Giving Compass' Take:

• Educators are proposing interdisciplinary curricula that incorporates climate science in non-science classes to underscore the relationships between climate change, science, and social justice. 

• How can more schools utilize sustainability curricula? Why is it important for children to make these kinds of connections between climate change and other societal issues? 

• Learn more about supporting educators who are teaching climate change.

Since lessons on climate change are lacking even within science classes for many schools in the U.S., incorporating climate change into other subjects, like history, economics, and civics, might seem like a lower priority. Education advocates and teachers, like Lin Andrews, the director of teacher support at the National Center for Science Education, and Nancy Metzger-Carter, a sustainability curriculum coordinator for a California high school, however, say there’s a missed opportunity in not incorporating climate change into non-science-related classes— whether they're in-person classes or being taught online during the pandemic and beyond.

With the science behind human-driven climate change long agreed upon by the international science community, educators like Metzger-Carter think that schools have to drastically expand the reach of their climate curricula in order to properly equip a new generation of students with the tools to understand our rapidly warming world. But without a unified curriculum that incorporates climate science into non-science classes (or climate science into science classes, for that matter), individual teachers are often left to find their own methods of effectively doing so. Here's what's been working for some of them.

Climate activists have long advocated for the recognition of social justice issues alongside calls to preserve our planet’s natural environment. As the climate crisis worsens, and as the window for curbing its most drastic impacts tightens, these calls have only grown more acute and widespread, with prominent politicians, including Joe Biden, acknowledging the link between environmental degradation and calls for social justice.

At schools, Metzger-Carter says there are unique opportunities to clearly illustrate important tenets of climate justice by presenting climate science in non-science classes. In interdisciplinary classes, where students can make connections between different academic fields, teachers can paint a more complete picture of the causes, contributors, and solutions to the climate crisis.

Read the full article about teaching climate science by Natasha Pinon at Mashable.