Climántica curriculum units


Stage 1 Does Climate Really Change?


Our first Global Teaching unit provides background on climate change. Each section includes classroom activities. Published in Spanish in February 2007, it has been translated into English and published online at <http://Climántica.org/ClimánticaFront/ en/page/unidad?u=01&c=01>.


If We Burn We Warm


Published in March 2009, this second teaching unit uses a interdisciplinary approach to deal with the origins of climate change and the history of energy sources from the Industrial Revolution to the present. It then moves on to deal with nuclear energy, renewable energy sources and, finally, the potential of energy conservation and the use of alternative sources to power the future and reduce the risk of climate change.


Stage 2


Our newest teaching unit is the first of a five volume collection entitled “Let’s learn with Climántica schools”, aimed at students 10-12 years old. It contains student worksheets, guidelines and answer keys for teachers. In order to deal with climate change and its solutions in an intuitive and holistic way, two comics were produced for the two first units of the project. They are part of the collection entitled “Palmira and Marcial”, whose first issue is published in Spanish, Galician and English: <http:// biblioteca.Climántica.org/resources/308/comic-en.pdf >. They are designed to address the complexity of the challenge through fantasy and fun. Other characters which play key roles in this task are those included in the 24 chapters of the first novel of the project,


“La tormenta de C” (“The Storm of C”), in the collection called “Cuentos climánticos” (Climántica Tales), which is published in Spanish and Galician. In addition, the first volume of “Let’s learn with Climántica Schools” includes our first videogame of the project, CLMNTK, which is linked to the core of the book. It is an online network game that consists of making decisions about land planning and energy management in the framework of the 21st century climate change society: <http://xogo.Climántica. org/?locale=es>.


Multidisciplinary online projects for 10-17 year-olds


Digital skills are developed through the following four activities: a) Setting up the first edublog and eduforo system was implemented by experiences with 12-17 year-old students: <http:// blogs.Climántica.org/>


b) Interactive activities for 10-13 year-old-students: <http://eduprimaria.Climántica.org/> c) E-Learning lessons for 14-17 year-old-students: <http://biblioteca.Climántica.org/gl/formacion/didactica> d) Wiki for 14-17 year-old-students: <http://www.wiklimantica.com>


educational materials are being translated into other lan- guages like English. Already, our first comic book is avail- able in English, along with the digital version of our first teaching unit. Climántica has received considerable recognition. The


Spanish Agency of Climate Change cited it as a model for good practice. UNESCO in Portugal is now supporting the training of teachers in that country to use the program. Proj- ect staff have been invited to speak at conferences around the world, and pilot projects have sprouted in Argentina, Cuba and Portugal. In its first four years, the Climántica project has promoted


an exchange of ideas and experiences about the problems and solutions presented by climate change. It has also led to numerous innovative teaching materials and an enrichment of our curriculum. In future years, we hope that project’s value to students will keep growing as we expand the content and geographical horizons. We will continue to use Climán- tica to promote teachers’ professional development and serve the general public. We hope that it will serve as a model for similar initiatives worldwide.


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Francisco Sóñora Luna is a biologist and teaching advisor. He is also the designer and project director of Climántica, a project of the General Directorate on Sustainability and Landscape, in the Department of Environment, Urban and Infrastructural Planning for the Xunta de Galicia (the autono- mous government of Galicia), in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. He can be reached at fsluna@edu.xunta.es or via www.Climántica.org.


References Dewey, J., Experience and Nature, Dover, 1958. Kilpatrick, W. H., The Project Method, Columbia University, 1921.


List of English language resources <http://Climántica.org/ClimánticaFront/en/page/Weblog> <http://biblioteca.Climántica.org/resources/308/comic-en.pdf> <http://xogo.Climántica.org> <http://tv.Climántica.org/entradas/215>


Notes 1. <http://tv.Climántica.org/?locale=es> 2. <http://tv.Climántica.org/entradas/215>


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