Climate Project: A new path forward in climate education

Climate Project: A new path forward in climate education

By the OER Project Team

Climate change will affect every part of our lives, from health care and food systems to business and governance. An understanding of climate change and how we can respond to it is critical knowledge for the next generation of experts, leaders, workers, and citizens.

Today’s students are the climate advocates we’ll rely on tomorrow. Students deserve the chance to interrogate information—free of fear and bias—to understand how to reduce impacts, build resilience, and contribute to a zero-carbon future. Integrating the knowledge of causes, impacts, and solutions into the classroom will prepare students to take on the challenges climate change presents, and will enable them to start envisioning their own role in shaping our future.

What is Climate Project?

Climate Project is a course focused on solutions—the ones we have and the ones we still need. Students will learn about the many solutions available to us and evaluate their relative impact on solving our problems. Climate Project is a student-centered and research-based curriculum. This course aims to support an entire generation of impatient optimists with the skills, motivation, and insights they'll need to make a difference on their terms.

We listened to teacher feedback and used it to iterate and improve on the Climate Project—Extension course. Our new course offers a flexible approach, which allows you to teach climate change as a standalone semester course or by integrating individual lessons into your current curriculum, depending on your objectives, time, and student preferences. Don’t have specific climate-change standards in your state? Climate Project course materials support a variety of existing content standards, from science to social studies and civics.

The Climate Project approach

As they progress through the course, students are equipped with the knowledge and skills to evaluate climate change and form their own conclusions regarding the evidence, impacts, and best paths forward. As in all OER Project courses, literacy skills are foundational to our approach. In Climate Project, we also build the key skills to understanding climate change—data, climate, and digital literacies—as students engage with and learn to navigate complex and constantly changing information. Climate Project articles, videos, activities, and infographics are designed to support student research with timely, clear-eyed perspectives that maximize engagement.

A selection of Climate Project course materials

Climate Project also offers students the opportunity to translate information into action. Teachers can choose from a range of culminating projects, from climate-focused career exploration to policy advocacy and community civic action. These projects allow students to see how their interests and skills fit into the puzzle of confronting climate change, and empower them to take meaningful action in their own communities now as well as envision future contributions.

Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges humanity faces, and we know that students—and the educators who guide them—are critical in taking this monumental journey. We’re excited for you to join us! Check out Climate Project, and then head over to our OER Project Teacher Community to ask questions, collaborate with others, and learn more.

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