From local nature to global climate: How are the ocean, lakes, and forests connected to the climate? And how can students explore this in science/technology classes? With support from the Villum Foundation, a new project at the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate (CMEC) will develop hands-on climate education based on schools’ local nature.
A new teaching project from the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, supported by the Villum Foundation, will develop hands-on climate education rooted in schools’ local nature. Photo: CMEC.
Science/technology teachers in the intermediate grades face an important task of bridging the gap between students’ concrete experiences in nature and complex concepts such as CO2, biomass, and the carbon cycle, which they will encounter later in secondary school.
At the same time, students must be educated and prepared for a reality where both nature and climate are undergoing major changes.
The connection between nature and climate is crucial for how Denmark will develop in the coming years and decades. We are in the midst of a green transition, where nature-based solutions like unmanaged forests, afforestation, and the restoration of lowland soils play a central role. The map of Denmark as we know it today will look completely different in the future.
Building on success with a new target group
The project builds on A Greener Climate, which successfully introduced nature-based climate solutions measures - that use nature’s own processes to address climate challenges - into science subjects for grades 7-9:
-With An Even Greener Climate, we now focus on science/technology teaching in grades 4-6, and especially on supporting teachers’ practice, says Project Leader Karsten Elmose Vad from CMEC.
The new target group requires a rethinking of both form and content, partly because science/technology often has a very different framework in schools compared to secondary-level science programs. For example, a recently published survey shows that 48% of science/technology teachers lack formal qualifications to teach the subject1.
