten students about climate change
Submitted by Amanda Martin (not verified) on July 1, 2008 - 16:40.
As a Kindergarten Teacher myself, I find it very important to teach students about consequences of their actions. It is NEVER to early to teach responsibility, and the concept of climate change is a great way to start. You obviously wouldn't speak to K students about horrific natural disasters, or terrible food shortages.You could instead discuss the concept of conservation of electricity and water to preserve habitats. As with all content, instruction should be age appropriate yet informative. Climate change is a great way to begin a students journey down the road to responsibility, and there is nothing wrong with teaching the subject in K or Earlier.
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