Climate Literacy from the Plains to the Peaks: Challenges in Teaching Climate in Colorado Classrooms

Abstract:

Boulder, Colorado is a central hub of climate research and education resources, yet teachers less than two hours away struggle to find relevant climate curriculum and meaningful connections to climate scientists. Learn More About Climate (LMAC), an initiative of the CU-Boulder Office for Outreach and Engagement was created to provide access to the most up-to-date scientific research in a user-friendly way that raises awareness and inspires an informed dialogue about climate change among Coloradans. LMAC produces classroom ready videos highlighting CU climate scientists, offers classroom visits and Skype sessions with scientists, and serves as a hub for the most recent climate news. LMAC recently formed a Teacher Advisory Board made up of eleven K12 teachers from across Colorado spanning rural, suburban, and urban school districts. Given different locations, demographics, and grade levels, each teacher faces different challenges teaching climate. Here we present our work to identify the primary challenges that our teacher advisors have encountered while teaching climate science in their classrooms. Furthermore, we are working to co-create dynamic solutions with the teachers to address these problems using the LMAC platform.