*[Enwl-eng] New US School Standards Specify the Teaching of ClimateScience
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Apr 21, 2013, 9:32:16 AM4/21/13
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*Schools across the U.S. will soon start teaching real climate science*
By John Upton
Illustration Omitted:
America's kids are going to learn about climate change in science
class. Shutterstock
Is that a high concentration of greenhouse gases I see up there?
Schoolkids might soon know more about climate change than you do.
Millions of young Americans will finally be taught, in a methodical
manner, about the science behind the biggest threat to their generation:
climate change.
Inside Climate News reports that new national science standards, which
will make global warming lessons a part of the public school curriculum,
are expected to be adopted by the 26 states that helped craft them.
Another 15 states have indicated that they may also adopt the standards.
Textbook publisher McGraw-Hill thinks that number could climb even higher.
Under the Next Generation Science Standards, which are scheduled to be
ready for adoption this spring, students will learn how and why fossil
fuel emissions are causing the world to overheat.
The only previous federal science teaching standards were published in
1996, and they avoided the issues of evolution and climate change. It
didn't matter much --- the standards were developed without the input of
the states, so states have generally been ignoring them. But the new
standards were developed with states' input to help educators and
students cut through the scientifically unjustifiable doubt that's
clouded these two subjects. From Inside Climate:
[The standards] recommend that educators teach the evidence for
man-made climate change starting as early as elementary school and
incorporate it into all science classes, ranging from earth science to
chemistry. By eighth grade, students should understand that "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)," the standards say. ...
The ... priority was making sure the standards were based on the
latest science, said Heidi Schweingruber, deputy director of the Board
on Science Education at the National Research Council. This was
particularly important for evolution and climate change, which had
become so politicized that scientists and educators feared students
didn't know how to separate scientific fact from religious beliefs or
political opinion.
The old standards made no mention of climate change because the
consensus about whether global warming was happening---and if it was
caused by humans---hadn't been solidified.
"We understand it a lot better now than we did some 15 years ago,"
Schweingruber said.
Many teachers have been skipping the subject altogether to avoid
confrontations with conservative administrators or parents. Others teach
it as a controversial theory, either because they don't understand the
evidence for global warming or because they reject it, educators told
InsideClimate News.
The new standards should provide kids who grow up around Fox
News-watching, Wall Street Journal-reading adults with some immunity
from the dangerous virus of misinformation. Maybe some enlightened
students will even help their parents come to grips with basic climate
science.
States in blue helped craft the national science standards and are
expected to adopt them. Other states might also adopt the standards.
Texas will not.nextgenscience.orgStates colored blue helped craft the
national science standards and are expected to adopt them. Other states
might also adopt the standards. Texas will not.
John Upton is a science aficionado and green news junkie who tweets,
posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader
questions, tips, and incoherent rants: john...@gmail.com.
http://grist.org/news/schools-across-the-u-s-will-soon-start-teaching-real-climate-science/?utm_campaign=weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter
*** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this
material is distributed, without profit, for research and educational
purposes only. ***
From: "Yahoo Newsgroups" <vasi...@ramapo.edu>
To: "Environmental Ecology News" <envec...@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 16, 2013 12:00 PM
Subject: News: New US School Standards Specify the Teaching of Climate
Science
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By John Upton
Illustration Omitted:
America's kids are going to learn about climate change in science
class. Shutterstock
Is that a high concentration of greenhouse gases I see up there?
Schoolkids might soon know more about climate change than you do.
Millions of young Americans will finally be taught, in a methodical
manner, about the science behind the biggest threat to their generation:
climate change.
Inside Climate News reports that new national science standards, which
will make global warming lessons a part of the public school curriculum,
are expected to be adopted by the 26 states that helped craft them.
Another 15 states have indicated that they may also adopt the standards.
Textbook publisher McGraw-Hill thinks that number could climb even higher.
Under the Next Generation Science Standards, which are scheduled to be
ready for adoption this spring, students will learn how and why fossil
fuel emissions are causing the world to overheat.
The only previous federal science teaching standards were published in
1996, and they avoided the issues of evolution and climate change. It
didn't matter much --- the standards were developed without the input of
the states, so states have generally been ignoring them. But the new
standards were developed with states' input to help educators and
students cut through the scientifically unjustifiable doubt that's
clouded these two subjects. From Inside Climate:
[The standards] recommend that educators teach the evidence for
man-made climate change starting as early as elementary school and
incorporate it into all science classes, ranging from earth science to
chemistry. By eighth grade, students should understand that "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)," the standards say. ...
The ... priority was making sure the standards were based on the
latest science, said Heidi Schweingruber, deputy director of the Board
on Science Education at the National Research Council. This was
particularly important for evolution and climate change, which had
become so politicized that scientists and educators feared students
didn't know how to separate scientific fact from religious beliefs or
political opinion.
The old standards made no mention of climate change because the
consensus about whether global warming was happening---and if it was
caused by humans---hadn't been solidified.
"We understand it a lot better now than we did some 15 years ago,"
Schweingruber said.
Many teachers have been skipping the subject altogether to avoid
confrontations with conservative administrators or parents. Others teach
it as a controversial theory, either because they don't understand the
evidence for global warming or because they reject it, educators told
InsideClimate News.
The new standards should provide kids who grow up around Fox
News-watching, Wall Street Journal-reading adults with some immunity
from the dangerous virus of misinformation. Maybe some enlightened
students will even help their parents come to grips with basic climate
science.
States in blue helped craft the national science standards and are
expected to adopt them. Other states might also adopt the standards.
Texas will not.nextgenscience.orgStates colored blue helped craft the
national science standards and are expected to adopt them. Other states
might also adopt the standards. Texas will not.
John Upton is a science aficionado and green news junkie who tweets,
posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader
questions, tips, and incoherent rants: john...@gmail.com.
http://grist.org/news/schools-across-the-u-s-will-soon-start-teaching-real-climate-science/?utm_campaign=weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter
*** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this
material is distributed, without profit, for research and educational
purposes only. ***
From: "Yahoo Newsgroups" <vasi...@ramapo.edu>
To: "Environmental Ecology News" <envec...@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 16, 2013 12:00 PM
Subject: News: New US School Standards Specify the Teaching of Climate
Science
------------- * ENWL * ------------
Ecological North West Line * St. Petersburg, Russia
Independent Environmental Net Service: http://www.bellona.ru/enwl/
Russian: ENWL(discussions), ENWL-inf(FSU information), ENWL-misc(any topics)
English: ENWL-eng (world information)
en...@lew.spb.org, enwl...@lew.spb.org, en...@lew.spb.org, en...@lew.spb.org
Subscription, Moderator: vf...@lew.spb.org or en...@enw.net.ru
Archive: http://enwl.bellona.ru/pipermail/
and http://groups.google.com/group/enwl/
SEE ALSO: http://www.bellona.org (English)and http://www.bellona.ru
(Russian)
RSS: http://groups.google.ru/group/enwl/feeds?hl=ru
(C) Please refer to exclusive articles of ENWL
-------------------------------------
ONLY if your address is subscribed:
Enwl-eng mailing list
Enwl...@enwl.bellona.ru
http://enwl.bellona.ru/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/enwl-eng
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