T208 Climate Literacy: Formal and Informal Education and Community Outreach Efforts to Enable Responsible Decisions I

Tuesday, 29 October 2013
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Room 405

CHANGING PLANET - A COLLECTION OF FREE RESOURCES FOR TEACHING CLIMATE CHANGE

Paper number: T208-2
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:05 AM – 8:20 AM

Authors

Abstract

Each year, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) produces a lecture series for pre-college audiences, which is supported by a variety of teaching resources. The 2012 lecture series, Changing Planet: Past, Present, Future, sought to answer questions like: Has Earth changed over deep time? How did Earth shape life and life shape Earth? And, what does Earth's climate in the distant past tell us about the future? The supplemental classroom resources include posters, online interactive lessons, and activities, such as calculating your carbon footprint. This presentation will provide a tour of these free resources and highlight examples of how knowledge of Earth history can improve understanding of anthropogenic climate change.

HHMI is one of the nation’s largest philanthropies dedicated to supporting research and science education. HHMI’s BioInteractive initiative opens a window on cutting-edge science through interactive web features, short films, virtual labs, and scientific animations. Since teachers play a pivotal role in launching the careers of future scientists and in helping the public understand the beauty and import of science, the BioInteractive team partners with the teaching community to create and distribute media that is engaging and relevant to the science curriculum.