Secondary School Climate Kit: Students Making a Difference in Climate Change

Our project, “It’s Fun to Save the World!” is one of the NOAA Climate Stewards funded proposals that provides educators working with K-16 students with sustained professional development, collaborative tools, and support to build a climate-literate public actively engaged in climate stewardship. Working with Los Angeles area secondary school science teachers, we are developing classroom climate kits that teachers can use with their students.  These kits will contain the project objectives, procedures, data sheets (template), resources (webpages, brochures, posters, DVDs), and equipment for conducting experiments. References to STEM professions from NOAA and NASA websites will be included. Teachers involved in the project will receive the kits at an orientation meeting in fall 2016 and will tailor them to their specific grade levels.

Through this project students learn how they can make a difference in reducing greenhouse gases. The objective is to have students explore (1) climate change, (2) the role of greenhouse gases in global warming, (3) the role of individuals, communities, cities and nations in greenhouse gases (GHG) contributions, and (4) how individuals can reduce GHGs. Participating students discover even small changes in the behavior of one household can make a difference. 

The project calls for students to calculate their carbon footprint pre and post project participation to show evidence of mitigation efforts and footprint change in the areas of transportation, food, electrical, and heating/ air conditioning.  Data collected will be uploaded to a dedicated website.  Participating classrooms will be encouraged to present their results to other classrooms and schools.  By targeting students, our team is informing the next generation of consumers (and their parents indirectly) on how their behavior impacts climate change.