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Teaching Ideas

Resources for Teaching About Climate Change With The New York Times

Dozens of resources to help students understand why our planet is warming and what we can do to stop it.

By The Learning Network

How much do your students know about climate change — what causes it, what its consequences are and what we can do to stop it?

A 2022 report from the United Nations found that countries around the world are failing to live up to their commitments to fight climate change, pointing Earth toward a future marked by more intense flooding, wildfires, drought, heat waves and species extinction.

Young people in particular are feeling the effects — both physical and emotional — of a warming planet. In response to a writing prompt about extreme weather that has been intensified by climate change, teenagers told us about experiencing deadly heat waves in Washington, devastating hurricanes in North Carolina and even smoke from the California wildfires in Vermont. They’re also feeling the anxiety of facing a future that could be even worse: “How long do I have before the Earth becomes uninhabitable? I ask myself this every day,” one student wrote .

Over the years, we’ve created dozens of resources to help young people learn about climate change with New York Times articles, interactive quizzes, graphs, films and more. To mark this moment, we’re collecting 60 of them, along with selected recent Times reporting and Opinion pieces on the topic, all in one place.

To get you started, we’ve highlighted several of those resources and offered ideas for how you can use them in your classroom. Whether it’s a short video about a teenage climate activist, a math problem about electric vehicles, or a writing prompt about their diet’s carbon footprint, we hope these activities can get your students thinking and talking about climate change and inspire them to make a difference.

How are you teaching about the climate crisis, its consequences and its solutions? Let us know in the comments.

Ideas for Teaching About Climate Change With The New York Times

1. Understand climate change (and what we can do about it) with a digital children’s book.

The Times has published thousands of stories on climate change over the years, but many of them can be dense and difficult for young people to understand. Use this guide for kids to help your students learn the basics of the climate crisis and understand what choices can lead us to a bad future or a better future. We have a related lesson plan to help.

2. Assess climate choices with an interactive quiz.

What do your students know — or think they know — about the best ways to reduce their carbon footprints? In two Student Opinion prompts, we invite teenagers to test their knowledge with a mini-quiz about good climate choices or one about how much their diets contribute to climate change , and then share their results and reflections on what they learned.

3. Analyze climate change data with New York Times graphs.

Use our notice and wonder protocol to help students analyze graphs from The New York Times related to climate change. In 2019, we rounded up 24 graphs on topics such as melting ice, rising carbon emissions and global warming’s effect on humans. You can find our most recent graphs in our roundup below or by searching “climate change” in our What’s Going On in This Graph? archives.

Another option? Have students collect and analyze their own climate change data. See how a group of science and math teachers guided their classes to do just that in this Reader Idea .

4. Show a short film about the climate crisis’s impact on a vulnerable community.

Climate change will have a disproportionate effect on the world’s most vulnerable. What can we learn from them during the climate crisis? Invite students to watch the short film “ Rebuild or Leave ‘Paradise’: Climate Change Dilemma Facing a Nicaraguan Coastal Town ” about how intensifying storms are affecting the traditional way of life in the Miskito village of Haulover, and then participate in our Film Club .

If you want to explore this topic further, see our 2017 resource “ A Lesson Plan About Climate Change and the People Already Harmed by It .”

5. Use this lesson plan to explore ways to prevent the worst effects of climate change.

Every year, world leaders and activists meet to set new targets for cutting emissions to prevent the average global temperature from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, the threshold beyond which the dangers of global warming grow immensely. But what will it take to get there? In this lesson , students participate in a jigsaw activity to explore seven solutions to climate change, from renewable energy and electric vehicles to nature conservation, carbon capture and more.

6. Invite students to share their thoughts, opinions and concerns with writing prompts.

“How can you not be scared of climate change? Every time you see some news on the state of the planet, can you not feel grief? I know I do,” one student wrote in response to our writing prompt, “ Do You Experience Climate Anxiety? ”

What do your students have to say about climate change? They can weigh in on this question and others about banning plastic bags , the environmental impact of plane travel , whether we should be more optimistic about the planet’s future and more. Find them all in our list of writing prompts below.

7. Apply a math concept to a real-world climate problem: gas or electric cars?

In this lesson , use the familiar formula y=mx+b to help students think through the economic and environmental costs and benefits of electric vehicles. Does “going green” mean saving some “wallet green” too?

8. Learn about climate activism with a video.

What power do ordinary people around the world have to make a difference in the climate crisis? Invite students to watch this eight-minute Opinion video about the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg. Then, they can share what gives them hope in the fight against climate change in our related Film Club .

Students can learn more about Ms. Thunberg and her weekly climate protest in this lesson plan from 2019.

Resources for Teaching About Climate Change From The Learning Network and The New York Times

Here is a collection of selected Learning Network and New York Times resources for teaching and learning about climate change. From The Learning Network, there are lesson plans, writing prompts, films, graphs and more. And from NYTimes.com, there are related question and answer guides, as well as recent reporting and Opinion essays.

From The Learning Network

Lesson Plans

Lesson Plan: Using Statistics to Understand Extreme Heat (2022)

Lesson Plan: The Mississippi Water Crisis and What It Means for the Rest of the Nation (2022)

Lesson of the Day: ‘The Unlikely Ascent of New York’s Compost Champion’ (2022)

Lesson of the Day: ‘In the Ocean, It’s Snowing Microplastics’ (2022)

Lesson of the Day: ‘In Wisconsin: Stowing Mowers, Pleasing Bees’ (2022)

Lesson of the Day: ‘The People Who Draw Rocks’ (2022)

Lesson of the Day: ‘How Bad Is the Western Drought? Worst in 12 Centuries, Study Finds.’ (2022)

Lesson of the Day: ‘Meet Peat, the Unsung Hero of Carbon Capture’ (2022)

Lesson of the Day: ‘See How the Dixie Fire Created Its Own Weather’ (2021)

Lesson of the Day: ‘Bad Future, Better Future’ (2021)

Lesson of the Day: ‘Two Biden Priorities, Climate and Inequality, Meet on Black-Owned Farms’ (2021)

Gas or Electric? Thinking Algebraically About Car Costs, Emissions and Trade-offs (2021)

Lesson of the Day: ‘Where 2020’s Record Heat Was Felt the Most’ (2021)

Lesson of the Day: ‘50 Years of Earth Day: What’s Better Today, and What’s Worse’ (2020)

Lesson of the Day: ‘Why Does California Have So Many Wildfires?’ (2020)

Lesson of the Day: ‘Protesting Climate Change, Young People Take to Streets in a Global Strike’ (2019)

Lesson of the Day: ‘Becoming Greta: “Invisible Girl” to Global Climate Activist, With Bumps Along the Way’ (2019)

Lesson of the Day: ‘Glaciers Are Retreating. Millions Rely on Their Water.’ (2019)

Lesson of the Day: ‘Why the Wilder Storms? It’s a “Loaded Dice” Problem’ (2018)

Lesson of the Day: ‘Hotter, Drier, Hungrier: How Global Warming Punishes the World’s Poorest’ (2018)

Lesson of the Day: ‘The World Wants Air-Conditioning. That Could Warm the World.’ (2018)

A Lesson Plan About Climate Change and the People Already Harmed by It (2017)

Guest Post | Climate Change Questions for Young Citizen Scientists (2014)

Teaching About Climate Change With The New York Times (2014)

Writing Prompts

Should Students Learn About Climate Change in School? (2022)

How Far Is Too Far in the Fight Against Climate Change? (2022)

Should We Be More Optimistic About Efforts to Combat Climate Change? (2022)

Do You Experience Climate Anxiety? (2021)

How Have You Experienced Extreme Weather? (2021)

Do You Think You Make Good Climate Choices? (2021)

Should Plastic Bags Be Banned Everywhere? (2020)

Would You Change Your Eating Habits to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint? (2019)

Should We Feel Guilty When We Travel? (2019)

How Concerned Are You About Climate Change? (2018)

Should Schools Teach About Climate Change? (2018)

Film Club: ‘New Climate Promises, Same Old Global Warming’ (2022)

Film Club: ‘The Joy of Cooking (Insects)’ (2022)

Film Club: ‘Greta Thunberg Has Given Up on Politicians’ (2021)

Film Club: ‘Rebuild or Leave “Paradise”: Climate Change Dilemma Facing a Nicaraguan Coastal Town’ (2021)

Film Club: ‘“Goodbye, Earth”: A Story for Grown-Ups’ (2021)

Film Club: ‘Sinking Islands, Floating Nation’ (2018)

Teach About Climate Change With These 24 New York Times Graphs

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Calling for Climate Action

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Tree Rings and Climate

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Hotter Summers

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Endangered Biodiversity

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Extreme Temperatures

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Clean Energy Metals

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Global Carbon Emissions

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Wind and Solar Power

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Precipitation

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Gas-to-Electric Vehicle Turnover

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Growing Zones

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Global Climate Risks

What’s Going On in This Graph? | World Cities’ Air Pollution

What’s Going On in This Graph? | U.S. Air Pollution

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Climate Friendly Cars

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Climate Threats

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Global Temperature Change

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Global Water Stress Levels

What’s Going On in This Graph? | North American Bird Populations

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Dec. 11, 2019 (food and environment)

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Nov. 20, 2019 (greenhouse gas emissions)

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Oct. 9, 2019 (global temperatures)

What’s Going On in This Graph? | April 3, 2019 (first leaf appearance)

What’s Going On in This Graph? | March 13, 2019 (electricity generation)

Reader Idea: Interpreting Data to Understand Community Opinions on Climate Change

Vocabulary in Context: Mangrove Trees

Vocabulary in Context: Sustainable Architecture

On-Demand Panel for Students: Covering the Climate Crisis

From The New York Times

The Science of Climate Change Explained: Facts, Evidence and Proof (2021)

Searching for Hidden Meaning in Climate Jargon (2021)

A Crash Course on Climate Change, 50 Years After the First Earth Day (2020)

Your Questions About Food and Climate Change, Answered (2019)

Why Half a Degree of Global Warming Is a Big Deal (2018)

Climate Change Is Complex. We’ve Got Answers to Your Questions. (2017)

You Asked, Dr. Kate Marvel Answered. Browse Reader Questions on Climate Science.

Selected Recent Reporting

The New World: Envisioning Life After Climate Change (2022)

Beyond Catastrophe: A New Climate Reality Is Coming Into View (2022)

Ocean-Eaten Islands, Fire-Scarred Forests: Our Changing World in Pictures (2022)

Climate Pledges Are Falling Short, and a Chaotic Future Looks More Like Reality (2022)

U.N. Climate Talks End With a Deal to Pay Poor Nations for Damage (2022)

The World Is Falling Short of Its Climate Goals. Four Big Emitters Show Why. (2022)

Many States Omit Climate Education. These Teachers Are Trying to Slip It In. (2022)

Extreme Heat Will Change Us (2022)

To Fight Climate Change, Canada Turns to Indigenous People to Save Its Forests (2022)

The Unseen Toll of a Warming World (2022)

‘OK Doomer’ and the Climate Advocates Who Say It’s Not Too Late (2022)

6 Aspects of American Life Threatened by Climate Change (2021)

El Niño and La Niña, Explained (2021)

Wildfires Are Intensifying. Here’s Why, and What Can Be Done. (2021)

5 Things We Know About Climate Change and Hurricanes (2020)

Climate Change Is Scaring Kids. Here’s How to Talk to Them. (2019)

Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change (2018)

Selected Recent Opinion

We Need to Rethink How to Adapt to the Climate Crisis (2022)

We Are Wasting Time on These Climate Debates. The Next Steps Are Clear. (2022)

Postcards From a World on Fire (2021)

The Disaster We Must Think About Every Day (2021)

‘He Just Cried for a While.’ This Is My Reality of Parenting During a Climate Disaster. (2021)

This Is the World Being Left to Us by Adults (2021)

Finding the Will to Stave Off a Darker Future (2021)

How to Calm Your Climate Anxiety (2021)

What Western Society Can Learn From Indigenous Communities (2021)

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Climate Change Resources for Educators and Students

The earth’s climate is changing. While the planet’s climate has changed before, this time is different. People are causing these changes, which are bigger and happening faster than any climate changes that modern society has ever seen.

This page provides federal and non-governmental resources for  students and educators  to learn about and teach climate change.

On this page:

Federal Resources for Educators

Federal resources for students, other educational resources.

• Climate Change Indicators : This website describes observed changes in the environment, society, and ecosystems. An easy-to-understand, data-rich resource for teaching about causes and effects of climate change.
• Climate Change Science : Learn about the science of climate change with information on climate change basics and causes.
• Climate Change Impacts : Explore information on climate change impacts to communities, ecosystems, and industries in the United States.
• What You Can Do About Climate Change : Find and share strategies for taking individual climate action with students or peers.
• Generate!—Board Game on Climate Change : This interactive board game enables players to explore energy choices and the environment and gets students “energized” in some friendly competition.
• ENERGY STAR Kids : Find out why energy efficiency is so important to addressing climate change and what you can do to help.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): Climate Education This site is NOAA’s gateway to many of their educational pages for students and teachers on earth sciences, including climate change.

NOAA Climate.gov This site provides learning activities, curriculum materials, and multimedia resources for teaching about climate and energy.

NOAA: Data in the Classroom This site hosts curriculum modules that demonstrate techniques for using real climate change data in the classroom.

NOAA National Ocean Service Education Content and Modules This site provides students and educators with ocean, coastal, and climate literacy resources, including activities on ocean and climate literacy, sea level rise, and increasing your city’s resilience to climate change.

National Park Service Lesson Plans Search through lesson plans about America’s National Parks, including lessons about how they are being affected by climate change.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: Global Climate Change in Perspective Learn about global climate change now and across geologic time, and access related resources, including study guides and videos.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: Hot Potato: Climate Change, Food Systems, and You This site provides access to a museum-educator-led virtual program examining the relationship between climate and food systems, as well as other videos and resources related to climate change.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Find articles, videos, and resources about forests and climate change, including tips on using Forest Service research in the classroom.

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE): Resources for Educators A collection of resources in English and Spanish on energy efficiency and renewable energy, including videos, lesson plans, and coloring books.

Elementary to Middle School

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): Climate Kids Explore this interactive website with activities, articles, videos, and more about climate change, why it is happening, how it is impacting the earth, and how and why NASA studies the planet.

U.S. Energy Information Administration: Energy Kids Learn about different energy sources and get tips to save energy in your home. Then test your energy knowledge with fun games and quizzes.

Middle to High School

NASA: Eyes on the Earth With this app, monitor the earth’s vital signs, such as sea level height, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, and Antarctic ozone.

NASA: SciJinks Explore the world of weather through games, videos, downloadable posters, bookmarks, and more.

Content on non-Federal websites is not endorsed by EPA and is not subject to Federal information quality, privacy, security, and related guidelines.

American Museum of Natural History: OLogy Check out some of these games, stories, hands-on activities, and videos for learning about climate change.   Environmental Solutions Initiative at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (ESI at MIT): TILclimate Guides for Educators These “Today I Learned: Climate” guides comprise flexible, ready-to-use activities for high school teachers, designed to bring concepts from energy to hurricanes to food into the classroom. They are an extension of the TILclimate Podcast series and complement other learning resources on the MIT Climate Portal .   National Geographic Find lesson plans, articles, activities, and more for K-12 educators on earth science, climatology, conservation, and geography. Activities geared directly to students can be found at National Geographic Kids .  

• Climate Change Home
• What EPA Is Doing
• Partnership Programs
• What You Can Do

For Educators

The following organizations provide reviewed listings of the best available student and educators resources related to global climate change, including NASA products.

NASA's Climate Kids

NASA’s Climate Kids website brings climate science to life with fun games, interactive features and exciting articles.

Climate Change Lessons: JPL Education

This collection of climate change lessons and activities for grades K-12 is aligned with Next Generation Science and Common Core Math Standards and incorporates NASA missions and science along with current events and research.

NASA Wavelength

This reviewed collection of NASA Earth and space science resources is for educators of all levels: K-12, higher education and informal science education. Find climate resources in the collection at the following link, which can be filtered by audience, topic, instructional strategy and more.

NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies: STEM Educator Resources

This page contains high school and undergraduate instructional modules (PDFs and YouTube videos) developed as part of NASA GISS's Climate Change Research Initiative.

NOAA: Teaching Climate

This website contains reviewed resources for teaching about climate and energy.

Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network

The CLEAN project, a part of the National Science Digital Library, provides a reviewed collection of resources to aid students' understanding of the core ideas in climate and energy science, coupled with the tools to enable an online community to share and discuss teaching about climate and energy science.

Living Landscapes Climate Science Project

Funded by NASA, the Living Landscapes Climate Science Project is a comprehensive set of culture-based climate science educational resources for native communities. Learn more about NASA's role in developing the curriculum.

U.S. Department of Energy Education Resources

The D.O.E. provides a collection of energy fundamentals videos, K-12 education resources, Spanish content, and more.

Earth Science Week: Education Resources

Whether you’re an educator or a student, take advantage of a wealth of instructional and learning tools, from free online resources to posters, disks, and lesson plans.

Recent News & Features

Ask NASA Climate

images of change

10 videos to watch to discuss climate change with students

By Lauren McAlpine on February 1, 2021 in News + Updates , TED-Ed Innovative Educators

Shutterstock

TED-Ed Innovative Educator , Kim Preshoff, based in Williamsville, NY, has been an environmental teacher for over 30 years.

Here, Preshoff shares a list of TED-Ed Lessons and TED Talks to watch and discuss with students.

As an environmental educator for more than 30 years, I have had the unique perspective of watching the climate change issue evolve over time and see first-hand students that care about what is happening. They care about future generations and they want change. So, how can we help them? Climate change can be a daunting and sometimes scary topic to discuss. My consistent response: “Knowledge is power!” Only by providing students with the science of climate change, and perspectives about what is truly happening in areas across the world, can we empower them to make a difference. Climate change must become a daily topic of discussion in classrooms across the globe, and part of everyday conversations.

TED has created several unique and informative lessons on climate change that will provide students, educators, and parents with the science and background necessary to understand the true impact of this issue. I consider these five animations my must-watch list:

Climate change: Earth’s giant game of Tetris  - Joss Fong

Using the game Tetris as a comparison, this video is a terrific introduction to the carbon cycle, what can cause an imbalance in that cycle, and how that imbalance is affecting Earth’s climate. Can you define the greenhouse effect? You will after this lesson! It also covers the creation of fossil fuels, how they cause today’s imbalance in the carbon cycle, and the effect deforestation has on the carbon budget. This lesson is a fun and unique way to present the difficult topic of the carbon cycle.

Is the weather actually becoming more extreme? – R. Saravanan

Knowing the difference between weather and climate is a key point in the discussion of climate change issues.  Extreme weather events such as heat waves, wildfires and tropical cyclones have been increasing over the last 40 years. Could climate change be the culprit? Earth’s average temperature has increased nearly 1 degree C over the last 150 years– the end result is more energy in Earth’s atmosphere, and in turn more extreme weather events. Questions about climate versus weather? This lesson will clarify the differences.

Why the Arctic is climate change’s canary in the coal mine  - William Chapman

How can the Arctic be used as a predictor of climate change? The Arctic region is kept in balance with feedback loops– both positive and negative.  Positive loops amplify effects while negative loops stabilize effects. Studying these feedback loops in relation to cloud cover, melting sea ice, and reflectivity can help scientists predict the effects of climate change. The Arctic is the most often talked about region in regard to climate change– this lesson will provide the background information needed to understand why.

Underwater farms vs. Climate change – Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Megan Davis

What exactly is aquaculture? Can aquaculture help fight climate change? Is there a sustainable way to farm the ocean? Aquaculture, while providing food for people, can have some negative repercussions. The answer: restorative ocean farming. A sustainable underwater farm can feed people a more healthy diet, provide jobs, and, at the same time, sequester carbon from the atmosphere. When students are looking for potential solutions to climate change– use this lesson as an example.

Can wildlife adapt to climate change? – Erin Eastwood

How resilient is nature in adapting to climate change? Scientists have seen changes in organisms, but many of these changes are not heritable. Approximately 20 different species have evolved adaptations to climate change. While this might seem like good news, humans will have to play a role in maintaining biodiversity, and helping species to continue to thrive in this changing environment. This lesson may provide a bit of hope about animals versus climate change.

In addition to these lessons, TED’s new initiative COUNTDOWN , has amplified TED Talks that provide great perspectives on issues around the world that people are facing everyday. Remember, with climate change problems, there are also climate change solutions. Through learning new perspectives, we can truly understand what other communities are going through and make changes that positively impact every person on this planet. Here are the TED Talks on my must-watch list:

10 years to transform the future of humanity or destabilize the planet  - Johan Rockstrom

Has the Earth reached its climate change tipping point that could potentially make earth uninhabitable for future generations? Evidence is pointing to yes; we have begun to potentially destabilize Earth as we know it, yet we have failed to mitigate climate change. Rising sea levels, permafrost belching methane, and interwoven systems may be the downfall of Earth’s stability. Want solutions? Stewardship, science, a view of Earth as a global commons, and a willingness to change. This TED Talk will provide you with a solid foundation about what is happening in regard to climate change.

Cities are driving climate change.  Here’s how they can fix it  - Angel Hsu

Urban areas contain the majority of people on Earth, and these cities have a great impact on climate change. They can decrease our carbon footprint or they can be urban heat islands. One solution is equity in greenspace for all residents of all economic levels and races. This talk provides perspective about the unique issues encountered by people living in large urban areas, and ways they can mitigate the effects of climate change.

Climate justice cannot happen without racial justice  - David Lammy

When struggling with racial injustices, climate change gets put on the back-burner. But racial and climate injustices must be addressed together. Who is most likely to breathe in polluted air, live in an area suffering from extreme heat, or have homes surrounded by fewer trees? People of color who make up a greater percentage of our low economic communities. Often, individuals and countries that are most vulnerable to climate change are  those who contribute the least to the issue. Only by bringing all stakeholders to the climate change discussion can this truly be remedied. Watch this talk and gain perspective about the need to involve every citizen in the climate change discussion.

The city planting a million trees in two years  - Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr

How can deforestation affect a community? Lack of trees can cause landslides, flooding, and loss of biodiversity. Aki-Sawyerr’s goal is not to just plant trees, but to grow a tree steward program. The end result is a city that is collectively proud to protect itself and its homes as trees are planted in yards, schools, offices, and public spaces. While it may not be the complete answer to climate change, these trees provide a much needed carbon sink for her city. This TED Talk is proof that taking action can truly make a difference.

How to be a good ancestor  - Roman Krznaric

We as humans are destroying the environmental inheritance of future generations- those with no voices about what is occurring. We need to become good ancestors, but how? Be a time rebel, extend your vision– look forward to the future, and keep our future Earth inhabitants in mind when planning out goals. Ask kids who to vote for and discuss the future with them. Focus on and learn from nature, regenerate the Earth, and take care of the place that will take care of our offspring. This TED Talk emphasizes the importance of looking forward for the sake of future generations.

Interested in learning more about climate change? Here are some additional resources and platforms:

TED-Ed’s Earth School , a 30-day journey of daily Quests using videos, resources, and activities compiled by Earth experts for students to learn more about the environment and climate change

The  Count Us In  project, which has 16 actionable steps you can take on your own, with your family, friends or school

United Nations Environment Program

NASA: Global Climate Change

NPR: Resources on Climate change

NOAA Climate

Main navigation

Global climate change … * is unequivocal, * almost certainly is caused mostly by us, * already is causing significant harm, and * is growing rapidly.

In order to understand this, this curriculum leads students through a progression of understanding. It begins with students thinking about climate and weather, and the local impact of sea-level rise due to climate change in the first lesson. This is to hook the students to the unit, getting them to think about their own connection to climate change. In order to understand how excess carbon dioxide is rapidly changing the climate, students first learn about the Earth’s energy budget and then focus on greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide and its ability to absorb and re-radiate heat is key in understanding climate change. Students look at sources and sinks of carbon dioxide, allowing them to understand that climate change is almost certainly caused mostly by humans. The changes in the climate are already causing significant harm to both physical and biological systems. Students examine ice core data as well as other physical datasets to understand the implications of climate change on the physical world. Similarly, students look at datasets of biological systems and think about the adaptations that humans need to make to adjust to the changing climate. Student may still have doubts about the reality of climate change and the process of scientific consensus that makes us know that climate change is unequivocal and that there is overwhelming evidence that human activities are the main cause. A lesson provides an opportunity for students to step back from the data and think about the process of science and how we use language. Climate change requires global action and local solutions. The final lesson on climate change mitigation provides students an opportunity to examine and choose mitigation strategies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

• Introduction overview for high school curriculum
• Introduction overview for middle school curriculum

I. Introduction to the Curriculum

Global climate change and its impacts on people and resources pose serious societal challenges. The actions we take today will influence future greenhouse gas emissions and the magnitude of warming; they will also affect our ability to respond and adapt to changes, and to reduce the vulnerability of people and places to harm. Educating future generations about the causes and effects of global climate change is imperative since implementing solutions depends on an informed public, for both societal and individual level actions.

This curriculum integrates concepts from the earth, life, and physical sciences as well as the most current data on climate systems to help students understand the phenomena of climate change, the justification for these phenomena, and why these phenomena are both scientifically and socially important. Specially, the student goals that frame the unit and are woven throughout the lesson plans are as follows:

• Students will be able to explain the elements of climate and analyze the earth's energy balance that affects climate change. (What is climate change?)
• Students will be able to identify various sources of evidence used to chart climate and apply the evidence to determine the proximate and ultimate causes. (What is responsible for climate change and how do we know?)
• Students will be able to analyze the impact of climate change on environmental, biological and social systems. (Why does climate change matter?)
• Students will be able to compare climate change mitigation and adaptations strategies (macro and micro) in light of environmental, economic, political, and ethical impact. (What can we do?)
• Students will use data and evidence to justify claims relating to climate, climate change, and mitigation.

To achieve these goals, the curriculum has been divided into multi-day lesson plans for a total of 17 days of instruction. The middle school version has six lessons and the high school version has seven lessons. The lesson plans include a variety of both teacher-centered and student-centered activities ranging from lectures based on provided slideshows, teacher-led demonstrations, student-led investigations, and group analysis of data. Underlying these activities is a philosophy of learning by inquiry as well as justifying claims with evidence.

To measure the achievement of the above goals, formative assessments are embedded throughout the unit as well as sets of questions applicable to particular topics. For example, students begin a concept map in the first lesson plan that is continually developed with more terms and more interactions over the course of the following lessons. Two summative assessments are also included. Measuring student achievement in a variety of ways provides a more valid picture of student understanding. The first summative assessment,  a traditional test , includes 10 multiple-choice items on the major concepts of the unit. It also includes 3 open-ended questions that push students to interpret data and apply their knowledge of the climate system to new, but related situations. The second summative assessment – perhaps the keystone of the entire unit – combines group and individual work that forces students to use their understanding of climate science and mitigation options to make decisions about how society should cut carbon emissions.

One final, but important note. The curriculum is comprehensive in that it includes the activities, assessments, and materials to carry out an entire unit on climate change. However, the curriculum is not intended to be prescriptive as teachers should feel free to exercise their professional judgment about modifying activities and lesson plans to suit their needs.

II. The Organization of the Curricular Materials

The climate change curriculum is captured in an Excel-style template that includes a unit cover page – an overview of the entire unit as a whole – followed by daily lesson plans. Each lesson plan begins with a Bellwork (BW) exercise that students can do as the teacher executes the necessary administrative tasks at the start of the period. A set of activities and their brief description are in the left column while a list of materials and resources are indicated in the right column. Many days end with a suggested Homework (HW) activity. The authors of this curriculum expect teachers to integrate assignments into the already established classroom culture and expectations. The materials and resources that relate to each lesson plan can be found immediately following each lesson plan’s template. The materials are labeled systematically with three sets of numbers separated by decimal points. The first digit is the lesson number. The second digit is the day number of that lesson. The third digit represents the order of the materials for the day. For example, 2.3.1 indicates this material is for the first part of the third day of lesson 2.

• Complete Lesson Plan for High School
• Complete Lesson Plan for Middle School

Concept Maps

Concept maps serve a rich purpose in helping students articulate their understandings of how concepts are related and help tell a coherent story about climate systems and climate change. In lesson 1 students are asked to begin their individual concept map and continue adding words through lesson 4. While it may seem intuitive for the teacher to model a concept map for students at the front of the room, we suggest that you model a map not directly related to climate change. The concept map can be used as an important learning tool for students as well as a formative assessment measure for teachers only if students are forced to create the relationships between the concepts themselves. It may be useful, however, to create a ‘word wall’ for the entire class in which new or difficult terms are defined for students to reference. We also suggest the development of a class list of connector phrases. Students should be encouraged to add terms that may not appear in the lesson plans and to use these concept maps on activities throughout the unit. It might be helpful to provide students with a legal-sized piece of paper (8.5 x 14) or bigger (11 x 17) so that students will have enough room for all of the concepts and connections.  List of all concept map words

III. Language Goals and Demands

Access to curriculum and instruction relies greatly on the language demands of the tasks and interactions. The role of language demands in the science classroom has recently been of great importance as evidenced by the release of the English and Language Arts Standards for use in Science Classrooms. This curriculum was created with language goals for students that can be found on the lesson plan templates. The activities and resources were also created in a way that recognizes the language demands and provides access, with proper scaffolding and assistance from the teacher, for all students.

IV. Materials

The materials for all of the activities in the unit are provided with the curriculum. There are enough materials for 24 students and for 6 groups when group work is required. In order to execute the curriculum as written, teachers will also need:

• An Internet Accessible Laptop
• A Projector
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• External Speakers (Video Sound) 

V. We are Scientists and We are Climatologists

This unit, as well as other units in your science classroom,  are to help students understand what science is and what scientists do. The scientists' mantra was implemented in the first classroom that used this curriculum, written by Salina Gray. It was written on a large sheet of paper for all to see. Students proudly stood at the beginning of class and together read the following. It was used as a reference throughout the unit.

Who We Are: We think like scientists: We make thoughtful, intelligent choices. We take responsibility for our learning. We discipline ourselves so no one else has to.

We speak like scientists: We use our words to build up others, not tear them down. We use clear, powerful language to express ourselves.

We investigate like scientists: We challenge ourselves and are not afraid to ask questions. We constantly seek understanding and knowledge.

A sixth-grade teacher used the scientists' mantra all year long. So when it was time for this unit, Sarah Arnosky wrote and used this mantra with her students.

We Are Climatologists! The climate is changing all over the Earth, It makes us question what it’s all worth. The hot gets hotter and the wet gets wetter, The sea is rising and we don’t breathe better. Greenhouse gases are trapping the heat, We need to do something, we can’t sit on our seat. Public transportation is the way to go, It’s one of the ways to keep emissions low. Energy from the sun, wind, plants won’t run out, They can power our world without any doubt.

Middle School Curriculum

High school curriculum.

Water Cycle

• Weather & Climate

Societal Applications

Climate change online lab.

The Earth's climate has changed throughout history. Just in the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat, with the abrupt end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era — and of human civilization. Most of these climate changes are attributed to very small variations in Earth’s orbit that change the amount of solar energy our planet receives.

Students will use NASA’s Global Climate website to research five of the key indicators (vital signs) of Earth’s climate health. They will use this information, shared in their expert groups, to create an informative poster about their assigned key indicator. The poster will be used by other groups to learn about all five of the key indicators and how Earth scientists use these indicators to analyze changes in Earth’s climate.

Download Resources:

(right-click -> save as)

• Teacher Guide (pdf)
• Presentation (ppt)
• Student Capture Sheet (pdf) -  UPDATED 10/13/16
• Pre and Post Assessment (pdf)
• Article: The Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (pdf)

Please Contact Us to Receive the Answer Keys (please note, we can only provide the answer keys for "GPM Original" lesson plans)

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Global Climate Change and Sea Level Rise

"Surprise Glacier" © 2010 Jiuguang Wang

Do sea levels rise when ice melts? Does it matter whether the ice is on land or in the ocean? Students design an experiment to find out. They collect data, graph their results, and interpret their findings. Along the way, they learn about density, displacement, and climate change.

Students will:

• Plan, carry out, and interpret results of a scientific investigation.
• Explain why melting land ice causes sea levels to rise, but melting sea ice does not.
• Recognize the far-reaching effects of global climate change.

Teacher tip: This activity can be performed as a demonstration or in student groups.

This activity was selected for inclusion in the NSF/NOAA/DOE-funded Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network’s (CLEAN’s) collection of educational resources!

CLEAN is a nationally recognized project in which climate scientists and educators rigorously review and select high-quality online resources to be part of a collection.

This lesson was also used by the National Parks Service to create a demonstration video .

• 2 identical clear food storage boxes (approximately 6 inches square) per group
• 8 sticks of classroom modeling clay per group
• 1 ruler per group
• 1 tray of ice cubes per group (may need to start storing ice cubes ahead of time)
• 1 liter of water per group
• Sea Level Rise Worksheets (1 per student)
• global climate change: change in average global temperature, rainfall, and wind patterns as a result of increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
• greenhouse gases: gases in Earth’s atmosphere that trap heat
• density: a measurement of compactness, measured as mass per unit volume
• displacement: the forced relocation of water due to a submerged or partially submerged object
• Where is there a lot of ice in the world?
• Is the ice on land or on water?
• Will one or both cause sea level to rise when they melt?  
• Tip: You can cover the explanation for why ice is less dense than water (and therefore floats) here, or you can wait until after the experiment.  
• Guide students through the development of a question about the melting of ice and sea level rise. Which type of melting will cause an increase in sea level? Have each student record the question and a prediction on the worksheet.
• Tell the students that they will be working in groups to design an experiment to answer their question.  
• Introduce the materials. Give as much or as little guidance about how to use the materials as is appropriate for your class.  
• Tip: if appropriate for your class, discuss the importance of controlling variables that are not being tested.  
• Have students discuss their ideas with their small groups. Afterwards, discuss each group’s ideas as a class. Make sure each group has a workable experimental design (see suggested procedure below). Have each student describe and/or draw their group’s experimental design in the “methods” section of the worksheet.

This procedure is only a suggestion - it’s okay if your students come up with something slightly different. Check to make sure they are investigating the correct question and control the variables they are not testing (i.e., each container should contain the same number of ice cubes, the same amount and arrangement of clay “land,” and should start with approximately equal water levels).

• Place half of the clay into one side of each box. Form the clay to represent land rising out of the ocean.  
• Place about 6 ice cubes on the “land” in the first box. Place the same number of ice cubes next to the clay in the second box, so that they are resting on the bottom of the container.  
• Pour water into the container where the ice is resting on the bottom until the ice is floating (NOT resting on the bottom).  
• Pour water into the container with the ice resting on the clay until the water levels in the two containers are approximately equal.  
• Have students measure and record initial measurements of water depth (in mm). They may wish to draw a line in the clay at the initial water level.  
• Leave the setup. Students should measure the water depth every hour (or other regular interval) and record the results, until the ice is completely melted.
• Have each group graph their results on the board, on chart paper, or on butcher paper (see sample graph below) and display the graphs so everyone can see.  
• Tip: You may wish to draw the axes ahead of time so the students can simply fill in their data. Younger students might find it easier to place Post-It notes on the board (1 Post-It per mm water depth) to form the bar graph, instead of drawing the graph. With older students, you may wish to make a line graph instead of a bar graph.  
• Lead a discussion about the results, using the information in the “Background for Educators” section to help students understand their results.  
• Have each student write a conclusion on their worksheet summarizing what happened and why.

Have another discussion about global climate change. Use the following questions to generate discussion:

• Why might we be concerned about sea level rise? (Coastal areas will be flooded. People will lose their homes. Some fresh water resources will become too salty to use. Habitat loss will occur.)  
• What can we do to help slow this process by using less fossil fuel? (Take public transit instead of driving, eat local foods, turn off lights and electrical equipment when not in use, plant a tree, reduce, reuse and recycle.)

Try the lesson Differing Densities: Fresh and Salt Wate r for a look at the role water density plays in climate change and sea level rise.

One consequence of climate change is the melting of ice caps, glaciers, and sea ice, including polar ice in Greenland and Antarctica. Substantial melt of these massive glaciers will cause a rise in sea level along coastlines throughout the globe (Climate Institute, n.d.). This activity explores how melting ice impacts sea level.

Water is an unusual liquid because it expands when it freezes. In general, liquids do not expand upon freezing, but rather contract and become denser as temperature drops. Like other liquids, as water begins to cool, it becomes more and more dense. But, because of the physical structure of the water molecule, it continues to become denser until just before freezing, when it expands. This expansion occurs at the point at which freezing begins (around 4°C). At this temperature water molecules arrange themselves into a crystal lattice structure that is significantly less dense than the liquid form. Because of this decrease in density at the point of freezing, ice always floats on water (US Geological Survey, 2014).

When objects are totally submerged in water, they displace an amount of water equal to their volume. However, because ice floats on water and is not completely submerged, ice does not displace an amount of water equal to its volume. Instead, it displaces less than its total volume of water. The water that floating ice displaces is equal to the volume that the ice would take up if it melted and became water again. In other words, floating ice displaces water equal to the mass of the ice. When ice melts, the mass of the ice is conserved, but the crystal lattice structure of ice disappears and the volume decreases and becomes equal to the volume of water it displaced in its ice form.

Therefore, when floating ice melts, the melted water is equal only to the volume of the ice that was submerged. This means that when floating ice melts, it contributes no additional volume to the body of water. We see this phenomenon when we let ice melt in a glass of water. The water does not overflow because the ice has already displaced water equal to the volume it will take up upon melting.

Ice already in the oceans does not contribute to sea level rise, but ice covering land will contribute to sea level rise upon melting. For a video on this topic featuring the same activity in this lesson plan, click here .

The effects of sea level rise are global. According to maps created by the Bay Conservation and Development Commission for the San Francisco Chronicle (Kay, 2007), a 1 meter rise in sea level would submerge “parts of Corte Madera, San Rafael, Hayward, Newark and much of the Silicon Valley shoreline.” In San Francisco, “Mission Bay housing and office developments, Caltrain tracks, Candlestick Point redevelopment, Heron's Head Park….parts of Treasure Island, and the San Francisco and Oakland airports” would all be under water.

Science & Engineering Practices

• Developing and Using Models : Develop and/or use models to describe and/or predict phenomena. (3-5; 6-8)  
• Asking Questions and Defining Problems : Ask questions that can be investigated and predict reasonable outcomes based on patterns such as cause and effect relationships. (3-5)  
• Planning and Carrying out Investigations : Plan and conduct and investigation collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence. (3-5) Collect data to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence to answer scientific questions. (6-8)  
• Analyzing and Interpreting Data : Represent data in table and/or various graphical displays to reveal patterns that indicate relationships (3-5; 6-8). Analyze and interpret data to make sense of phenomena, using logical reasoning, mathematics, and/or computation (3-5).  
• Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions :Use evidence to construct or support an explanation or design a solution to a problem. (3-5) Construct an explanation using models or representations. (6-8)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

• ESS3.C : Human Impacts on Earth Systems: Human activities in agriculture, industry, and everyday life have had major effects on land, vegetation, streams, oceans, air and even outer space. (Grade 5)  
• PS1.A : Structure and Properties of Matter: The amount (weight) of matter is conserved when it changes form, even in transitions in which it seems to vanish (Grade 5). The changes of state that occur with variations in temperature or pressure can be described and predicted using these models of matter. (6-8)  
• ESS3.D : Global Climate Change: Human activities such as the release of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, are major factors in the current rise in Earth’s mean surface temperature (global warming) (6-8).

Cross-Cutting Concepts

• Cause and Effect : Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified, tested, and used to explain change. (3-5; 6-8)  
• Stability and Change : Change is measured in terms of differences over time and may occur at different rates; Some systems appear stable, but over long periods of time will eventually change (3-5). Explanation of stability and change in natural or designed systems can be constructed by examining the changes over time and forces at different scales (6-8).

Related Performance Expectations

• 5-PS1-2 : Measure and graph quantities to provide evidence that regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of matter is conserved.  
• MS-PS1-5 : Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved.
• Climate Institute. (n.d.). Consequences of Climate Change on the Oceans. Retrieved November 17, 2014 from http://www.climate.org/topics/sea-level/
• Kay, Jane. (2007). Consequences of a rising bay/global warming: New set of maps reveals how melting polar ice could change shoreline and carry a high price for entire region. Retrieved November 17 2014, from http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/CONSEQUENCES-OF-A-RISING-BAY-GLOBAL-WARMING-2647936.php#photo-2127432
• National Park Service. Explaining Climate Change Videos. Retrieved November 10, 2014 from http://www.nps.gov/subjects/climatechange/explainingccvideos.htm .
• US Geological Survey. Water density. (2014). Retrieved November 17, 2014 from http://water.usgs.gov/edu/density.html
• Image: "Surprise Glacier" by Jiuguang Wang, licensed and modified under CC BY-SA 2.0; originally sourced from https://www.flickr.com/photos/jiuguangw/5134913399/in/photolist-8PKLRD-8PNRay-8PNR45

Around the world, many coral reefs are in hot water. How can we preserve these important and diverse ecosystems?

What are the consequences of mining for fossil fuels?

© Brocken Inaglory

A complimentary extension to the lesson Global Climate Change and Sea Level Rise.

Attached Files

Teens Know Climate Change Is Real. They Want Schools to Teach More About It

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Corrected : An earlier version of this story misstated Pari Patel’s name and grade.

High school students are more likely than adults to agree with the scientific consensus that climate change is being driven by human activity—but many teenagers remain confused about the underlying causes of global warming.

The findings, from a new nationwide survey of teenagers by the EdWeek Research Center, also reveal an education system out of step with the interest of many students on the issue: Teens are hungry to learn more about how climate change will affect the future of the Earth and society, and what they can personally do to lessen the effects. But the vast majority of states do not require comprehensive instruction on the subject outside of high school science class.

New Jersey became the first state this year to require that climate change be taught in all schools, across grade levels and subjects.

The EdWeek Research Center surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,055 teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18 in October, probing their understanding of, and feelings about, climate change. Their generation, experts say, will be particularly affected by the changing climate, living through more severe and frequent natural disasters and extreme weather events than their parents or grandparents.

The survey found that 79 percent of teenagers said climate change is real, and it is mainly caused by human activity.

Most of the remaining respondents said they believe in climate change but don’t think it’s caused by human activity; just 3 percent don’t believe in climate change at all. Among U.S. adults, 57 percent believe that climate change is mostly caused by human activity, according to an April 2022 poll by Ipsos , an international polling firm.

The vast majority of climate scientists and peer-reviewed scientific studies on climate change agree that humans are the driving cause of rising global temperatures, which are altering weather patterns and causing sea levels to rise. Already, many students’ learning has been disrupted by wildfires, extreme heat , and flooding from more severe storms—all of which are projected to increase as the planet continues to warm.

Yet experts warn—and the survey results show—that just because the majority of students believe in human-driven climate change doesn’t mean they fully understand it.

“Teachers have this real responsibility to go beyond that [students] accept climate change,” said Ann Reid, the executive director of the National Center for Science Education, a nonprofit group of scientists and teachers. “Well, how much do they really understand? You can see very, very clearly the misconceptions that students have about climate change.”

For example, 46 percent of teenagers say that the hole in the ozone layer created by gases from spray cans and refrigerators is a significant contributor to global warming, which is not accurate. (Recent and rapid climate change has been driven primarily by humans burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, which release greenhouse gasses that trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. This phenomenon warms the planet, alters its weather patterns, and causes the ice caps to melt.)

More than a quarter of students say that solar flares and increased radiation from the sun have been a major driver of global warming since the 1800s, and nearly a fifth say that volcanoes are a major source of the greenhouse gases contributing to climate change—both false statements.

“Students come in with these very deep-seated misconceptions, and that’s not true with other areas of science,” Reid said.

She pointed to the students who believe that solar flares and volcanoes are a major driver of global warming: “Those are both examples of variations of this misconception that climate change is natural, there’s all kinds of natural drivers of climate change, and there isn’t any way to tell whether it’s caused by humans or not.”

The EdWeek Research Center results mirror a similar question asked by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation , in a 2019 survey which also found that many teens lacked a firm grip on what factors are driving global warming.

Schools must teach students to develop critical thinking skills so they can distinguish between credible sources of information and manipulative ones, Reid said. The NCSE has a set of lesson plans to help students overcome misinformation and misconceptions about climate change.

Teachers are the top source of information for students on climate change, closely followed by parents, according to EdWeek’s poll. Two-thirds of teens said they learned some or a lot about climate change from their teachers, and 64 percent said they learned some or a lot about the issue from their families.

Teachers should never restate a misconception—doing so reinforces the concept in a student’s mind and gives it standing, Reid said. Instead, teachers should present students with different lines of evidence so they can look for themselves.

“When I see all of these misconceptions, I see tremendous opportunity for teachers to really think about how to help students think like scientists,” she said.

But it can be hard for teachers to even find the time to address the topic in class, said Meghan Hooper-Jackson, a 7th grade science teacher at William Davies Middle School in Hamilton County, New Jersey.

“I would say that climate change in years prior was a periphery topic, something that needs to be addressed but it’s not in the curriculum,” she said. “It’s hard to squeeze in when you have so many demands.”

A state adopts climate change education standards

What students learn about climate change differs depending on where they go to school. Only 20 states, and the District of Columbia, have adopted the Next Generation Science Standards, which explicitly addresses the rise in global temperatures and the factors behind the changing climate in middle and high school. Across the country, experts say climate change education is spotty and limited.

But Hooper-Jackson said she is thankful that New Jersey, which adopted the NGSS in 2014, is now going well beyond them: Starting this school year, all students in all grades are required by the state to learn about climate change.

And it’s not a topic relegated to science class, said Roxann Bryant, the director of curriculum and instruction for Hamilton Township schools in New Jersey. Teachers in every subject for every grade are required to incorporate climate change awareness into their classes. For English/language arts, this might mean making climate change the topic of students’ speech writing assignments, Bryant said.

“In social studies, say you’re talking about the Revolutionary War, what does the climate look like this time of year?” she said. “When the crossing [of the Delaware River by George Washington] happened, it was winter, and the men stayed in the barracks and it froze. What does the climate look like now?”

Educators have an opportunity to respond to students’ hunger to learn about the warming planet, experts say.

Nationally, the majority of students want more information on climate change. Sixty-five percent of the students responding to the EdWeek survey said they want to learn more about how climate change will affect the future of the Earth and society. About half said they want to learn what they can do personally to lessen the effects of climate change and to better understand the science behind it.

Just 10 percent of students said they didn’t want to learn more about any climate change topics or issues, underscoring a real curiosity for the subject among this generation.

“In our classes we have definitely touched upon water usage and how other stuff impacts the environment and climate change,” said 17-year-old Dylan Jeffrys, a senior at South Plainfield High School near Newark, N.J.

But it was through getting involved in his school’s environmental club that he and his schoolmates have had the opportunity—prior to the new standards—to explore how individuals impact climate change, and they are eager to spread the word.

“I feel like a lot of people don’t realize that climate change stems from social constructs [like] fast fashion, and how social standards of keeping up with the newest trends and following social media on TikTok and Instagram, it all contributes to the fact that we keep buying these clothes from Forever 21 and Fashion Nova and ... ultimately lead to climate change,” said 17-year-old Deep Patel, also a senior. Fast fashion, or buying inexpensive clothes in the latest trends and wearing them only a couple of times, contributes to climate change because of the greenhouse gasses produced during the manufacturing process. Some teenagers are opting instead to buy their clothes secondhand from thrift stores, in part for sustainability reasons. EdWeek’s survey found that nearly a quarter of respondents buy secondhand instead of new.

“We can’t control manufacturing or gas prices, but we can choose to not to buy clothes,” said 16-year-old Pari Patel, who is in 10th grade and no relation to Deep.

The teens estimate their environmental club is far and away the most popular club in school. The three were part of a team that was recently recognized in a statewide climate change challenge for raising awareness in their community about buying and eating locally grown produce as a way to combat climate change. Up next for the teens, Dylan said, is an awareness campaign for teachers in their school about how they can reduce energy use.

“Learning about that in clubs has made me think, hey, I should unplug things in my house and turn off the lights before I leave and look at my waste output,” he said.

Teens are conscious of their own impact on the environment

The EdWeek Research Center survey asked students what, if anything, they did to lower their carbon footprint. The most common responses were recycling, turning off lights and unplugging devices when they’re not in use, washing clothes in cold water and/or waiting until there’s a full load, and selling, recycling, reusing, or donating unwanted or unneeded items.

While many students expressed an interest in learning more about how they can personally make a difference when it comes to climate change, Reid urged caution on that front. Teachers, she said, should make clear that fossil fuel companies are the main drivers of climate change—a complex task for teachers, especially in communities that depend on oil and gas for jobs.

Some teachers will do exercises with students to calculate their individual carbon footprint, which Reid said could be a worthwhile lesson as part of a larger conversation, but “kind of a terrible thing to do in isolation because it does suggest this is a matter of individual action, which is not a full response.”

Still, she added, teachers should “not leave them with, ‘You can’t do anything, you’re too small to do anything,’ but to say, ‘You can do something—these things help—but we also need to be advocating for bigger changes.’”

Coverage of how climate change is affecting students’ learning and well-being is supported in part by a grant from the Education Writers’ Association Reporting Fellowship program, at www.ewa.org/fellowship . Education Week retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage. A version of this article appeared in the November 30, 2022 edition of Education Week as Teens Know Climate Change Is Real. They Want Schools to Teach More About It

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News from the Columbia Climate School

How Do High School Students Combat the Climate Crisis and Plan for Community Resilience After a Disaster?

Josh DeVincenzo

How do high school students combat the climate crisis and plan for community resilience after a disaster? Students tackled this question in a week-long virtual immersion program, Climate Change, Disasters, and Recovery: Introduction to Community Planning for Resilience .  It was taught by Josh DeVincenzo from the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) at Columbia University’s Climate School and coordinated by Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies. This course brought a diverse set of perspectives from students in China, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, Guatemala, as well as students throughout the United States. The global connectedness to the topic of climate change and disasters was evident in a truly powerful moment during the course introductions where students spanning several geographies listed off various hazards and disasters that have impacted their communities. Many of the student anecdotes, from volcanic eruptions to intense flooding, set the stage for a full dive into the material.

This intensive week started out with students learning about climate change both from a scientific and a social perspective. Discussions took place about the whole community and the systems approach to mitigating climate change while identifying the various disciplines and professions involved in disaster recovery and preparedness. Students learned how the hazards, impacts, and preventative measures impact the community through case studies, guest speakers, and historical events. To apply the concepts, a student-led Emergency Operations Center and a Long-Term Recovery Group were stood up to respond to and recover from a simulated hurricane disaster that was taking place as a tabletop exercise. NCDP’s Dr. Thomas Chandler and Christopher Tingley join the group as consultants as students navigated the disaster response. An After-Action Report was created as the class capstone where students communicated what steps should be taken to mitigate the impact of climate change and disasters and presented that plan to team members from NCDP.

While this week highlighted challenges surrounding climate change and disaster management, students were given the optional assignment to develop op-eds highlighting solutions. Below are notable snippets:

“Solutions to climate change are not universal. It is also important to look at smaller communities and help with their needs. Connecting with smaller communities can reduce the discrimination caused by the climate since help is directly given to the communities impacted.” ~ Nathalie Lelogeais, High School Immersion Student

  “When a fire tears through California, it burns the homes of the rich and the poor alike. Disaster aid is stuck in a reactive structure that assumes a one-size-fits-all mentality” ~ Naomi Brice, High School Immersion Student

Looking Ahead

The engagement, insights, enthusiasm, and passion that students generated during this course were inspiring. Students stood up to the challenge of learning and participating in a virtual environment. They found commonality as well as worked well together appreciating different perspectives. We are so excited to see what comes next.

“Even though climate change and the many problems are intertwined and can seem extremely daunting, I think this course prepared me with ways to handle it and provided tools that I will be able to use for the rest of my life. I feel the urgency now more than ever, but I am also hopeful for a future when some of these problems will be fixed.”  ~ High School Immersion Student

  “Something I took away from this course was all the different teams and people that are involved in disaster relief and how much effort it takes to recover after a disaster. I learned so much in this course and am very grateful to have had this experience.” ~ High School Immersion Student

To learn more about the Columbia High School Immersion programs, please visit Columbia University School of Professional Studies . To learn more about disaster research, work, policy, and practice, please visit the National Center for Disaster Preparedness . To learn more about climate change education and research, please visit Columbia University’s Climate School .

Related Posts

Designing Impactful Climate Literacy Education for Emergency Management—and Beyond

Celebrating Women in Science: Disaster-Preparedness Researcher Thalia Balkaran

Climate School Report Details 2023 State Policy Trends in Disaster Resilience

Congratulations to our Columbia Climate School MA in Climate & Society Class of 2024! Learn about our May 10 Class Day  celebration. #ColumbiaClimate2024

I respect Columbia’s commitment to addressing the climate.

I also understand that community resilience is important in the face of climate change.

On the other hand, Columbia owns New York as the saying goes.

Rather than prepare our youth for resiliency in the face of disasters should we also not be reducing our carbon emissions in a drastic manner so that we prevent future disasters in the first place?

Professor Ratti of MIT and the UN both state that our cities cover 2% of our planet’s territory, contain 50% of our population, use 75% of our energy, and emit 80% of our carbon dioxide.

Should not Columbia be pushing for drastically cutting automobile traffic in New York City, and be pushing for weatherizing/decarbonizing our NYC buildings and be promoting non methane generating food and fuel?

Adaptation to impending sequential disasters is nothing to look forward to and is likely to prove futile in the longer term.

Only reducing our emissions and ending destruction of our environment is likely to be helpful in the long run.

Rather than hold lockdowns to control shootings should we not drastically limit access to firearms?

Why does our society have so much trouble with prevention.

Bohdan A Oryshkevich

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• Our Mission

Taking It to the Class: Green Projects for the Classroom

Try these great lesson ideas for environmentally conscious teachers (and their lucky students).

An annual celebration of Earth Day should not be the only time during the school year when you devote significant classroom time to exploring issues of environmental awareness and stewardship. Whether you teach biology, history, or language arts, the Web is a rich and ever-growing resource, with curriculum ideas for integrating environmental issues into lesson plans. But where to begin? That will be your decision, but we'll help you get started.

We've compiled a cross section of lessons, with ideas for every grade level. Some can be completed within a single class period and others require more time, but all are sure to get your students -- and you -- thinking about what can be done to preserve our increasingly fragile planet.

Elementary School

The life history of "stuff".

By tracing the origins of everyday products -- the bikes they ride to school or their favorite sneakers -- students develop an understanding of the impact that the production, sale, and disposal of commonly used goods have on the environment.

Though no single lesson is likely to change students' consumption patterns completely, this one is sure to get them thinking about alternatives, like wearing shoes until they're outgrown or worn out, or donating still-usable items so they don't end up in a landfill prematurely.

Topics: Consumption, Waste Production Teaching Level: Grades 2-3 Source: Education for Sustainable Development

Credit: Veer

From Farm to Table

Students (and adults, too) know surprisingly little about the origin of the food they eat every day. In this lesson, students compile lists of frequently eaten foods and then take a trip to the local supermarket to research their origin by analyzing food displays or speaking with the grocer.

What are the consequences of eating grapes from Chile or corn from Mexico? Are there economic or health advantages to eating locally grown fruits and vegetables? Should grocers provide origin information for the produce they sell? These are just a few of the issues students can explore in this lesson. There's also ample opportunity to extend the lesson through action, by visiting a local farmers' market and talking with growers or starting their own vegetable garden at school.

Topic: Food Sources Teaching Level: Grades 4-6 Source: California School Garden Network

In this thirty-minute lesson for very young students, a simple bowl of goldfish crackers helps make concrete the concept of scarcity of resources. In the first part of the lesson, the bowl is passed around the room and students are allowed to take as many crackers as they'd like. In the second, each student receives an equal number of crackers.

The two scenarios serve as an excellent entrée into a discussion of uneven distribution of resources, as students discuss how it felt to get more (or fewer) fish than their classmates. The next step is to expand the discussion to resources in students' homes or in their community that everyone must share.

Topic: Scarcity of Resources Grade Level: P-2 Source: Population Connection

Trip Tally: Discovering Environmental Solutions

What impact does car transportation have on the local environment? That's the key question this lesson aims to ask and answer as students conduct a simple air pollution experiment and analyze the findings in the context of their own weekly trip tally, which documents their comings and goings about town by car, foot, bike, and public transportation.

Students analyze their own travel data, as well as that of the whole class, and then explore strategies for reducing air pollution by choosing to ride their bike rather than drive, or by taking fewer trips.

Topic: Air Pollution Teaching Level: Grades 3-6 Source: Northeast Sustainable Energy Association

Elementary and Middle School

Environmental explorers.

This lesson calls upon observation and analysis skills as students explore and then discuss the changes that have been made to the natural environment. Students observe and document natural and human features in their locale (during a walk around the neighborhood or a trip downtown, for example), and evaluate the impact of changes made by humans, such as the leveling of an area for a subdivision or the damming of a local stream or river.

As a culminating activity, students discuss local environmental and planning issues and then write letters to the local newspapers expressing their views and encouraging specific action.

Focus: Environmental Awareness Teaching Level: Grades 3-8 Source: National Geographic Society

Credit: iStock

The Trash We Pass

A day's worth of classroom garbage becomes the basis for this lesson, which explores the amount of waste students (and their schools, families, and community) produce each day, and the impact of all this trash on the environment. Faced with the dirty truth about how much trash they accumulate, students are asked to brainstorm how to reduce their waste production (by using less, recycling more, and so on) and then to put their newfound knowledge to further use by taking action in their community.

The lesson includes ideas for extending their work beyond the classroom, pursuing activities such as researching local recycling options and advocating with city officials for improvements, or starting a compost pile at school or at home.

Topics: Consumption, Waste Production Teaching Level: Grades 4-7 Source: Redefining Progress

We Are What We Drink

The writings of a Peace Corps volunteer from the Togolese Republic in Africa provide a developing-world context for the exploration of water consumption, water pollution, and the health of individuals and communities. Students explore their own water consumption (the amount of water used in everyday activities; the types of water -- filtered, bottled, and so on) they drink -- and compare this data with the experiences of residents in the Togolese Republic, where clean water is scarce and cholera is endemic.

Topics: Water Quality, Public Health Teaching Level: Grades 3-8 Source: Peace Corps, Coverdell World Wise Schools

Middle and High School

Fishing for the future.

Through a simulation, students model several consecutive seasons of a fishery and explore how such variables as advances in technology, population growth, and attention to sustainable fishing practices impact fish catch and fisheries management. Over multiple "seasons," students confront the economic and environmental impact of overfishing. As the fish population is depleted in one area, for example, they must seek out sources elsewhere or explore more sustainable practices.

This engaging lesson includes thought-provoking writing and discussion prompts, and opportunities for students to extend what they've learned to their own community by exploring the status of commonly owned resources in their town or state.

Topic: Sustainability Teaching Level: Grades 6-12 Source: Facing the Future: People and the Planet

How Big Is Your Footprint?

Using Web tools, students calculate their ecological footprints (the amount of natural resources they consume in a given year) and then, as a group, determine the footprint of the entire class. After creating graphs and finding the mean, the median, the mode, and the standard deviation for the class, students explore a range of discussion questions about reducing their footprint, their responsibility to subsequent generations, the impact of their consumption, and more.

Armed with this new knowledge and awareness, students are prompted to consider the size of their family's footprint, or that of the entire school. What steps might they each take to decrease their footprint? By taking the test again six months later, students will be able to assess the impact of their choices.

Topic: Consumption, Pollution Teaching Level: Grades 8-12 Source: Alliance to Save Energy

High School

Building on the concept of a watershed, students use a field trip to a local body of water (a stream at a local park, for example) to conduct a detailed assessment of the water and surrounding land and then document their findings by mapping and profiling the water and the neighboring area.

This hands-on science lesson teaches students how to take standardized measurements of water characteristics, integrates writing activities as students describe the characteristics of the local watershed, and provides an excellent introduction to issues of water quality. There's also information about using data from, and sharing data with, the worldwide science and education program Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE).

Topic: Water Quality Teaching Level: Grades 9-12 Source: Center for Environmental Education Online

Whose Resource Is It?

Environmental justice is the focus of this lesson, which integrates world history, geography, and government topics into a case study and a role-playing exercise. Students explore the impact of a plan to locate a new industry in a low-income neighborhood, then take on the roles of community members, business executives, and city officials as they advocate for and against building a power plant in a low-income minority neighborhood. Together, they assess the economic, environmental, and social consequences of their decisions.

Through these activities and supplemental readings, students gain a deeper understanding of the ways socioeconomic status impacts the number and types of businesses in a neighborhood -- and the impact these businesses have on residents' health and well-being.

Focus: Environmental Justice Teaching Level: Grades 9-12 Source: Education for a Sustainable Development

Roberta Furger is a contributing writer for Edutopia .

Related green articles:.

• Teach Green : Lesson plans on recycling. Read More
• Truth and Consequences : Teaching global warming doesn't have to spell doom . Read More

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High school students, frustrated by lack of climate education, press for change

Youth activists pushing for more climate education in Minnesota schools say working with peers to draft legislation gives them hope for a future under threat. (AP Video: Mark Vancleave)

B Rosas, left, Lucia Everist, center, and Libby Kramer, of Climate Generation, speak to the Minnesota Youth Council, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. The advocates called on the council, a liaison between young people and state lawmakers, to support a bill requiring schools to teach more about climate change. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

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Libby Kramer, left, Lucia Everist, center, and B Rosas, of Climate Generation, speak to the Minnesota Youth Council, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. The advocates called on the council, a liaison between young people and state lawmakers, to support a bill requiring schools to teach more about climate change. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Lucia Everist, of Climate Generation, center, speaks to the Minnesota Youth Council, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. The advocates called on the council, a liaison between young people and state lawmakers, to support a bill requiring schools to teach more about climate change. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

FILE - Water floods a damaged trailer park in Fort Myers, Fla., Oct. 1, 2022, after Hurricane Ian passed by the area. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Minnesota Sen. Nicole Mitchell, left, sits with members of Climate Generation, from second left, B Rosas, Lucia Everist, Libby Kramer and Minnesota Rep. Larry Kraft, right, as they speak the Minnesota Youth Council, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. The advocates called on the council, a liaison between young people and state lawmakers, to support a bill requiring schools to teach more about climate change. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Libby Kramer, of Climate Generation, right, speaks to the Minnesota Youth Council, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. The advocates called on the council, a liaison between young people and state lawmakers, to support a bill requiring schools to teach more about climate change. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

B Rosas, back left, Lucia Everist, back center, and Libby Kramer, back right, of Climate Generation, speak to the Minnesota Youth Council, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. The advocates called on the council, a liaison between young people and state lawmakers, to support a bill requiring schools to teach more about climate change. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Several dozen young people wearing light blue T-shirts imprinted with #teachclimate filled a hearing room in the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul in late February. It was a cold and windy day, in contrast to the state’s nearly snowless, warm winter.

The high school and college students and other advocates, part of group Climate Generation, called on the Minnesota Youth Council, a liaison between young people and state lawmakers, to support a bill requiring schools to teach more about climate change .

Ethan Vue, who grew up with droughts and extreme temperatures in California, now lives in Minnesota and is a high school senior pushing for the bill.

“I just remember seeing my classmates always sweating, and they’d even drench themselves in water from the water fountains,” Vue said in a phone interview, noting climate change is making heat waves longer and hotter, but they didn’t learn about that in school.

“The topic is brushed on. If anything, we just learn about, there’s global warming, the planet’s warming up.”

Libby Kramer, left, Lucia Everist, center, and B Rosas, of Climate Generation, speak to the Minnesota Youth Council, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

In places that teach to standards formulated by the National Science Teachers Association, state governments and other organizations, many kids learn about air quality, ecosystems, biodiversity and land and water in Earth and environmental science classes.

But students and advocates say that is insufficient. They are demanding districts, boards and state lawmakers require more teaching about the planet’s warming and would like it woven into more subjects.

Some states and school districts have moved in the opposite direction. In Texas , the board of education turned down books with climate information. In Florida, school materials deny climate change .

“Someone could theoretically go through middle school and high school without really ever acknowledging the climate crisis,” said Jacob Friedman, a high school senior in Florida who hasn’t learned about climate except for in elective classes. “Or even acknowledging that there is an issue of global warming.”

That’s bizarre to Friedman, who experienced firsthand when Hurricane Ian closed nearby schools and submerged homes in 2022.

A study conducted after the storm found that climate change added at least 10% more rain to Hurricane Ian. Experts also say hurricanes are intensifying faster because of the extra greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that are collecting heat and warming the oceans.

“What an unfair reality to have a young person graduate from high school,” said Leah Qusba, executive director of nonprofit Action for the Climate Emergency, “without knowing about the biggest existential threat that they’re going to face in their lifetime.”

Some places are adding more instruction on the subject. In 2020, New Jersey required teaching climate change at all grade levels. Connecticut followed, then California. More than two dozen new measures across 10 states were introduced last year, according to the National Center for Science Education.

Libby Kramer, of Climate Generation, right, speaks to the Minnesota Youth Council, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Where some proposals require teaching the basic science and human causes of climate change , the Minnesota bill goes further, requiring state officials to guide schools on teaching climate justice, including the idea that the changes hit disadvantaged communities harder .

Some legislators say they’ve heard from school administrators and teachers who say that goes too far.

“What was said to me is: ‘Why are we pushing a political perspective, a political agenda?’” Minnesota Rep. Ben Bakeberg, a Republican, said during a House Education Policy Committee hearing in March 2023. “That’s a reality.”

The bill didn’t advance in the 2023 session. Now it hasn’t this year either. Supporters say they will try again next year.

Aware of such opposition, some students interested in climate opt to campaign at their schools rather than through the legislative process.

Three years ago, floods destroyed Ariela Lara’s mom’s village in Oaxaca, Mexico, while they were visiting. Then Lara came home to California and was hit by smoke-filled skies caused by wildfires that pushed thousands to evacuate or be stuck inside for weeks.

Yet despite what she was seeing, Lara felt in school she was only taught about recycling and carbon footprints, a measure of a person’s personal greenhouse gas emissions.

So she went to the board of education.

“I had to really think about how I could go to the people in power to really rewrite the curriculum we were learning,” Lara said. “It would get so tiresome because for me, I was the one that was really trying to enforce it.”

By the time her school offered Advanced Placement Environmental Science, Lara was too senior to enroll in it. AP Enviro does cover climate change , according to the College Board, but it’s also more broad.

B Rosas, back left, Lucia Everist, back center, and Libby Kramer, back right, of Climate Generation, speak to the Minnesota Youth Council, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

When targeted efforts don’t work, some students feel they’re on their own.

For high school junior Siyeon Joo, climate education seems like a no-brainer where she lives in Lafayette, Louisiana, which was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and has been affected by several other intense storms and heat waves.

But Joo wasn’t exposed to climate change at her public middle school and an educator there once told her it wasn’t real.

“I remember sitting in that classroom,” the now-16-year-old said, “being really angry that that was the system that was being forced upon me at the time.”

It took enrolling in a private school for Joo to learn about these topics. Many students don’t have that option.

Experts say climate material could be worked into lessons without burdening schools or putting the onus on students. But much like with legislation, that will take time students say they don’t have.

“I was part of these communities that were really just affirming how much is at stake if we don’t take action,” said Lara, the student in California, recalling how important to her it would have been to receive education about her experiences. “You should be able to go to school and learn about the gravity which the climate crisis is at.”

Alexa St. John reported from Detroit and Doug Glass reported from St. Paul, Minn.

Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate solutions reporter. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @alexa_stjohn . Reach her at [email protected] .

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org .

Commentary: Looks like there’s a new mountain lion in Griffith Park. Let’s try not to kill him

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There was no doubt about it. The hulking blond furry animal on a tree trunk illuminated by the headlights of a car in a parking lot east of Barham Boulevard on the edge of Griffith Park last week was a mountain lion .

Seriously? In Los Angeles , the beloved mountain lion named P-22 had lived for a decade in Griffith Park. But he was an aberration. It was astonishing that he got there in the first place — most likely crossing dangerous freeways to get to the park, cramped by lion standards, where he easily found prey such as deer and just as easily avoided the people who flocked there for recreation.

He was captured and euthanized in late 2022 due to sickness and severe injuries.

Unconfirmed sighting of mountain lion near Griffith Park recalls L.A.’s favorite big cat, P-22

The National Park Service, which has reviewed video footage of the sighting, is taking the claim seriously, according to spokesperson Ana Beatriz Cholo.

May 19, 2024

But here was video, shot by a resident of the adjacent apartment complex. It was as if the camera had captured the ghost of L.A.’s most famous cat.

All I could think was: Don’t move! Stay! Better yet, back away from the parking lot! A leading cause of death for urban pumas is being hit by a vehicle. And in the video , he is also seen walking hesitantly on the grassy side of the parking spaces. (A wildlife biologist says the cat in the video is most likely male, so I’m going with “he.”)

It would be safer for the cat to tuck himself into the trees and grassy space of the park — and wait for the National Park Service biologists to find and tranquilize him to take biological samples for genetics testing and slip a GPS collar onto his neck so we can remotely roam with him.

Editorial: California’s pumas are worse off than we thought. They need immediate help or could die off

If mountain lions can’t cross a road to find mates and territory without risking their lives, that’s an eventual death sentence for the local population.

Jan. 26, 2024

And they’re definitely interested in adding this cat to the study of mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains (including Griffith Park), Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains that the agency has been doing for more than two decades.

Jeff Sikich, a biologist on the study, says the video suggests the cat is a young adult and probably male based on the broadness of the shoulders, the musculature and a glimpse of genitalia. It is the first legitimate evidence he has seen of a mountain lion in Griffith Park since P-22 died.

How did he get there? If he came from the far western mountains — P-22 is thought to have been born in the Simi Hills — he crossed the 405 and 101 freeways. If he came from the Verdugo Mountains northeast of Griffith Park, he most likely crossed the 5 and 134 freeways. There are some paths and culverts under various freeways, and overpasses he might have found. “Regardless, it’s a tough trek,” Sikich says of the journey to Griffith Park.

Op-Ed: Elegy for a big, beautiful L.A. cat

Celebrity is far too shallow a gloss on P-22. What made this mountain lion essential was not that he was famous, but that he persevered.

Dec. 19, 2022

Will he stay? Male mountain lions, territorial and looking for mates, have huge home ranges, averaging 150 square miles, says Sikich. The cat who would be collared and numbered P-22 was about 2 or 3 years old when Sikich captured him in Griffith Park in 2012. The park is a puny nine square miles and offered P-22 no mating opportunities. But it was all his.

Vehicle strikes and rat poison are two of the biggest dangers this cat will face no matter where he decides to live in the Los Angeles area. P-22 was probably hit by a car shortly before he was euthanized. And blood tests later showed he had two different rodenticides in his system when he died . Earlier in his life, scientists treated him for mange, which is generally a result of rat poison.

Editorial: Rat poison almost killed P-22. We can save more lions and other wildlife if we ban rodenticides

A bill awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature could take off the market one of the most commonly used rat poisons that are ingested by raptors, mountain lions, bobcats and other wildlife.

Sept. 26, 2023

For years, the state of California has been trying to curtail the use of various rat poisons that often sicken and kill wildlife and pets who eat prey that have ingested it. Currently, Assembly Bill 2552 , the Poison-Free Wildlife Act , would expand a ban on rodenticides. The Legislature should pass it.

To make navigating roads and freeways less treacherous, we need more crossings. The Annenberg Wildlife Crossing over the 101 freeway is under construction now. And the Safe Roads and Wildlife Protection Act, passed in 2022, requires the California Department of Transportation to construct crossings where they are needed when it builds new highways and improves existing ones. With less poison out there and more wildlife crossings, maybe this mountain lion will have a better chance.

The other Angelenos: What a naturalist’s survey of Los Angeles wildlife reveals

From mountain lions to feral cats and palm trees to live-forevers, Craig Stanford’s “Unnatural Habitat” considers Southern California’s native and exotic flora and fauna.

May 20, 2024

Sikich won’t say when or how he will go looking for the park’s newest puma. And hopefully the cat is still there. People are so fascinated by the lions that they will follow the researchers. “I try to stay as elusive as the animals I’m catching,” he says, chuckling.

If he is collared, he will be the 121 st cat to be added to the research study. But wouldn’t it be cool to skip that number and go straight to P-122? Some of the Park Service folks, including Sikich, think so.

Why not? It doesn’t subvert the research. It’s just a bit of a reminder for all of us that if we want to continue the legacy of P-22, the best way to do that is to make urban California a little less dangerous for its native cats.

More to Read

Orange County mountain lion Uno is killed by a car. Her insouciance brought her fame

Jan. 23, 2024

Mountain lion attack of person, dog temporarily closes Solstice Canyon in Santa Monica Mountains

Oct. 26, 2023

Griffith Park hosts first P-22 Day since death of L.A.’s beloved cougar

Oct. 22, 2023

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Carla Hall is an editorial board member who writes about homelessness, reproductive rights, popular culture, animal welfare, and human rights in Asia and Africa, among other topics. Before joining the board, she was a general assignment reporter for the Los Angeles Times’ California section. She previously worked for the Washington Post’s Style section, where she juggled writing with acting roles in small theaters and even a couple of TV shows. She has a bachelor’s degree in the history of science from Harvard University.

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