Maps101 Looks at Climate Change

Dear Educators,

A look at the news of late includes stories from all over the United States that feature extreme weather events such as hurricanes, wildfires, heatwaves, floods, and droughts. Different regions face different climate crises. Experts warn that these extreme events are more likely to occur and will be more and more severe.

James Elliot, a professor of sociology at Rice University told CNN, "If you look at disasters across the country over recent decades, there's almost always stuff going on simultaneously, but what's changed is the intensity of impact, in part due to climate change but also due to increased development in harm's way. So the way to improve is to think about long-term solutions to these long-term problems."

Climate change and its effects are issues we face today. They are also problems our students will need to grapple with as they come of age and enter adulthood. We must inform students of the issues across the country and the world. Understanding the causes of climate change and our role in these causes is vital to finding solutions. If we cannot provide viable, implementable solutions ourselves at this time, we need to give them the educational tools necessary to continue this work. 

At Maps101, we have a wide variety of content to educate your students on climate change. We even have a curated collection devoted to the topic. Discussing climate change is appropriate in social studies classrooms but also in science and English language arts. It is the ideal multicurricular topic. Beyond that, it is vital for our students to understand, as they prepare for their roles in the 21^st century.

Maps101 contains numerous curated collections on important topics, including Women’s History month, Black History month, and climate change. In the climate change collection, we focus our attention on Earth and the challenges our planet faces due to changes in the climate. While we have touched on a few of the resources that are available, this collection delves even further into the topic. Current GNN articles include “COVID-19’s Impact on the Environment” and “Climate Feedback Loops.” The Energy Consumption Field Trip explores this aspect of the issue since humans' need for energy has largely contributed to the problem. Students can also read about Greta Thunberg, the young climate activist who posed hard questions to the world and showed how younger people can be equipped to bring about change. 

Defending Point of View Assign students to read the GNN article “Two Viewpoints: The Paris Climate Agreement.” Ask students to vote which position they agree with more. Then, divide the class into two teams to hold a debate. Assign one team the pro-agreement position and the other team the con-agreement point of view. Encourage students to research their position beforehand. Conduct an in-class debate. After the debate, hold a new vote. Did the debate change students’ points of view? Ask for volunteers to explain.

Researching Refer to the Climate Change Field Trip and assign one of the slides in the bottom channel to each student to conduct further research on that topic. They should create a short slideshow with graphics or images and text that illustrates what more they have learned. Hold a Climate Day Seminar and share the slideshows with the audience. Which topics do students think are most vital to address first? How would they go about creating changes that would benefit Earth?