266 Geoscience Education X: Overcoming Threats to Earth and Space Science at K–12 Levels

Wednesday, 12 October 2011
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Room 208CD

STAYING OUT OF THE HOT SEAT: SUPPORTING TEACHERS IN CLIMATE EDUCATION

Paper number: 266-7
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 3:00 PM – 3:15 PM

Authors

Abstract

Teachers cite barriers to implementing climate education, including lack of confidence in climate science knowledge, difficulty aligning climate topics within curriculum and standards, difficulty finding high quality learning resources, and concerns about controversy in the classroom. The Inspiring Climate Education Excellence (ICEE) project is a NASA-funded project to help meet some of these needs. Evaluation data describes some of the barriers teachers face, and strategies are described for providing climate instruction that is sensitive to the learner’s social context, while remaining true to the scientific understanding of climate science. Strategies to forestall controversy are deployed before instruction while developing teaching plans, and during instruction. ICEE resources include videos and high quality learning resources, an online discussion forum focused on current science and pedagogy, and support from a community of scientists and educators.

ICEE resources are being developed in partnership with GLOBE,and the National Science Digital Library (NSDL). The project will help meet the professional development needs of teachers, including those participating in the upcoming GLOBE Climate Campaigns.

URL:

cires.colorado.edu/education/k12/,

iceeonline.org

iceeonline.org/forum