Next Generation Climate for Grades 6-8
Next Generation Climate is a six lesson, interdisciplinary, middle school climate change curriculum that has students investigate the cause of the global temperature change, research the major repercussions of climate change, and find out how they can monitor and minimize those repercussions. Next Generation Climate allows students to dive deep into graphs and data and practice the skills of argumentation and engineering design. This curriculum uses the Next Generation Science Standards as a framework and is also aligned to Climate and Energy Literacy standards.
In 2013, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were released as the most current, research-based way of educating students in STEM and preparing them for STEM careers. Much of the NGSS includes environmental content and human-induced climate change is included as a core idea. NGSS establishes high standards for delivering effective science and climate change education. They also challenge us to provide the professional development and instructional support in our curriculum resources and make NGSS accessible to educators in the classroom. Hands on learning, effective communication, making connections across all domains of science and other disciplines, an emphasis on including “all voices”, and the importance of developing a learning progression are not only integral to the NGSS, but have always guided Climate Generation’s development of educational resources.
NGSS offer an excellent framework for a new climate change curriculum because they include climate change, they encourage experiential learning through the practice of science, and because they integrate crosscutting concepts that connect learning across classes and time. Climate Generation’s Next Generation Climate curriculum was developed to meet a growing need for curricula materials that support the Next Generation Science Standards and that builds in the language and instructional support so that teachers can deliver activities consistent with the NGSS.
Students today will be tomorrow’s leaders and we have a responsibility to prepare them to be innovators of climate change solutions, nurturing their creative thinking and problem solving skills using the methods we know are the best. Next Generation Climate is an excellent resource to include in any middle school classroom looking to integrate climate change education.
