The EarthLabs Climate Series: Approaching Climate Literacy From Multiple Contexts

Abstract:

The EarthLabs Climate Series is a set of four distinct but related high school curriculum modules that help build student and teacher understanding of our planet’s complex climate system. The web-based, freely available curriculum modules include a rich set of resources for teachers, and are tied together by a common set of climate related themes that include: 1) the Earth system with the complexities of its positive and negative feedback loops; 2) the range of temporal and spatial scales at which climate, weather, and other Earth system processes occur; and 3) the recurring question, “How do we know what we know about Earth’s past and present climate?” which addresses proxy data and scientific instrumentation. The four modules (Climate and the Cryosphere; Climate and the Biosphere; Climate and the Carbon Cycle; and Climate Detectives) approach climate literacy from different contexts, and have provided teachers of biology, chemistry, marine science, environmental science, and earth science with opportunities to address climate science by selecting a module that best supplements the content of their particular course.

This presentation will highlight the four curriculum modules in the Climate Series, the multiple pathways they offer teachers for introducing climate science into their existing courses, and the two newest elements of the series: the Climate Series Intro, which holds an extensive set of climate related resources for teachers; and the Climate Detectives module, which is based on the 2013 expedition of the Joides Resolution to collect cores from the seafloor below the Gulf of Alaska.