Awakening to Climate Change: A School-Wide Inquiry
She looked straight into my eyes and said, “Mr. Cooley, imagine if you heard people talking about climate change all the time – from adults, TV, etc. – but didn’t know what it was. How would you feel?”
Annelise, a learner in Emerald Band, spoke these words to her science teacher in March as they discussed her favorite moment of the year in a reflective interview. She continued, “I remember the moment when I “got” climate change. Before that I had realized that something was wrong, and heard about it on TV and radio, but didn’t understand it. I kind of felt left out of the conversation but now I actually figured out what it really means.” Annelise’s reflection speaks to the intense experience of growing up in a time when climate anxiety is omnipresent and talk of this complex situation is constant.
In the fall, Mr. Cooley, who leads science instruction for Emerald and Sapphire Bands this year, mentioned his plan to create a climate science unit to Ms. Winchester, who leads science for Ruby and Amber. Their mutual interest sparked what would become almost a school-wide inquiry in the weeks from January until Spring Break. Ms. Winchester recently commented that “I feel like our learners, intellectually and emotionally, were ready for this unit — to think deeply about a rather abstract and global problem that will tangibly affect their future.”
Scientists in Ruby and Amber started their inquiries by exploring articles and graphs to understand the current data on climate change. Ms. Winchester explained that “this might have been the most challenging part of the unit because we were wrapping our brains around some of the implications and talking about the recent COP26 conference as well… At first, I just wanted to open up the conversation and be there for them to answer as many questions as possible and seek out answers to those I could not. I also wanted to leave space to address what they find scary and overwhelming.”
A way to cope with climate anxiety, teachers hoped, might be to turn our attention toward responses and solutions. All bands conducted climate summits based on COP26 and Model UN. In these conference simulations, learners played the roles of various stakeholders in the global conversation about climate change. In planning the structure of the summits for Ruby and Amber Bands, Ms. Winchester adapted ideas from Argument-Driven Inquiry for Earth Science, which led her to the En-Roads simulation, an online tool from MIT Management that allows users to manipulate various factors such as de- and af-forestation, carbon prices, energy efficiency, and use of various energy sources to project the collective impact on planetary warming in a given time range.
As Ms. Winchester explained, “The reality is so complex… [learners took on] group roles such as conventional energy, climate hawks, emerging nations, and developed nations. They received briefings that gave them a complex overview of what their group's primary opinions were in regard to climate change, but ultimately, the actions were up to them. Even attempting to work collaboratively, it is challenging to accomplish the goal of limiting warming to less than two degrees Celsius by 2100; however, the exercise is highly informative about the actions which have the greatest potential effect.”
Scientists in all four bands also spent time in Pease Park, where Ruby and Amber learners investigated the effect of lichens on air quality. Emerald and Sapphire learners recorded phenological data from the park’s trees as citizen scientists to contribute, potentially, to a long-term understanding of the ways that climate change may affect the trees’ seasonal cycles. Mr. Cooley explained that “I wanted to give them a chance to ‘touch’ this issue… in a way that was almost the opposite [of the macro level approach] from the climate conferences.”
In literacy block, writers and readers addressed climate change in other ways. Teams of researchers from Sapphire Band looked into extreme weather and informed small groups of visiting Amber Band learners about their findings. In Ruby Band, learners researched a set of controversial questions connected to climate change. As they delved into the finer points of arguments around nuclear energy, geoengineering, environmental migration, and how to allocate funds for adaptation and mitigation, they strove to practice “ethical research” – the attempt to read for a broad understanding of an issue, rather than looking for support for one side. Later, they broke into teams and meticulously plotted out opposing arguments, culminating in a series of spirited debates that emphasized arguing to learn, rather than to win.
Amid all this work at school, a special guest speaker demonstrated how our study of climate change might translate in a professional context. Ellu Nasser, a consultant with the Environmental Defense Fund and a Long-View parent, discussed her work on climate resiliency in a school-wide Campfire talk. Learners thought about how they might take their efforts beyond school, too: members of the newly minted Climate + Earth Club have started drafting letters to lawmakers in support of various environmental objectives, and have sought Ms. Nasser’s input in the process. Another group of learners turned their investigation of science denial in the context of climate change into a podcast that they’re preparing to submit to NPR’s 2022 Student Podcast Challenge.
As Ruby Band’s climate summit ended one afternoon in early March, a huge cheer resounded through Long-View — literally audible in every room upstairs — as the groups successfully collaborated in using the En-Roads simulator to get the projection of warming by 2100 down to 2 degrees Celsius. This joyful moment exemplified how empowering it can be for young people to know that there are realistic steps that humanity could take to mitigate climate change – and that they, as young citizens, can envision being a part of the conversation and part of the solution.
