SUMMARY
As the planet warms and sea levels rise, 85% of Generation Z is concerned about climate change, according to a January Marist poll. Take a look at how California, Connecticut and New Jersey are teaching students about climate change.
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News alternative: Check out recent segments from the NewsHour, and choose the story you’re most interested in watching. You can make a Google doc copy of discussion questions that work for any of the stories here.
WARM-UP QUESTIONS
- Who recently signed a bill that deletes most mentions of climate change in Florida law?
- What states are now teaching kids about climate change in the classroom?
- Where will the hurricane season be the most active on record?
- When do New Jersey teachers usually start unpacking the more nuanced mathematical relationships in climate change?
- How many months of record highs around the world have there been?
FOCUS QUESTIONS
- How might climate change education help create climate change action?
- Why do you think some people oppose climate change education?
- What do you think makes a topic important enough to be taught in schools?
Media literacy: Would you be interested in what students think about specific climate change lessons? How could you go about your search?
Alternative: See, Think, Wonder: What did you notice? What did the story make you think? What would you want to learn more about?
FOR MORE
What students can do:
Learn more to stay informed about climate change, such as in this video clip about why the World Meteorological Organization issued a red alert warning in March about climate change. One of the many worries about how the planet is changing, thanks in part to human activity, is the record-shattering warming of the world’s oceans.
This post was produced by Benjamin Thernstrom, a senior at Washington-Liberty High School in Arlington, Virginia, and intern with PBS NewsHour Classroom, and NewsHour's Vic Pasquantonio.
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