Teaching for Climate Justice

I strive to teach my students to love the earth and understand how their actions can effect our only home. I hope to give them the tools to analyze data and assess claims for validity so that they can understand the science behind climate justice. By teaching students scientific thinking and how to make claims with evidence to back them up, students are empowered to educate themselves and draw accurate conclusions.

None of my lessons are exclusively on climate change, but the narrative is woven into my teaching through my language, actions, and learning targets. Through my work as an educator, I hope to help students understand their ability to make an impact on the environment.

One example of a lesson where I weave in climate change and climate justice is a water filter engineering project. Students are tasked with filtering a pitcher of very dirty water. I start the lesson by asking them what kinds of pollutants might we find in a creek and as they begin naming them off, I add pseudo pollutants one by one to clean water. I might drop in food dye for chemicals, mud for manure, bits of our lunch leftovers for litter, and any other trash I actually find around us. They gasp with each addition, disgusted by the color of the water as I stir in each pollutant representative. I ask them if they would want water like this poured into our creeks, lakes, or oceans and I am always met with a resounding "NO."

Once they are drawn in by this problem, I hand them the reins to fix it. Each group of 3 or 4 students receives a set of materials (yogurt cups, film canisters, sponge pieces, marbles, PVC pipe, and anything else I could find in the prep room). Their task is to design a water filter that will get the most pollutants out of the water. They must first draw a design in their notebooks, labeling each part and function. I push back on their competitive instincts to "win" and ask each group to present their design to the class. In response to their dismay, I explain how scientists and engineers always work on teams and the best ideas and inventions come from collaboration and sharing.

After much anticipation, the students get to collect their materials and build a water filter based on their designs. Before I pour the water through, I check with each group to ensure that they stuck to their design. If they did not, I make sure that they recorded what changed and why. After the first round, often riddled with disappointment when the water still comes out a murky brown, they forge ahead to a second round of designing and building. The students always learn from their first build and from the other team's projects around them.

While this is a lesson in the iterative process of engineering, my debrief questions move beyond the math and science of their failures and successes in building a water filter. Instead, we talk about the hardships of working as a team. I ask them tough questions like, "how did you overcome disagreements in your design?" and "how did you divide up the work so that everyone felt included and valued?" They do not even realize they just received a lesson in leadership, collaboration, and equity, but their answers speak to how they grew as team players.

When I ask them if they think engineers and scientists are important in understanding climate change, I always hear a resounding "yes". The lesson leads them there with no effort from me. They conceptualize how scientists and engineers work together to solve problems and provide information about the planet that we love. They know that our actions have consequences and they have the power to speak up for the environment - and one day even work on one of those teams to save it.