A Toolkit for Formal and Informal Educators
The new kit is designed for classroom teachers and informal educators in parks, refuges, forest lands, nature centers, zoos, aquariums, science centers, etc., and is aimed at the middle school grade level. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with six other federal agencies (National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, USDA/Forest Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Land Management), developed the kit to aid educators in teaching how climate change is affecting our nation’s wildlife and public lands, and how everyone can become “climate stewards.”
One of highlights of the toolkit is a 12-minute video.
Background:
The original Climate Change, Wildlife and Wildlands Toolkit for Teachers and Interpreters, created in 2001 by EPA in partnership with NPS and U.S. FWS was extremely popular. This original version contained four case studies in four regions, a ten minute video, an educational wheel card, trail cards, classroom activities, and other hands-on materials and was based on science from the late 1990s and early 2000-2001.
In 2007 EPA determined that the kit needed to be revised to provide materials grounded in the most recently available climate science reports (IPCC 2007, CCSP, and recent research by federal agencies) and impacts to wildlife and their habitats in specific eco-regions of the U.S. The new updated and expanded toolkit features:
- Environmentally/user-friendly packaging (DVD)
- An easy to understand overview of climate change science in question/answer format
- A glossary of climate change terms to build vocabulary
- Case studies of 11 eco-regions in the U.S., highlighting regional impacts to habitats and wildlife, and information on what kids can do to help
- A 12-minute, high-definition video on climate science, impacts on, and solutions for wildlife and wild lands; segmented for ease of use in any setting
- Classroom activities keyed to national science standards, developed by participants in the 2008 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program
- Additional updated materials and hands-on activities from EPA’s popular climate change education resources library
- Links to a wide variety of educational resources developed by all seven federal agencies for use in formal and informal settings
- Up-to-the-minute graphics developed by federal agencies at the forefront of the climate change issue
The new case studies and activities have been reviewed by scientists and educators in all seven agencies involved in the creation of the kit. The collaboration of the seven federal agencies and bureaus working together to develop an educational kit on climate change is unprecedented. The results of the effort are of the highest quality in the areas of climate science, environmental education, and stewardship information. On behalf of all the agencies involved in the creation of the Climate Change, Wildlife and Wildlands Toolkit for Formal and Informal Educators, we invite you to use the information and lessons contained in it to educate, inspire, and engage students everywhere to become stewards of our nation’s wildlife and the habitats on which they depend!
References
- IPCC, 2007: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis.
Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning (eds.)].
- IPCC, 2007: Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability.
- U.S. Climate Change Science Program
Link source: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/CCWKit.html
