Educators Handbook
At Inconvenient Youth, our goal is to empower young people to be
environmental leaders. We look forward to working with teachers and
schools to help make this happen. The IY Educators' Handbook is
designed to help you, as a teacher, get involved with your students
environmental activism.
Contents:
- Climate Project Presentation
- Inconvenient Ideas
- School Clubs
- Classroom Resources
- Service Learning Resources
If you have any questions, email us at
icy@theclimateproject.org
Climate Project Presentation:
Inconvenient Youth is an initiative of The
Climate Project (TCP), Al Gore's climate
change leadership program. TCP's
mission is to educate the public about
the harmful effects of climate change
and to work towards solutions at the
grassroots level worldwide. To this end,
The Climate Project has over 3,000
volunteers, all of whom have been personally trained by Mr. Gore to
give an update version of the slide show featured in the Academy
Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. These
presentations are customized to best fit their audience and frequently
updated to include the latest science. They are available, free of
charge, to any size group or organization, including schools.
Presentations can be scheduled through The Climate Project's website
here (link). After requesting, a TCP representative will contact you.
Presentations are a great way to:
- educate the student body on the climate crisis
- raise interest and awareness
- start a new teaching unit
- kick off a new school green club
- allow a green club to organize an important school event
- address a current issue that matters to your students
- educate your fellow teachers and staff
Inconvenient Ideas:
At www.inconvenientyouth.org youth members can share two things,
Actions and Ideas. Actions are the everyday things that teens do by
making environmentally friendly choices, like recycling, walking
somewhere instead driving, buying products
made from recycled
materials, etc.
Ideas, on the other hand, are the big
changes that make communities greener,
healthier places to live. Ideas are something
that teens can devise, but can't make
happen on their own. So, each month,
starting in March 2010, our members will be
able to find ideas they like, and tell us
they're a good idea by clicking the "like"
button next to them. Their votes, combined with a variety of factors,
determines which idea will win our full support to make it a reality.
There are a number of requirements to submit an Idea (link to the
idea submission for), and that's where you come in.
Because each Idea submitted to Inconvenient Youth has the possibility
of winning our support, we require all of them to have a sponsoring
adult. This person would be responsible for:
- seeing the project through
- being responsible for all resources and donations
- supervising, coordinating and managing student work
- communicating and working with Inconvenient Youth staff
Like you, we know your students can accomplish amazing things. We
want to give them the chance to do it, and see how they change the
world. Being a project supervisor is a great way to help their big ideas
become a reality.
School Clubs:
School green clubs or environmental clubs are a
great way for students to become more active in
their local community's environmental issues, and
an excellent way for you, as a teacher, to get
involved! Some of the advantages of
environmental or green clubs in schools:
- School environmental clubs are Engaging: they take place in a
familiar setting, the school, and allow students to do something they
care about while interacting with their friends.
- School green clubs are Accessible: they make activism much more
attainable for students in several ways. They provide information on
issues and how students can work to help solve them. They also offer
teens a group of supportive peers, working together toward common
goals. Additionally, green clubs give students the resources they need
to participate in environmental activism, i.e. transportation to offcampus projects, tools and training, information on needs in the local
community etc.
- Environmental school clubs are Empowering: by allowing students
to work for a cause they are passionate about and achieve real results
in their school and community, green clubs give students a sense of
ownership, pride, and membership in their local community and
school.
Usually, school environmental clubs require faculty sponsors or
advisers. Their responsibilities may include attending and moderating
meetings, participating in events, managing student volunteers,
driving school vehicles etc. Perhaps your school already has this kind
of club, or maybe you are thinking about founding one. Either way,
getting involved in these organizations is a great way to empower your
students and help them become climate change activists.
Classroom Resources:
The National Wildlife Foundation's Climate Classroom
has resources for elementary, middle and high school
teachers. The high school curriculum uses the
documentary An Inconvenient Truth as its center piece. It includes approximately
14-19 hours of detailed lesson plans that cover the science of global warming,
potential solutions and how teens can be active. The website also includes examples
of teen activism, informational resources on climate change, and activities.
- NWF's Climate Classroom: http://www.nwf.org/climateclassroom/
The Keystone Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to tackling
environmental, energy and public health issues. In conjunction with the Department
of Energy and the National Energy Technology Laboratory, they have created a 23
lesson curriculum, entitled Climate Status Investigations, designed to teach middle
and high school students about climate change from an interdisciplinary perspective.
They also provide a library of additional resources.
- Keystone Center Climate Change Curriculum Resources (climate status
investigations CSI): http://www.keystonecurriculum.org/index.html
The Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) is a national non-profit whose mission is to
educate America's high school students and climate change and inspire them to do
something about it. ACE's teacher resources page contains a detailed collection of
online resources, including information on the science of climate change, curricula
and lesson plans. It also has information on the presentations ACE gives to high
schools and lists environmental and teaching related conferences.
- ACE's teacher resources: http://www.acespace.org/teachers/resources
NOW is an Emmy award winning newsmagazine that covers current issues using
documentary, interviews and commentary and is aired weekly on PBS. NOW's Global
Warming lesson plan is a five part lesson, complete with a list of educational
standards met, references, activities and objectives. The website also includes video
and literature that can be used to compliment lessons.
- PBS NOW - lesson plans for Global Warming:
http://www.pbs.org/now/classroom/globalwarming.html
The World Wildlife Foundation has created a 15 lesson climate change curriculum
designed for high school students. The lessons include handouts, reading, a glossary
of terms and additional resources for ongoing discussion.
- WWF 15 Lesson block on climate change:
http://www.worldwildlife.org/climate/curriculum/item5944.html
The No Impact Project is an environmental and educational non-profit organization
founded by the author of the book, movie and blog No Impact Man. The project's
goal is to inspire people to lower their impact on the environment and provide them
with the educational resources they need to do so. YES! Magazine recommends their
curriculum, designed for grades 6-12, for use in classrooms
(http://www.yesmagazine.org/for-teachers/curriculum/yes-recommends-no-impactman). The curriculum includes five lessons, each focusing on a different aspect of our
environmental impact.
- No Impact Project's Environmental Education Curriculum:
http://noimpactproject.org/educators-middle-high-school-environment-curriculumhtml/
Service Learning Resources:
Built and operated by Learn and Serve America, servicelearning.org is a
comprehensive service-learning resource. It includes the history and principles of
service-learning, best practices, lesson plans, project ideas, and an extensive library
of resources for teachers and students.
- National Service-Learning Clearinghouse: http://www.servicelearning.org/
The National Service Learning Clearinghouse's section dedicated to incorporating the
environment into service learning, both in and out of the classroom. The resources it
contains provide ideas for environmental projects including service learning syllabi,
lesson plans, curriculum ideas and best practices.
- NSL Clearinghouse Environment:
http://www.servicelearning.org/topic/environment
The National Service Learning Clearinghouse's section for energy, and how to cover
energy-related topics through service learning. Includes syllabi, lesson plans,
curriculum ideas and best practices.
- NSL Clearinghouse Energy:
http://www.servicelearning.org/topic/energy_and_climate_change
Project Learning Tree is an award winning national environmental education
program. GreenWorks! is their service learning, community action initiative.
GreenWorks! is a grant program that has distributed over $700,000 to environmental
projects in communities around the US. The link below contains information on grant
guidelines and how to apply.
- Project Learning Tree Green Works!:
http://www.plt.org/cms/pages/21_22_18.html
Learn and Serve America is a program of the Corporation for National and
Community Service, an independent federal agency created to help Americans of all
ages connect with, and give back to, their communities. Learn and Serve America
provides direct and indirect support to K-12 schools around the country by providing
grant support for school-community partnerships, providing training and technical
assistance to students and educators, and collecting and disseminating research,
effective practices, curricula and program models.
- Learn and Serve America: http://www.learnandserve.gov/
If you have any questions, email us at icy@theclimateproject.org