By: Lisa Wise, NH Sea Grant Extension
Earlier this year, the Climate in the Classroom program moved inland for the first time! Over 25 sixth-grade students at Sunapee Middle-High School learned about climate change in a variety of classes. Their science teacher, Sharon Parsons, spearheaded the program after attending the Climate in the Classroom Teacher Training last summer, and she got other teachers on board, too, including art, english, social studies, and media.
The students chose one of the eight climate questions at the core of the Climate in the Classroom curriculum to investigate further. They created posters and newscast videos based on their research. They also worked with the social studies teacher to create a wall-sized map showing the locations of different types of storms around the world and investigated how the intensity and frequency of storms has changed over time. The students worked in their art class to draw something that represents climate change on puzzle pieces created by the school’s shop class.
On top of these projects, the students designed resilient and sustainable buildings and developed complementary writing pieces working with their English teacher. They also completed the storm preparedness questionnaire activity, interviewing a family member about storm experiences and preparedness actions, and then developed graphs based on the results. Lastly, the English teacher worked with the students to prepare a Climate Cafe discussion at the culminating community event.
About a hundred people attended the community event and learned from the students. Attendees heard the students’ climate poster presentations and then viewed the other projects – resilient buildings, newscasts, and puzzle pieces – and had the opportunity to participate in climate cafe discussions facilitated by the students.
These teachers and students really went above and beyond with their climate learning! We are so impressed with how they implemented the Climate in the Classroom program and think they set a great example of how climate can be integrated in multiple disciplines. Thank you, Sunapee sixth-graders, for helping your community learn about climate change!
Photo credit: Sharon Parsons
The Climate in the Classroom program is coordinated by UNH Extension and NH Sea Grant. The development of the curriculum was funded in part by NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management under the Coastal Zone Management Act in conjunction with the NH Department of Environmental Services Coastal Program.
Questions? Contact Lisa Wise, Lisa.Wise@unh.edu, 603-862-2356.