A NEW WEB-BASED TEACHING RESOURCE AIMED AT INCORPORATING INFORMATION ON CLIMATE IN NON-STEM SUBJECT AREAS

This presentation gives an update on a climate literacy project aimed at encouraging educators to incorporate climate-related information into non-STEM curricula. The project strives to improve overall climate literacy and increase general understanding of the impact of climate on human societies so students are better equipped to comprehend and assess current and future consequences of climate change. To achieve this goal, we designed an easily accessible website (www.science.smith.edu/climatelit/) that connects topics in subject areas such as history/social studies, literature, art and music to climate. The website is geared towards K-12 teachers, but is also of potential interest in higher education and to various individuals and organizations. This project was inspired by students in the GEO 106 Extraordinary Events in the History of Earth, Life and Climate course at Smith College, and by The Teacher-Friendly Guide^TM to Climate Change, a publication by the Paleontological Research Institution, whose focus audience is primarily high school Earth and environmental science teachers.

The website is being developed in two phases. The first phase includes compiling, researching, formatting and posting information on numerous individual climate-related topics in non-STEM subject areas. Each topic has its own page that briefly describes it, explores its relation to climate, and provides links to additional resources. The topics are organized chronologically and geographically in subject-specific tables of contents. Examples of topics include “The Beginning and End of the Maya Classic Period,” “Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818) and The Vampyre by John William Polidori (1819)” and “Lithographs of the Alps from The Little Ice Age.”

The second phase of the project will focus on developing activities to help incorporate these topics into teaching at various levels. As a developing resource, the website will be updated and modified regularly with new information and suggestions from climate and education professionals. The website users are also encouraged to provide direct feedback, especially on the site’s educational aspects, by emailing at climate@smith.edu.