March 18, 2013 – This is interesting: as many as 41 of the 50 states will soon be
teaching science that includes climate change.
Up until now, the approach to teaching climate change in our public schools
could have been described as “helter-skelter.” A rigorous approach to the
subject was frequently impossible, because the personal beliefs of teachers,
administrators, and/or parents got in the way.
Coupled with the fact that the last set of science education standards
did not include teacher input, science teaching and teachers were in a bad
place. No more!
Next Generation
Science Standards were developed by the National Research Council, the
National Science Teachers Association, the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, the nonprofit Achieve, and more than two dozen
states. The 26 states that worked to
develop the standards include 7 of the ten most populous. These 26 committed time, personnel, and
financial resources to the project.
Other state education departments wanted to participate, but didn’t have
the resources. Those states that did
participate will use them, along with another 15 that have indicated their
interest.
Education publishers Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and
McGraw-Hill are already on the bandwagon, studying ways to incorporate the new
standards into their textbooks. Changes
will appear as early as the upcoming school year (2013-2014). Texas, one of the states that chose not to
participate, writes its own curriculum.
In the past, this alone might have served to waylay the federal
standards. However, the rise in the use
of e-textbooks has reduced the influence of large states. Most importantly, the part that states themselves
played in designing the new standards
means they have built-in support. Now it
is the standards which wield enormous influence.
The next question is obvious: what do the standards
say? Generally speaking, they require
teaching that climate change is broadly accepted science. The science tells us that carbon dioxide
emissions from burning oil, coal and gas are warming our planet. The subject is introduced in elementary
school, and should be taught in an interdisciplinary fashion. By high school, teachers will be encouraged
to frame climate change as a problem to which humans need to adapt, mitigate,
and solve. Lessons or experiments could
focus on preparing communities for coastal flooding, or on inventing a carbon
capture technique.
Mark McCaffrey, programs and policy director of the National
Center for Science Education (NCSE), believes there will be major benefits in
applying widely-accepted standards. When
more students are taught the same information, closing state-by-state gaps in
science education will be easier.
Nationwide standardization might help American students improve in global
science rankings, as well. Wouldn’t it
be great if the United States didn’t have to play catch-up anymore? Leadership in this area of climate change
could well culminate in the youngsters of today dealing effectively with the
world’s most pressing problem, before it’s too late.
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