Climate Change Summits for Teens Increase global awareness by hosting a climate and environmental change summit with teenagers
By Janice McDonnell, Laura Bovitz, Carrie Ferraro, Rachel Lyons, and David Robinson
T
HE IMPACTS OF HUMAN-INDUCED global warming on the natural environment are drastically affecting, and will continue to drastically affect,
every aspect of our economy and our daily lives. We now have a fundamental scientific understanding of global warming, and nearly universal acceptance in the scientific community that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are affecting global climate and ocean properties (IPCC, 2007). Despite this, much of the general public is becoming more confused and less concerned about global warming amidst a barrage of frightening (and sometimes conflicting) data, and media spin. Public comprehension and acceptance of the authenticity of global warming is woefully lacking, hovering around 50% (Leiserowitz et al., 2009). Global warming is the most publicized and broadly
debated consequence of greenhouse gas emissions. Just as significant, but less well-known, are other adverse con- sequences ranging from sea level rise to biodiversity loss. With a huge portion of the world’s population living in coastal areas, sea level rise alone will directly affect per- haps billions of people, not to mention its global economic consequences. For effective change to occur, the public urgently needs at least a basic grasp of the science behind climate change and global warming, and a realization of their present and future effects. This urgent need should be a clarion call for education and research communities to come together to transform how young people, and the general
public, are educated on these issues. In an effort to contribute to climate education and literacy,
we created the Climate and Environmental Change (CEC) Summit. CEC is a two day Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) event for middle and high school students (ages 12-18), designed to increase knowledge and understanding of climate change science through interac- tion with climate scientists at Rutgers University. The event, which takes place on the university campus, begins with interactions with climate change scientists, and then uses an action planning process to help youth apply this knowledge to community-service projects. School teams create Action Plans for community involvement and present the results of their projects through group presentations and videos. Teams are recognized for their achievements and success in com- municating with their communities. In this article we will describe how you can host a CEC Summit in your school or community to help support climate literacy.
Program Goal
The overall objective of the CEC Summit is to provide participants with both scientific knowledge about climate change and the decision-making skills needed to improve application of this knowledge as active citizens and in their personal lives. The project was also designed to enhance interdisciplinary collaborations between natural and social scientists involved in the Rutgers University Climate and Environmental Change Initiative, and between the partici- pating teens and high school teachers.
GREEN TEACHER 93 Page 25
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52