Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/882783
e massive rainfall from Hurricane Harvey in August may have been exacerbated by climate change. Killgore incorporates global warming into multiple lessons and units in hopes students will understand that climate change affects where they live. " We talk about solar power, wind and other sustainable energy versus the burning of fossil fuels. We can start with small ways to change our dependence on fossil fuels by walking to school, riding a bike or taking mass transit. ese students will be voters soon, and the next generation will need to decide what laws should be in place." One of her students, seventh-grader Harmony Svestka, admits she worries about climate change. "It's scary to me because it could cause our world to end. It will affect my generation, but it's not our fault." Teaching about climate change is challenging, says Killgore, because schools are in the process of transitioning to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and teachers desperately need new curriculum with up-to-date information. C L I M A T E C H A N G E C H A L L E N G E S T E A C H E R S Under NGSS, teachers are being asked to teach not only the causes and impacts of climate change, but how science and engineering can help solve problems and inform policy. But materials are lacking. A 2015 Stanford University study found textbooks used in California schools — the same books still in use — contain misleading information about climate change. The good news is that new NGSS-aligned science textbooks will become available in 2019. Meanwhile, teachers must find supplemen- tal materials themselves, and they are not always sure these materials are accurate, says Lisa Hegdahl, a science teacher at McCaffrey Middle School, member of the Galt Elementary Faculty Association, and former president of the California Science Teachers Association. Nearly two-thirds of students in the U.S. are taught about climate change at school, but there is a great deal of room for The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are shrinking. Together, they 're losing more than 100 cubic miles of ice every year, which flows into the oceans and contributes to sea level rise. And the rate of ice loss is accelerating. Since the Industrial Revolution, the acidity of surface ocean waters has increased by about 30 percent due to humans emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and from there into the oceans. Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists agree that climate-warming trends over the past century are the result of human activity. -100 mi 3 +30% 97% Source: NASA Global Climate Change website. 27 O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 017 Middle school science teacher Darlene Killgore, with student Kelsy Rodriguez, incorporates global warming into multiple lessons.