In a controversial move, President Donald Trump announced earlier this month that the U.S. will pull out from the Paris Climate Accord — a pact with nearly 200 nations that outlines steps to diminish the effects of climate change.
Climate change is adjustments in the Earth’s weather and climate patterns, including the accelerated increase in the planet’s overall average temperature, that scientists have observed for more than a hundred years, says David Evans, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association, a professional group for science educators.
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While leaders worldwide determine how to address climate change, high school teachers in the U.S. face a number of challenges, included those noted below, when covering the topic.
1. Individual states have varying requirements. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have adopted the Next Generation Science Standards, which outline what scientific concepts, including climate change, students need to learn, Evans says. NSTA was involved in helping develop these standards.
Other states have adopted standards similar in format, but Evans says the scientific content, including climate science, varies from state to state.
“It’s hard to generalize because in a lot of states there’s a lot of flexibility given to individual schools and districts about exactly what the content will be that they teach,” he says.
2. High school science teachers may need to expand their knowledge. A new survey from the University of Missouri found that many of the secondary school science teachers who participated hold misconceptions of climate change. A 2016 survey of middle and high school science teachers discovered similar climate change confusion among respondents.
Teachers may need more preparation to cover climate change, Evans says. That’s not surprising, since most science teachers are in their early 40s and received their college education when climate change courses were not readily available, he says.
Cheryl Manning, a science teacher at Evergreen High School in Colorado, agrees there’s a lack of climate change coursework in teacher preparation available at the university level. This content is not simple to master either, she says.
Teachers can take advantage of online resources, though — including those from NSTA, NASA and the Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network — to help them get up to speed.
3. High school teachers may face students skepticism. “Climate change is controversial — not because the science is controversial but because, like some other issues, people don’t like the conclusion,” says Evans.
Students are super sensitive about how their belief system interacts with the science, adds Manning. “There’s a lot of skepticism around the validity of the science, because it’s been so politicized,” she says.
Evans recommends teachers focus on the science. Students should be able to understand the evidence and the nature of the changing climate system, so they will be better informed to help make decisions about what should be done, he says.
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Manning tries to address student pushback in class by waiting until May to address climate science. That way she can help students build a solid foundation in necessary topics they need to understand climate change. She’s also honest about what is known and unknown on the topic and tries to address controversies surrounding climate change head on.
Teachers should teach climate change as they do any other controversial subject — leave out emotions and keep the lesson rational, she says. She also says that, while teachers should answer all questions, they shouldn’t flub an answer to one if they don’t know how to address the issue. She recommends they do the research and show students how to find the answer.
“We do need to know our stuff,” she says. She adds that learning this active area of scientific research takes time.
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3 Climate Change Challenges for Science Teachers originally appeared on usnews.com
