INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO DEVELOPING CLIMATE LITERACY IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS: LESSONS LEARNED FROM NEW COURSE DEVELOPMENT

Community colleges have a unique opportunity to promote climate literacy to a broad cross section of the public. The science department at Red Rocks Community College has led the effort to develop new curriculum and teach new courses with the aim of developing greater student awareness and understanding of climate change and sustainability. New courses have been developed in physics, meteorology and general science to reach more students and provide more climate focused course options. New physics courses include Energy Science and Technology, Energy for Engineers, and Field Studies in Energy. These courses focus on renewable energy and climate change. A student trip to Iceland is in the planning stages for the Field Studies in Energy course, paired with Geology. Red Rocks has had great success with offering interdisciplinary field trips for science students. Introduction to Climatology and Severe Weather:Hurricanes were recently developed in meteorology to compliment the successful Introduction to Meteorology course offered each fall. Science in Society is a general education science course for non-majors that includes a curriculum unit on climate change. Natural Hazards is a new course stressing the connection to anthropogenic changes to Earth systems. Student response to the courses we have offered is overwhelmingly positive. Enrollment in these courses is growing and curriculum development is interdisciplinary and ongoing.