{"id":65376,"date":"2019-12-14T05:03:10","date_gmt":"2019-12-14T12:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/teaching-climate-change-a-tricky-endeavor-in-politically-charged-world\/"},"modified":"2019-12-14T12:03:10","modified_gmt":"2019-12-14T12:03:10","slug":"teaching-climate-change-a-tricky-endeavor-in-politically-charged-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/teaching-climate-change-a-tricky-endeavor-in-politically-charged-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching climate change a tricky endeavor in politically charged world"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Animas
Animas High School students from left, Elliot Smith, 15, Sam Sturm, 16, Robert Cossey, 15, and Bryan Gnehm, 16, sort through ideas from classmates that would help solve climate change as part of Tina Hott\u2019s biology class.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

At Durango\u2019s schools, it\u2019s up to students to decide whether climate change is real.<\/p>\n

\u201cNaming climate change as a thing, you won\u2019t see that anywhere stated explicitly,\u201d said Leanne Garcia, director of curriculum for Durango School District 9-R. \u201cIt\u2019s more about giving them the opportunity to engage in evidence-based decision-making \u2026 and helping them become independent thinkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over at Animas High School, biology teacher Tina Hott said lessons are a little more pointed that climate change is real and happening. But, students aren\u2019t preached at or forced into a system of beliefs.<\/p>\n

\u201cSelf-discovery is huge,\u201d Hott said. \u201cThe way I go about it, I flood them with data and ask them to come to their own conclusions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teaching climate change, across the country, is tricky business.<\/p>\n

Despite the virtually unanimous agreement in the scientific community that the planet is warming at an unprecedented rate, and that rising global temperatures are a result of human activities \u2013 namely, the burning of fossil fuels \u2013 climate change has become a highly polarizing and political topic.<\/p>\n

As a result, it\u2019s a slippery slope to walk for teachers who want to inform the next generation about a potential crisis it may face.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what keeps me up at night,\u201d Hott said. \u201cBut I\u2019m not here to convince them of beliefs. It\u2019s my job to be honest and give them the facts.\u201d<\/p>\n

A message of silence<\/div>\n

Earlier this year, NPR and Ipsos, a market research firm, conducted some of the first surveys ever to gauge whether parents and teachers wanted climate change taught<\/a> in schools. And the answer, despite political affiliations, was clear.<\/p>\n

An estimated 80% of parents \u2013 including two in three Republicans and nine in 10 Democrats \u2013 agreed climate change should be taught to students. What\u2019s more, about 85% of teachers said the topic should be included in curricula.<\/p>\n

But there was a troubling trend: More than half the teachers surveyed said they don\u2019t cover climate change in their classrooms, or even talk about it with students. And, fewer than 50% of parents said they breached the topic with their children at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to one of the biggest global problems,\u201d the report said, \u201cthe default message from older generations to younger ones is silence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hands-on science<\/div>\n

The situation at Durango\u2019s schools is less dire.<\/p>\n

At 9-R, lessons involving climate change are incorporated from kindergarten until the time students graduate, Garcia said.<\/p>\n

\"Animas
Animas High School biology teacher Tina Hott said it\u2019s not her job to force beliefs on students. Instead, she presents the facts about climate change and lets students come to their own conclusions.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Lower grade levels will take part in lessons like comparing different climates around the world and collecting weather data, looking for trends. As students get older, they start more hands-on exercises in the field, perhaps the most effective way to teach science, Garcia said.<\/p>\n

Just in the past year, students went on a field trip to the 416 Fire burn scar north of Durango, looking at the drought conditions that led up to the fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we get them thinking like scientists, we\u2019ve done our jobs,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n

Hott\u2019s class, this year, is working on a project that calls for students to come up with solutions for climate change, like building wind turbines and planting trees. Some students even propose lifestyle changes to curb human impacts, such as eliminating plastic straws or more efficiently disposing of food waste.<\/p>\n

\"Tina
Tina Hott, a biology teacher at Animas High School, said she doesn\u2019t want her students to become despondent over climate change. Instead, a class project this year focuses on coming up with ideas to help solve the issue of a warming planet.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of doom and gloom, and I don\u2019t want them to feel hopeless or that all is lost,\u201d Hott said. \u201cI want to empower them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s not a belief, it\u2019s science\u2019<\/div>\n

National education policy specialists said Durango\u2019s way of teaching climate change, in letting the students decide, is common throughout the country, but leaving room for doubt about the reasons behind a warming trend could be considered irresponsible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t do that with other areas of science,\u201d said Ann Reid, director of the National Center for Science Education. \u201cI don\u2019t just lay out the information about the periodic table and let students come to their own conclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reid cautioned that influential groups that deny climate change, for a variety of reasons, consistently put out misleading information. Provided accurate data, however, she said students shouldn\u2019t come to any other conclusion than the planet is warming.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best science teaching does present students with the data and have them figure out what\u2019s going on,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s powerful for the students to figure out for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bill Bigelow, curriculum editor of Rethinking Schools and co-director of the Zinn Education Project, said it\u2019s usually not effective for teachers to stand at the front of the classroom and preach to students. But, he also took issue with leaving room for doubt.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a belief, it\u2019s science,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd to be neutral on whether or not human activity is altering the climate is irresponsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

What does the next generation say?<\/div>\n

According to a handful of students interviewed for this story, Durango schools\u2019 approach to climate change is effective.<\/p>\n

Caleb McGrath, a senior at Durango High School, said teachers do a great job of presenting the facts and letting students sift through them. He, and most of his friends, have come to the same conclusion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one of the biggest things for me: I always felt like I was allowed to form my own opinion,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I definitely believe climate change is real, and we have to do something about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Riverview
Riverview Elementary School fourth grade students are led by Amanda Kuenzi, with Mountain Studies Institute, as she teaches about native and invasive plants in October as they walk down the Hermosa Creek Trail through the 416 Fire burn area.<\/span>Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Rosie Gurnee, a junior at Animas High School, echoed much of the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeachers are very open to talk about whatever students are concerned about, and we\u2019re definitely concerned about climate change,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t hear a whole lot of students not believing in climate change or saying we shouldn\u2019t do anything about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the data can present somewhat of a bleak future, students thrive on focusing on solutions and ways to change their lifestyles in the hopes of curbing the impacts of climate change before it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n

\u201cI read a quote the other day that said our generation, the one in school now, will be the first to feel the effects of climate change and the last to do anything to help that problem,\u201d McGrath said. \u201cI think that was a really big thing for me I didn\u2019t quite realize.\u201d<\/p>\n

jromeo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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