What Teachers Want to Know About Teaching Climate Change

Bertha Vazquez is a retired science teacher who taught middle school for 34 years in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. She is the education director at The Center for Inquiry, an international nonprofit organization that promotes reason and science. She runs a teacher-led network of more than 100 teachers who have presented more than 400 professional development sessions for their fellow teachers in all 50 U.S. states. Her multi-faceted approach to teaching climate science has been featured in the New York Times, NPR, Earth magazine, and in a book and film series by Lynne Cherry titled, Empowering Young Voices for the Planet. Her efforts awarded her the 2008 National Environmental Education Charles C Bartlett Award, among others. She is the editor and contributing author of the book, On Teaching Evolution, published in 2021. She has also worked on several translation projects, including the translation of Maria Jinich’s book into English, A Brief History of Four Billion Years of Evolution: Understanding Darwin. She is a regular speaker at skeptical and humanist conferences, and is a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Kimi Waite is an Assistant Professor of Child and Family Studies at California State University, Los Angeles. A former elementary school teacher in South Los Angeles and a STEM curriculum specialist in Compton, she has received both national and state recognition for her leadership in environmental education, social studies, and climate change education. She is an early career fellow with the UCLA Center for Diverse Leadership in Science; the 2021 California Council for the Social Studies Outstanding Elementary Social Studies Teacher of the Year; a 2021 Public Voices Fellow on the Climate Crisis with the OpEd Project and the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication; and a 2019 Environmental Education 30 Under 30, awarded by the North American Association for Environmental Education. Since 2019, she has been a steering committee member for California’s statewide climate change initiative, the Environmental and Climate Change Literacy Projects (ECCLPS). Her work has been published by outlets such as PBS, The Boston Globe, Grist, Ms. Magazine, The Progressive Magazine, The Journal of Curriculum & Pedagogy, and more. Lauren Madden is a Professor of Elementary Science Education at The College of New Jersey. She holds a BA in Earth Sciences-Oceanography, MS in Marine Science and PhD in Science Education. In recent years, her work has focused directly on K-5 climate change education, and she was the lead author on the New Jersey School Boards’ Association & Sustainable Jersey For Schools’ Report on K-12 Climate Change Education Needs in New Jersey. Her work advocates for scientific literacy and the health of our planet through teaching and learning. Her research has been supported by grants from the New Jersey SeaGrant Consortium, National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She has written a textbook on Elementary Science Teaching Methods along with more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. Her expertise has been cited widely in media venues including the New York Times, Washington Post, and PBS Weekend News Hour. She was named the 2021 Outstanding Science Teacher Educator of the Year by the Association for Science Teacher Education and served as the inaugural iCAN STEM Role Model Award by the New Jersey STEM Pathways Network. 

Preface: Why Students Need You to Teach Climate Change, Now More Than Ever
Part I: What Do I Need to Know to Get Started Teaching Climate Change?
Chapter 1: The Foundations of Teaching Climate Change
Chapter 2: Debunking Ten Misconceptions about Climate Change
Part II: How Do I Overcome the Biggest Obstacles to Teaching Climate Change
Chapter 3: The Importance of Data Literacy in Climate Change Education
Chapter 4: Navigating the Politics of Climate Change
Part III: How Do I Avoid Anxiety and Encourage Healthy Engagement in My Students?
Chapter 5: Climate Injustice and the New Narrative of Activism
Chapter 6: Tackling Climate Anxiety by Promoting Student Agency
Part IV: How Do I Integrate Climate Change Education Into My School and My Curriculum?
Chapter 7: Connecting Climate Change to National Teaching and Learning Standards
Chapter 8: Learning from The New Jersey Experience
Appendix 1: Finding Free Curriculum